Paging TOG: Ducati Neutral Light

Any particular trick to getting mine working again?

It appears to be a little hit and miss these days - more miss than hit,
in reality.

Or should I just put it down to 'they all do that, sir?'

 

They all do that, sir. Mine's eaten two switches in its 11+ years.
Unfortunately, they're sited where they do collect a lot of crap.
They're cheap, though. The switch is in a sort of metal tube that screws
into the back of the gearbox, on the right-hand side. You need a slim
10mm spanner to undo it and you'll see a spring-loaded plunger
protruding from it when you remove it.

There'll be an aluminium crush washer on the mating surface. This will
need to be replaced - like a drain plug washer. You can try cleaning it
up and refitting, but in my experience it doesn't work. They're cheap to
replace, anyway.

The key thing is not overtighten on replacement - just nip it up, like a
drain plug.

 

Cheers.

I'll add it to the stuff to do when it gets serviced.

Had a local-ish specialist recommended to me - Louigi Moto just outside
of Bristol - going in on 18th April.

Ordered the oil cooler rubbers, too - £3.80 each from Moto Rapido, and
they'll be here this week.

BMW is going in on Friday to Cardiff Motorrad for the fork seals - after
sending a nice letter provided by Consumer Direct to the seller, who has
now agreed to pay up to have it done locally.

(The cockspanner initially refused to pay up to have it done locally,
insisting his warranty only covered repairs being done by him - changed
his tune when I reminded him of the sale of goods act and threatened to
reject the bike....)

Unfortunately, it's 2 trains to get back home from there, as they're
apparently really busy, so wanted me to leave it with them to do when
they get a chance. Still, at least it's being done.

 

Check the connections first. The switch just earths when
the bike is in neutral, so get a multimeter on it to check.

But yes, they all go eventually.