Naughty Neutral Light

[PinsNneedles]

Hi All

Has anybody struck this one before?

1. Cold morning wheeled bike out shed.
2. Usual routine before ride check fluids, chain etc.
3.Turn key check for green neutral all good, hit starter button.

Bloody thing jumps forward without me on it, managed to save from dropping it, but bikini fairing and mirror scratches along brick wall  .

Not happy.
Any ideas?

Thanks Guys.

[timmyc]

  As a rule, I always pull the clutch in before starting. Probably doesn't fix your problem but might have prevented the scratches..

[Jukie]

i do get the odd false neutral light when pulling up for a set of lights or changing gear. not while turning it over at a stand still. Betty always tell me to have the clutch in while starting up and now i understand why. Sorry to hear you had this incident . hope we can all learn from it.

[gino]

Never had a false neutral light, but did have no neutral light which means it wont start!Took me ages on the side of the road few weeks back on S4R. Plug at back of motor , loose . Pushed it in and off i went ! [moto]

[Betty]

I was wondering if there was any link between the bikes that seem to fnd a false neutral ... but it seems not - S4Rt Greg?

After market clutch slave cylinder maybe?

Only asking because I haven't had any trouble ... until Murphy now comes and kicks me in the arse of course.

As for embarrassing moments with the bike ... I have those all the time! Wait until I turn up with my full Ducati leathers, complete lack of riding ability and then DON'T drink coffee ... how embarrassing.

Sorry to hear about the scratches mate ... but are you coming out on the ride next weekend?

[suzyj]

Not happy.
Any ideas?

If there were no witnesses, it never happened.

My moment was putting the bike away in the garage - I've got to reverse it down the side of the car, and it's a fairly tight squeeze.  Plus there's a bit of a lip at the entrance of the garage to get over, so a little bit of, umm, speed is required.

So the one time I was wearing sandals doing it, guess who forgot to put the stand up.  Guess who then removed all the skin from the end of the toes on her right foot with the stand.

Luckily I got away with a bent lever, and some frightfully sore toes.

[PinsNneedles]

Thank you all for your responses.
It may be one of those common incidents by the number of similar posts on this board.
But your first scratch/s on your new bike or car for that matter really sucks.
The switch which indicates neutral and trips the green light needs some attention from Ducati.
The amount of false neutral incidents is high and potentially dangerous.
(must insert disgruntled smiley icon here).
Yes Betty my bike is an S4rt, maybe a common fault with this model maybe.
When and where were you guys going to ride on the weekend?.

[Betty]

When and where were you guys going to ride on the weekend?.

Good question.

Refer to the 2010 Sydney Ride Thread (well have a look at the last couple of pages anyway). Maybe you could decide for them.

[monstermick58]

I dont know about the newer models but my old Monster (97) the neutral switch at the back is adjustable, so if yours is too, maybe thats what you need to do, but if its playing up a new one is probably required.






                                  Mmick

[spotcom]

It's a sad tale, but happens too frequently.  Monsters aren't the only ones suffering this one.

The moral to the story is that you shouldn't start the bike until you're on it.  Even then I always pull the clutch in first and then let it out slowly...

I know, I know, you should be able to rely on that green light meaning that it IS in neutral, but these bikes sometimes do have the odd Italian quirk...    [moto]

[CairnsDuc]

It caught me out a couple of times, never dropped the bike (Went close on one occasion )
99.9% of the time it was fine, but I still got into the habit of checking the bike before startup
by rolling the bike forwards or backwards to ensure it was out of gear, or I was 100% sure
that when I parked it the night before I selected neutral (before shutting down the engine)
and it was somewhere it could not be interfered with, ie: my locked Garage.

But as a precaution, whenever I started the bike I kept the hand hovering over the clutch
Just in case. 

[PinsNneedles]

Thanks Guys
Rolling the bike back and forth before I hit the starter sounds like a good option.
MMick I'll ask the guys next service if the switch is adjustable.
I like to be able to start the bike without me on it, gives me time to think where the hell I left my wallet and go inside and think of excuse to give the better half why I might be a little late back.

[BribieDuc]

At 115,000 kms my neutral light stopped working. Suppose its the switch but it's not such a drama - will get to it one day.

[Veloce-Fino]

It's a sad tale, but happens too frequently.  Monsters aren't the only ones suffering this one.

The moral to the story is that you shouldn't start the bike until you're on it.  Even then I always pull the clutch in first and then let it out slowly...

I know, I know, you should be able to rely on that green light meaning that it IS in neutral, but these bikes sometimes do have the odd Italian quirk...    [moto]

I don't know about you but I wait for my bike to fully warm up before riding. There's no way I'm sitting in the garage for 10 minutes on my bike staring at the temp gauge. I start it, go in the house and gear up, come out and browse the web on the garage laptop then wait another minute or two before my bike is finally warm.

[techno]

Years ago when I was doing my bike training I remember the instructor telling me "you know what that green light on the dash means? It means the light is working."

Thats why I never trust it.

Before I got the Monster I borrowed a friends 600ss. I can't recall what it was for but there was a green light on the dash which had nothing to do with neutral. It caught me out a few times as your mind tells you green light = neutral. That thing also used to turn over in gear so it would try to take off.