Not sure if I have a faulty gear switch, but lunch box is showing 1st gear, regardless if gear switch is connected or not. Changing gears or pulling clutch does not make any difference. As a result I can't start the bike... Any suggestions?
Checked and cleaned plugs at lunch box and rear right frame connection. I'm running out of ideas.

Pull in the clutch to start. Use this until you are able to debug the problem.

I tried that... But even with clutch pulled and won't start.... Can I disable the clutch sensor temporarily to eliminate that problem?

Your clutch switch is either broken or disconnected. (Probably broken.)

If you're certain that it's not just disconnected under the tank then you can cut the wires to it and short them to each other to send power to the start button.

Be VERY CAREFUL if you do this as it's a 12V circuit so if you cut the wires to it and have exposed wires then you want to make sure you do not to let a 12V+ wire ground to anything.

The other way to get power to the start button is to pull the tank and find the connector for the right combo switch.  Look for the terminal that has two black/green wires to it. (Those are the two wires from gear indicator in the cluster and clutch switch that send power to the start button.)  Put 12V to that and it will give power to the start button.

yamarider wrote:Not sure if I have a faulty gear switch, but lunch box is showing 1st gear, regardless if gear switch is connected or not. Changing gears or pulling clutch does not make any difference.

Which model and year is this moto?

It's a 1994 K1100LT

Sidestand switch problem??

robmack wrote:Sidestand switch problem??

To expand robmack's question.
Does the starter engage? Do you hear the fuel pump prime when the ignition is turned on?

No starter, no pump... Just dash lights come on, except neutral light....

Side stand switch will stop it starting, even if the clutch switch is good. Its the most likely cause of your problem.

You can survive no problem with the gear switch out of order, but to do that you need the clutch switch good and the side stand switch good. You can wiggle the side stand switch under the bike, that may sort it for you..

92KK 84WW Olaf wrote:Side stand switch will stop it starting, even if the clutch switch is good. Its the most likely cause of your problem.

You can survive no problem with the gear switch out of order, but to do that you need the clutch switch good and the side stand switch good. You can wiggle the side stand switch under the bike, that may sort it for you..

A quick fix for a side stand switch that isn't engaging is to put a small piece of vacuum hose over the tang of the switch that gets pushed when the side stand comes up.

(I'd assumed it was a 2V bike since there's no bike listed in the OP's signature.)

yamarider wrote:No starter, no pump... Just dash lights come on, except neutral light....

My copy of the 1994–95 K1100 Rider's Manual indicates the starter will operate when the side stand is down but the engine won't start until the side stand is raised. Yamarider's starter does not operate.

Laitch wrote:

yamarider wrote:No starter, no pump... Just dash lights come on, except neutral light....

My copy of the 1994–95 K1100 Rider's Manual indicates the starter will operate when the side stand is down but the engine won't start until the side stand is raised. Yamarider's starter does not operate.

Then the pointer is the clutch switch being faulty.
But oddly mine doesn't work with side stand down.

92KK 84WW Olaf wrote:

Laitch wrote:My copy of the 1994–95 K1100 Rider's Manual indicates the starter will operate when the side stand is down but the engine won't start until the side stand is raised. Yamarider's starter does not operate.

Then the pointer is the clutch switch being faulty.
But oddly mine doesn't work with side stand down.

Maybe the editor of the manual was engaging in artistic license.

Yours is a '97, Olaf, so perhaps the safety system was modified by then.

Hurray - whoever put money on the faulty clutch switch shall receive a full payout!

To make matters worse, I also managed to swap fuel and gear selector plugs around, which look exactly the same and caused the gear indicator to permanently show 1.

Now, next question: is there any trick to get the clutch switch out? It's pretty tight!

And last question: there is no way way too get the gear selector switch out without taking the swing arm out, is there?

Thanks again for all your help! Now I can sleep again...

Well if you fix the connector issue on the gear selector switch it might read right so do that first.

BUT the only fix is swing arm out. Been there and lived 3 years with a bad switch......Even though guys repair them I simply replaced mine.

Just make sure clutch switch is good. Its tight but not sure is it a micro switch or not. The one on early Ks is a torpedo job and just unscrews out like a spark plug......if its like that screw in the new one BEFORE making the connections as the cable must turn as you screw it in.

Hot wiring the clutch switch and swapping the fuel and gear selector plugs got the engine running, but I still won't get neutral light or correct gear indication. ... And I had the swing arm out last week... Aaaaaaarghhhh

Before you tear your bike apart you can do some fairly simple diagnostics to confirm if the GPI switch is the issue.

Link:  http://bit.ly/kbikegpi

yamarider wrote:Hot wiring the clutch switch and swapping the fuel and gear selector plugs got the engine running, but I still won't get neutral light or correct gear indication. ... And I had the swing arm out last week... Aaaaaaarghhhh

Was the gear switch working ok before you took out the swing arm?

No. I think it was faulty before...

just to let you know - I was able to rebuild the gear selector switch with parts from another switch as the springs were broken resulting in the fault. Now she starts (and shows gears) again...