What gear am I in?

[Nobby]

Well first day back at work and first day on the bike for a week due to the weather. Started off okay from Cambridge feeling happy to be back on the saddle - 6th gear on the A14 at 5am and feeling good. Then I notice the display is blank where the gear indicator is..... changed down to 5th - still nothing - back to 6th and nothing. When I came off the A14 onto A10 I noticed that gears 1 to 4 show fine but 5th and 6th do not show.... It definitely changes to those gears but does not show.

The bike has been cleaned regularly, was only serviced in November by Balderstones and has only done 600 miles since.

Any ideas?

 

[deaninkl]

Servicing would normally have little to do with this type of fault, and could be weather related. The cold and damp does play games with expensive electronics.

Best to leave it a day then try again. If still the same get it back to your dealer. These days electronics on a bike in very much black box and you'd need a diagnostics program to get to the bottom of things.

 

[rce]

If the 1200 gear indicator is anything like the F650GS twin mine started playing silly buggers.

1,2,3 fine 4,5,6 kept disappearing, or switching between 4,5,6 without changing gear.

Rainbow ordered a new switch thing but didn't fit it, bike just needed the computer re-programming. I was a bit sceptical but gear indicator working fine now ?!?

 

[(RIP) Bobble]

My 1150 does it if I jet wash the rear of the gearbox where the gear indicator sits, it dries out after a while and goes back to normal. Have you washed it before you put it away (or left it outside) ?

 

[TeaPig]

Not uncommon. There are loads of threads on this in both the 1150 and 1200 forums. As has been said, it's water getting into the gear position sensor at the rear of the gearbox. Jet washing and salty water are not good for the sensor but if you are lucky, a good blasting with WD40 and some time to dry out may see the problem resolve itself. The boggest pain is that without the bike knowing it's in neutral you'll need to pull the clutch to start the engine.

If all else fails, a new sensor can be fitted without too much hassle.

 

[Nobby]

Gears...

Well I had washed the bike the day before in readiness for the ride to work and it was a thorough clean. It is in the underground car park at present so should dry out there so we should see if it is damp or a switch problem.

Will let you know laters...

 

[Steptoe]

If it still changes gear without any problem the simplest and cheapest remedy is stop looking at the gear indicator. You don't need to look at a number to know what gear you're in.

 

[(RIP) Miff]

You don't need to look at a number to know what gear you're in.

Very true. But it's nice to see it, especially once you get used to it.

Although it's going to take a bit longer for me to break the habit of changing up into 7th just to make sure it's in top

 

[Dainese Brave]

Very true. But it's nice to see it, especially once you get used to it.

Although it's going to take a bit longer for me to break the habit of changing up into 7th just to make sure it's in top

How I laughed at that!!......it's not just me then?!?!

 

[Nobby]

SORTED

Well it was water and it took days to dry out.... so I did it again to see if there was a quicker way to dry it out....

Leave the bike on the side stand with a packet of silicon next to the gear switch and it dries out in less than a day.....

Thanks for everyone's feedback.

 

[ianran]

Am I the only one who thought this was gonna be some kind of weird cross dressing thread??

 

[davegs]

Lesson learned

Never clean your bike!!!!