1st gear light

[Anonymous]

It has been a while since I had a question. This bike has been running great. The 1st gear indicator hasnt worked since I got the bike. I checked it and had no signal to the light and found nothing in the wiring. So I have just been living with it.

Well, a couple of weeks ago the weather cooled off here and it was mid 50's when I went to work. The light worked! But it didnt when I went home, mid 80's. I have been able to determine that below 60 the light works.

Are the switches that control these lights adjustable? And if so how?

[AOD]

the only thing i can think of is the heat is causing a change in resistance (ohms) in the wires.

the gear selector turns a potentiometer (variable resistance thingy) that has set values for each gear. The GSXR and Hayabusa uses something like this:

1st: 0.6K ohm
Neutral: open
2nd: 0.83K
3rd: 1.5K
4th: 2.75K
5th: 6.9K
6th: 17.2K

Assuming the part is simliar in our GS's (it does LOOK simliar) then something in either the potentiometer is bad or another wire. When a wire heats up, its resistance goes up, and shift indicator might not be able to assign the higher resistance value to '1st gear'.

make sense?

~Adam

[daveo]

I had a cold solder joint on above-mentioned potentiometer, preventing 2nd gear indicator functioning, easily fixed by resoldering at the switch at shifter lever

[Anonymous]

Where is that switch? I have ad the cover off twice, once for stator and again for clutch rod seal. I dont remember seeing one in there. Is it inside the case? And does it switch on the + or - side?


I will check the resistance later this week.
thanks

[focus frenzy]

on most GS's it doesnt work by changing the resistance, it completes the circut on the ground side, all the lights are hot all the time, the switch just changes grounds between the six or seven ground wires that come from the instrument cluster. (includes the neutral light)
on my 100G the switch is low on the left side behind the secondary gear box cover, look for a round black plastic object, around 1-1/2 inches round by about a half inch tall object with multiple (should be 7) wires coming out of the side of it.

[Anonymous]

thanks I will lokk for it ( meaning I will put it on the "things to do " list