1999 M900- questions re exhaust and also neutral switch

Hi.

I’ve just bought a 1999 M900 and had a couple of questions.

Firstly, am I right in thinking the standard exhausts are really tight clearance to the swinging arm? Mine has aftermarket exhausts fitted but I’m puttig the standard ones back on and really struggling to see how they’re going to fit. All help appreciated.

Secondly the neutral light is always on. I figure it’s the neutral switch, but I can’t see how on earth I can get a spanner in there to remove it?

Have always wanted a monster and am delighted with the purchase. But all help with these teething problems would be massively welcome.

Cheers.

Mark

[slob]

Exhausts quite snug but you may have some spacers missing, you should have ~10mm clearance to the swingarm. Or if it’s been dropped it’s possible the footrest hangers/exhaust brackets aren’t quite straight. It’s fairly common to have difficulty getting the cans symetrical.

Neutral switch: have you proved the switch is faulty by shorting the wire to earth?
No point in removing a good switch if you have an electrical fault elswhere. The connector is prone to corrosion in its exposed (yet recessed) location, it may just want a good clean.
You’ll need a thin wall, deep socket to get the switch out, sorry don’t remember the size off the top of my head.

[Albie]

As slob says quiet often those brackets are bent. Sometimes also spacers missing and too long bolts foul the swing arm.

Thanks.

I have nothing like 10mm. Perhaps the footrest hangers are pushed in.

On the neutral switch, yes: I have power to the switch. But it goes straight to earth in every gear as well as neutral. In terms of gettting it out, do I take it that the lead pulls off the switch itself so I can get a box spanner on?

Thanks again

[Luddite]

I think you'll have the old-style neutral light switch, which uses two wires with those wires being permanently attached to the switch.

Neutral light switch - no. 6


The later switches, like on my Evo, have just one wire, which is easily removed from the switch via a bullet connector.

It's a bit more complicated to remove the old-style switch as the wiring gets in the way of a socket.

It's a long time since I owned my 900 but, from (an increasingly hazy!) memory, I would use a box spanner after disconnecting the switch from the loom and feeding the wire up through the box spanner.

Thanks.

I could be wrong, but I think there’s just the one wire. Just before the neutral switch is a bigger diameter than the switch itself which now income to think of it must mean that the wire pulls off the switch. I don’t see any other way to be able to get a box spanner on it.

On the exhausts, the back of the hanger is virtually touching the swinging arm so I guess the footrest mounting part is to close in.

Thanks again

[slob]

or there are spacers missing on the hangers themselves

[Luddite]

Does it look like this (old-style)?



Or this (from the Evo)?



If it's the second picture then the wire will pull straight off the switch. If it's the first picture then you'll need to follow the wire up to the loom and disconnect it at the block.

[slob]

Mk2s have the rubber cover to stop the connector getting sprayed with muck

Good point re the hangers. Will check.

And on the switch, it’s the first type. Although I could have sworn the rubber near the switch is bigger than the hexagonal head of the switch- but will check.

With the first type, then, do I need to slip a socket over the whole wire from the connector shown at the other end,and slide it down to the switch?

Thanks both.

[mickj]

Welcome to the forum Mark.

[Mr Gazza]

Welcome aboard Mark.. I'm sure I've met your brother, Budgie?

Hope you get your switch sorted..Should be an easy fix.

P.S. I think the spacers are 10mm thick on the offside and 8mm thick on the nearside, but you need to check the bolt length is okay with those.
They go against the crankcases at the bottom of the hangers. beware you can puncture the cases with too long a bolt, or lack of spacer!
Moto Rapido would be able to supply the correct spacers and shouldered bolts too if required, and tell you which side which size goes.

[Luddite]

Originally Posted by marksmugglers

With the first type, then, do I need to slip a socket over the whole wire from the connector shown at the other end,and slide it down to the switch?

The short answer is - yes. The long answer is - I don't know how large the connector is and whether it will pass through a box spanner. If it's too big you could put a short longitudinal cut in the head of the box spanner (just long enough to clear the rubber on top of the switch) so that the wire can pass through it. On the Evo, the switch is only tightened to 10Nm so the cut spanner should still be strong enough to remove it.

Thanks all

[vince53]

don't know if it will help put here' a pic of my old 900,[/URL]