Does not starts in gear

[cpazambrana]

Questions 1 and 2 were correct. So I went to question 3. Input the bike in gear and both wires have ground with the clutch in or out. Didn’t make a difference.

I will send another photo with better resolution. But this limits it to 2 mb.

[cpazambrana]

OK back to first base then,
(Nothing personal Seth, I'm just not a multi-tasker, it's highlighted on my resumé)

cpazambrana... please stick to the questions, no other tests (for now) please

You can leave your ignition off , I'll let you know when to turn it on.

Now to reiterate....

Connect the clip of the test light solidly to BATTERY POSITIVE terminal.

QUESTION #1: Does the brown clutch switch wire have GROUND?
QUESTION #2: Does the brown/yellow clutch switch wire have GROUND when you pull in the clutch?
your answer was yes, ground to both wires, clutch in or out, correct?

if correct continue to question 3

QUESTION #3:
Now do the same test with the bike in gear.
Do both wires still have ground? with the clutch in or out?

PS - A better quality pic of your wiring diagram won't hurt.

[gspd]

That pic is a lot better, gonna need it later.
Ok , so you always have ground to both clutch switch wires, in gear or in neutral, clutch in or out, correct?
If correct...on to the next test.
Please follow instructions to the letter. I am going at this blindly with only the info you are providing.

We will now do a simple clutch switch test.
I know you said the switch worked but I want to confirm this 100%.
This test is with your meter instead of your test light.
Set your meter to 'ohms' so that when the leads are touching each other you get 0.00, and when they are not touching you get OL (open circuit) (might vary with the type of meter).

step 1 -Disconnect the clutch switch.
step 2 - Connect the meter leads to the clutch switch, one to brown, one to brown/yellow.
step 3 - Activate your clutch lever a few times while watching the meter.

I CORRECTED A TYPO IN QUESTION BELOW AT 7.08 pm, PLEASE RE-READ IT, sorry
QUESTION #4: Does your meter show OL with the clutch out and 0.00 with the clutch pulled in?

[cpazambrana]

Done: ol with the clutch out and 0.00 when I pull it in and starts to beep.

[gspd]

Great! switch is OK

Now back to the test light for another test...

as before...Connect the clip of the test light solidly to BATTERY POSITIVE terminal.
(touch the pin probe to battery negative terminal just to confirm that your test light is working properly.)

With the clutch switch still disconnected...
QUESTION # 5 - In NEUTRAL - Do the 2 wires that go into the bike from that switch have ground ?
QUESTION # 6 - In GEAR - Same question

I see some taped up wires in your headlight. Somebody's been mucking around in there.
Don't worry, we'll get to the root of this, just be patient, one thing at a time.

[cpazambrana]

Yes and yes. They have ground both in Neutral and on Gear

[cpazambrana]

Regarding the cables, the PO converted this one to a naked version. I guess that required relocating the ignition and maybe some other cables got relocated or amended.

[gspd]

You have a wrongly connected wire somewhere.
Might be just wear and tear, corrosion, etc. Or might be a man-made butcher job.
Usually it's the latter.

We'll find it.

Try to spread out the wires in the headlight as much as possible without disconnecting or breaking any of them.
It's OK to unclip a few things, just be careful.

I need some GOOD (as possible) pics of the following:
The circuit board and its wires.
The taped up wires.
The clutch switch wire where it enters the headlight or harness.

Also, please check that wire exiting just to the right of the tape-up job.
Might be damaged.

[cpazambrana]

I’ll take the pictures tomorrow and share them with you. Thanks a lot!

[cpazambrana]

you should be getting some voltage on the brown/yellow wire with the ignition on, IN GEAR (no neutral light, and the bike has the problem that it won't start), and the clutch pulled in (a needle pierced into the insulation connected to the red lead from your multi meter and the black wire connected to a ground). From the simplified drawing from Rob, power ONLY goes to the clutch switch when the ignition is on and the starter button is pressed. I may not be full 12v as it's going through the relay which adds resistance.

If you don't have power there, you have to trace that brown/yellow wire back to where it gets to the starter button. It may (probably?) go into that bundle of wires you saw in the headlight and connect into the fuse block.

I got this picture off Ebay.
Note the 2 pins on the second row, pins 3 and 4 marked "85b"
I believe this is where the "hot" side of the clutch switch attaches. The second pin in that pair should come from the starter button, as per Rob's drawing. It should get voltage when the starter button is pressed (ignition on).

FYI, but since the starter button functions, this is not a problem, the blue/yellow pair of pins (1 and 2, top row) marked "85". That come from the Starter Relay and go to the Starter button (as per Rob's drawing).

The point being, BMW does not seem to wire things "point-to-point", but instead makes a number of these connections in the "fuse block". They do a pretty good job color coding and numbering in the fuse block for you to follow.

Feel free to PM me if you have additional questions. Hope this helps.

Thanks for this.