clutch switch problem

A couple of weeks ago, i started having starting issues with my bike. I had taken off the clutch & kickstand safety switches when i first got it. The clutch was easy, just pull the switch out of the housing & stuff the wires behind the headlight. The kickstand had to have a jumper put between the pins. I did this so i could easily reinstall them if i decided to sell someday.

Last year sometime, it started to act up. The bike would only start if put in neutral. I traced it to my jumper coming loose. I squeezed the clips, reinstalled it & taped it up. Everything back to normal.

But during our moab, kane creek death ride, it started acting up again. I assumed it was the jumper come loose again. We were pretty occupied, so i just had to shift to neutral every time to start. When i got up to my daughter's in ogden, i checked both connectors. The kickstand jumper looked fine.. but to be sure, i cut the connector & just spliced the wires together. The clutch switch seemed ok, so i just lived with it.. it still would only start in neutral.

Last night i tackled it again. I pulled the clutch switch wire all the way out.. had to lift the tank off to access the plug. When i shorted the plug, it would crank in gear, so i had discovered the culprit. Even though the clutch switch was neatly zip tied behind the headlight, somehow it got corroded inside, or mud or water had impeded the contact.. kind of strange, since the switch was not being used. I had manually pushed it several times & rechecked it, but it still was not making contact. It was an easy fix.. i snipped the plug, spliced the wires together, & plugged it back in.

If my switch went out with no use, i can imagine it going out with use, although repeated activity might have kept the contacts cleaner.. don't know. But if your bike will suddenly only start in neutral, the clutch switch & the kickstand switch are likely suspects. I understand why yamaha puts in that sort of thing, but it is unnecessary for me, so i disable it. I automatically pull the clutch before starting, or make sure it is in neutral if it is on the stand, anyway. The safety switches are just something to go wrong out on the trail, which they did! My more permanent splices should do the trick, & i don't anticipate any more issues with them.