Bike dies when put in gear - kickstand is up and lights work normally.

[Guest lahn]

So tonight I got my beautiful ’91 VFR back together after a long list of upgrades. It started up and ran nice. Got everything hooked back up, even put on a couple of extra hooh-hahs (Screamingbanshee horn, relay for my heated grips).

This winter I replaced my R/R with the Yamaha R1 (FH012) and used the harness kit from Eastern Beaver. Good guy, was helpful in helping me find the right parts. I bought the entire Part A kit battery connector and the 20” alternator connection.

I realized I’d have to replace my starter relay when I dug into it so I bought another (new from someone on Ebay) and used JT’s bike specific starter relay repair kit. Again, great to work with someone who understands the bike.

Bike started up just fine and ran normally. I checked everything out with the voltmeter and it looks good.

I’m just about thrilled…. I got on the bike and slipped it into gear, and it went dead. Red LED on dash worked fine, and the kickstand was up (which confused me b/c it acted just like it would if you put it in gear with the kickstand down). I put the kickstand down, Yellow LED came on, put it up, Yellow LED went out.

So in short, it looks and sounds awesome with the kickstand up or down - so long as its in neutral. I can’t think of any reason this would happen. Does someone here have any ideas? (other than just ride downhill)

[Monk]

Let's see there's a side stand sensor that could be giving a faulty reading, which seems to be the usual culprit. I'd start with cleaning, then look toward replacement if warranted.

[Guest]

Hmm, but the dashboard LED shows that its up/down and is working as it should. Is there a second sensor?

I'm thinking back to this little toggle switch a previous owner put in just out of sight under the dash. I'm wondering if this is a backup kill switch for low cost theft prevention. I'll check in the morning.

Thnx

[RED RUNNER]

Did the previous owner take it on the track? Could the toggle have anything to do with running the bike with the stand removed for track use?

[Guest]

So it turned out that the toggle switch under the dash really did do something. It was a secondary switch for the kickstand. So by toggling it back, it started and ran just fine.

Off and riding!

[VFR72525]

Interesting. Sounds like a PO installed it as a theft deterrent?