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‘87K100RT Fix For Lost Gear Indicator?

P

Paul_F

RK Ryder
Today when coming home from a ride on my '87 K100RT, low mileage at 283,000 kms, my 1st and 2nd gear indicators have been replaced by the neutral 0. What is the fix or is this something that will right itself over time? First time that this has ever happened.

Would I be correct in guessing some teeth on those gear indicators have broken? If this is so, is this an easy fix (or not)?
 
Paul,

The most likely cause is water in your gear position switch.

The swtch is located on the back of the transmission in front of the crossbar of the swingarm (iirc you must remove the swingarm to access the switch).

I would just wait and see if it dries out. Where it is located, it can get alot of water spray.

No teeth, just a rotary switch with multiple contacts. Water shorts out the wrong switches, indicating the wrong gear, in your case "0".

There is also the remote possibility that there is moisture in the wiring connector that is located just forward of your coolant overflow bottle. The connector looks almost identical to the fuel tank plug. This is easy to check.

Just quit riding in the rain. You don't need to ride from early August to late June anyway.:stick


:dance:dance:dance
 
Last edited:
Summertime last year I sat out a nasty storm underneath an overpass. When the skies cleared I continued on but the roads were still wet. After a bit I noticed the GPI displaying incorrectly. It was "0", the wrong number and even neutral. It took a solid 2 weeks for it to work reliably again. As a precaution, I ordered a new one and I'm glad I did. When I removed it I found the rubber seal was split open in 2 places, clearly allowing the ingress of water.

Some people might decide to just put silicone on it or something else to try and seal it but that's not how I like to fix things.

46L0jL.jpg


5mjm62.jpg
 
howdy

i have a few of the k bikes lying around, and noticed on every single one of them,
the out part of the switch erodes.
i've placed some fiberglass clothe around the whole thing with epoxy as something new
and hopefully durable.

the switch works fine
 
one of my K75S's has not seen water (rain or wash hose) in a few years. GPI still goofed up. first gear reads "3". when trans was out last winter for a clutch replacement, GPI switch was removed cleaned, looked good, reinstalled. no change in the "3".
 
mlytle said:
one of my K75S's has not seen water (rain or wash hose) in a few years. GPI still goofed up. first gear reads "3". when trans was out last winter for a clutch replacement, GPI switch was removed cleaned, looked good, reinstalled. no change in the "3".
Click to expand...

Either bad switch or wires between switch and instrument cluster.



:dance:dance:dance
 
98lee said:
Paul,

The most likely cause is water in your gear position switch.

The swtch is located on the back of the transmission in front of the crossbar of the swingarm (iirc you must remove the swingarm to access the switch).

I would just wait and see if it dries out. Where it is located, it can get alot of water spray.

No teeth, just a rotary switch with multiple contacts. Water shorts out the wrong switches, indicating the wrong gear, in your case "0".

There is also the remote possibility that there is moisture in the wiring connector that is located just forward of your coolant overflow bottle. The connector looks almost identical to the fuel tank plug. This is easy to check.

Just quit riding in the rain. You don't need to ride from early August to late June anyway.:stick

:dance:dance:dance
Click to expand...

Lee,
You were so right. The bike has been parked since my first post about the gear indicator not showing the correct gear. Took it for a spin this morning and all was well. :thumb

I guess if this problem were to resurface, I'll have to replace the GPI switch unit.
 
Paul,

As mcmlcccvrs suggested, you may try to seal it up with silicone. I don’t know how easy (or even possible) that might be without removing the swingarm.:dunno

New gear indicator switch: 61 31 1 459 593 TRANSMISSION SWITCH $148.96




:dance:dance:dance
 
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