Project CBR600F: Shining Light of Neutrality

With my custom dash in place and wired, I noticed two warning lights did not work, neutral and oil.  After some quick Googling, I found the common culprit is the neutral switch, located on the lower left side of the bike, just near the starter motor. 

The rubber cap snapped off when trying to remove it.

Removal is super easy, remove the 7mm nut and lock washer. Place an oil pan under the bike as you'll have some oil loss.  This sensor takes a 14mm socket / wrench.

Looking kinda crusty.  Be sure to clean up the contacts if needed.

The sensor tip rubs against the shift drum, so after a while, it wears away.

The sensor is a direct swap, don't forget your copper washer.  I stuck my broken cap back on with a healthy dose of red RTV.

With the sensor replaced, I hooked up my wiring and tested it.  But, no luck. Time to bust out the wiring diagram.  When I wired the neutral and oil lights, I wired them as if they were normal lights, like the brights or t-signals.  These sensors are the opposite, the power is constant, and the ground is switched.  I'm sure there's a name for this but, it's not in my electrical knowledge base (UPDATE: switched ground).  On these, the power is fed via the Black/Brown wire, and the other wire is the ground.

I did my best to try and remove the wiring from the block but it failed.  I ended up needing to replace the Oil LED light and rewire the rest.  To say these wires are thin is an understatement.

Hooray!

The next garage session will either be wiring up the tail light, rear signals and plate holder, or the swing arm.   To be continued....