C70 Odd Neutral Light Behavior!

Captain Dust

New Member
Hello everyone, I'm excited to find this forum. A lot of great info and experience in the threads I've read so far. But I haven't seen anything that might help me solve this weird problem.

I have a 1981 Honda C70 with about 2000 mi on it. Recently the neutral light started acting up. What is happening is that when I'm sitting on the bike and tip it to the right any further than upright, the neutral light flickers and goes out. When I tip it back up to upright, it comes back on. It stays on consistently when I tip bike to the left. Not long after this started happening, the electric start began working intermittently and now doesn't work at all. (Kick works.)

Pertinent info: A few years back I did the neutral switch replacement using the little TRX90 replacement neutral switch from Dr. ATV. Everything seemed to work great after that (in terms of electric start) - but this was a few years ago, so I'm considering ordering a new one on the off chance it has somehow worn out?

Other than that, I have no idea what to try. I got inside the horrifying rats nest in the headlight bucket and checked the contacts in there to make sure it wasn't just a loose wire or short in the light circuit or electric start button wires or something, but that doesn't seem to be it. Cleaned the contacts inside the button housing, nothing. (I hate going inside the headlight bucket, I can't be the only one. I imagine my own circle of hell would involve an eternity spent trying to find a short in there)

Should I next check the:
- Starter?
- Solenoid?
- main wiring harness?

I'm hoping that this weird tippy neutral light behavior will point one of you to an obvious solution!

Thanks all, best regards
 

Gary

Well-Known Member
homer tape.jpg
 

Gary

Well-Known Member
Stole this picture from planet mini- this is the switch- there is a spring loaded wire that keeps the connection might want to start there.

neutral switch.jpg
 

kirrbby

Well-Known Member
Also...in the above pic...remove that rubber cover and see if the screw is loose under there. Sounds like your shift drum might be able to slide right...away from the neutral switch.
If it's loose...shift down, all the way to the bottom...1st gear or neutral, or whatever it is, then tighten the screw.
 

Captain Dust

New Member
Okay thank you guys! I'll see about tightening the shift drum screw if I can find it. The neutral switch spring connection is good - I even pulled out the neutral switch and cleaned the contacts (inside and on the end of the little post)...

will report back.
thank you for your super fast replies
 

Captain Dust

New Member
...your bike is maybe different than that pic...but the shift drum screw should be there somewhere.
IMG_2728.JPG
IMG_2727.JPG

I opened up the rubber cover and found a 10mm bolt, which wasn't exactly loose but I was able to tighten it a tiny bit. I also went ahead and cleaned the neutral switch contacts again and re-fastened the wire inside the stupid little spring-post.

Neutral light now stays ON when bike is tipped all the way over! It works!

Still won't electric start, but I think I might know why.
 

-Nate

Active Member
Ther is also supposed to be a little black plastic round spacer that slips over the neutral contact, it often falls off when the cover is removed .

This all sounds like loose contacts to me .
 
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