2021 DCT stuck in neutral

[saldog]

I was heading to work this morning and thought I'd ride in. Got the bike out and started up as usual. Suited and ready to take off, I went to put the bike in Drive and she wouldn't go. I shut down numerous times hoping a reboot would fix it but no avail. I didn't have time to troubleshoot and took the car.

Aside from checking the kickstand sensor wiring, I don't know where to begin on this one. I am not even sure it would act this way with the kickstand down. Would having it down simply ignore the switch to Drive from Neutral (like it is doing) or would the engine shut off like other motorcycles do when you put the bike in gear with the stand down?

Any advice you can give would be great. I don't have a way to get the bike to a dealer so I'll have to ask around for a truck or rent a trailer and tow it. The bike is under warranty so I know Honda will take care of it but if it's something that is easy to check, I'll be doing it.

Has such a thing happened to you? Thanks in advance for the advice.

Saldog.

 

[the Ferret]

It will not go into gear with the sidestand down.

 

[dduelin]

After starting and while idling the bike will not go into neutral if the side stand switch indicates the stand is down. It just ignores the button push to Drive. If the side stand switch is ok and the bike is idling in Drive, dropping the side stand will stop the engine. Maybe disconnect the two pin side stand wire connector and jump the wires on the bike side to see if you can select Drive

 

[saldog]

It will not go into gear with the sidestand down.

Thanks. I have actually never tried doing it so wasn't sure how it would behave. It sounds to me like it would behave exactly like it is doing if there was something wrong with the side stand switch.

 

[the Ferret]

I have done it a bunch of times lol

 

[saldog]

After starting and while idling the bike will not go into neutral if the side stand switch indicates the stand is down. It just ignores the button push to Drive. If the side stand switch is ok and the bike is idling in Drive, dropping the side stand will stop the engine. Maybe disconnect the two pin side stand wire connector and jump the wires on the bike side to see if you can select Drive

Thanks! I will see if I can find the wires and fiddle with them.

 

[the Ferret]

Check if it goes into drive with the kickstand up before fiddling with any wires

 

[saldog]

Check if it goes into drive with the kickstand up before fiddling with any wires

Thanks Ferret but that is exactly what I tried to do when leaving the house and how I know something is wrong. I never put it in drive on the stand. That's crazy talk man!

 

[the Ferret]

It's been a few days. What did you find out?

 

[saldog]

It's been a few days. What did you find out?

Dog gone it Ferret! I still haven’t had the chance to look at it. Too many other things going on. It’s like a splinter in my brain, too. I’ll let y’all know when I can get some time to look at it.

 

[jairlie]

Had a similar experience about a year ago, and then another one about a week ago. The one a week ago sounds exactly the same as yours. I finally got it into gear by shutting it down, cycling the kickstand, cycling the kill switch and starting it back up again a couple of times and it finally went into gear. I don't know which of those things fixed it. Mine is a 2018 NC750xd.

The experience a year ago was different in that the bike just died while accelerating onto an on ramp, and I couldn't get it started again. Trying the cycling above did not fix it. I was in the middle of a 6 day motorcycle rally. I wound up moving the bike around thinking if there was some switch in the gear box maybe moving the bike by hand might help. Still no go. Had it towed to a shop. At the shop a gear head looked at it tried a few things and couldn't figure it out either. It was after closing hours so when he went to walk the bike to a storage area he heard a clunk from the transmission when walking the bike backwards about 6-8 feet. Upon hearing that he reached over and started the damn thing. Still don't know what the problem was, and the mechanics can find nothing wrong. Very disconcerting on long, cross country, trips waiting for it to happen again.

 

[saldog]

Had a similar experience about a year ago, and then another one about a week ago. The one a week ago sounds exactly the same as yours. I finally got it into gear by shutting it down, cycling the kickstand, cycling the kill switch and starting it back up again a couple of times and it finally went into gear. I don't know which of those things fixed it. Mine is a 2018 NC750xd.

The experience a year ago was different in that the bike just died while accelerating onto an on ramp, and I couldn't get it started again. Trying the cycling above did not fix it. I was in the middle of a 6 day motorcycle rally. I wound up moving the bike around thinking if there was some switch in the gear box maybe moving the bike by hand might help. Still no go. Had it towed to a shop. At the shop a gear head looked at it tried a few things and couldn't figure it out either. It was after closing hours so when he went to walk the bike to a storage area he heard a clunk from the transmission when walking the bike backwards about 6-8 feet. Upon hearing that he reached over and started the damn thing. Still don't know what the problem was, and the mechanics can find nothing wrong. Very disconcerting on long, cross country, trips waiting for it to happen again.

I finally took the time today to see what I could find. I tried numerous times to cycle on and off with both the key and kill switch (I think), but I'm not sure if I covered all possible sequences. I wheeled the bike out of my cramped garage to work on it in the driveway and I put it up on a stand and took the side stand spring off and looked at how the switch mounts. I took the 8mm screw out that holds the switch on the stand swivel joint. There's a tab on the switch that engages in a hole on the stand swivel. The tab rotates with a bearing as the stand is raised/lowered. I reckon there is a Hall-effect switch in there somewhere that detects the position. A simple and effective design one would think.

I just fiddled with it and rotated it all the way around a few times. I tried putting it in a position that would represent slightly past the fully-up position of the side stand. I moved the position a little bit further and further, trying each time to put the bike in gear. It still wouldn't go into gear. I put it all back together and put my tools away, grumbling many words that had the letters M and F featured prominently in them along with Honda.

Just for kicks, I tried again. Kicked the stand up and down a few times. Still no dice. For some reason, and maybe I never actually did do this before, I shut off the motorcycle with the kill switch and then started it right back up and put it into drive. There was a big clunk this time and the son of a bitch went into gear like it's supposed to. I tried a few more times and it worked without any trouble. I took it off the stand, started it up, and rode into the garage under its power.

So Jairlie, it sounds like the "fix" was exactly the same for me as it was for you.

This is not confidence-inspiring as I would think having it decide to stop working at speed would be very bad. I mean, the motorcycle would shut itself off if it thought the side stand was down, right? Or even a less dangerous situation would have me stuck somewhere away from home, unable to get the bike in gear. If it really is a simple matter of always using the kill switch to shut off the motorcycle, I can live with that and develop that habit, which probably isn't a bad one to have anyway. For some reason I never developed it and always use the key. One time, I shut off a motorcycle with the kill switch and it drove me crazy later wondering why the bike wouldn't start until I realized the kill switch was still engaged. That was when we had separate starter switches of course and that wouldn't happen now, but the habit set in on me.

Anyway, taking the bike to the dealer is probably best (it should be covered under warranty) but this sounds like one of those things they won't be able to troubleshoot unless it can be demonstrated for them. Grrrr. In the meantime, I'll ride it to work to see how things go. I don't get to ride on fun rides miles away from home these days anyway, so if it strands me somewhere between home and work it isn't the end of the world. I'll update y'all if I learn more.

Peace.

Saldog

 

[the Ferret]

interesting. Glad you got it working anyway. BTW I ALWAYS use the key to turn mine off. Never the stop switch. Not sure what it says in the manual now, but it used to be called an emergency stop switch and the manual said not to use it to turn off the bike, other than in an emergency (like it was laying on the ground running)

says the same thing now I think, this is what I found online from a 2018 NC750X manual

Engine stop switch Should normally remain in the (Run) position. In an emergency, switch to the (Stop) position (the starter motor will not operate) to stop the engine.

 

[HarveyM]

Just an aside- It seems Honda's main objection to using the kill switch regularly is battery drain until the key is turned off. Also NC's have a lean angle sensor to cut the engine if you lay the bike down. The manual calls it the Ignition Cut-off System. I've tested it & can confirm it works

 

[Bskicrash1]

Just an aside- It seems Honda's main objection to using the kill switch regularly is battery drain until the key is turned off. Also NC's have a lean angle sensor to cut the engine if you lay the bike down. The manual calls it the Ignition Cut-off System. I've tested it & can confirm it works

I have also tested the lean angle sensor and can confirm that it kills the engine when laying on its side.

 

[dduelin]

To my mind lean angle sensors are more commonly associated with lean angle sensitive ABS, traction, and stability control systems. Long before these systems were invented Honda's legacy fuel injection system (PGM-FI) incorporated a bank angle sensor to cut off the fuel injection system if the bike fell onto its side.

 

[Bskicrash1]

I had an inertia switch on my 2009 zx6r. I unplugged the wire to the switch when replacing the stock taillight to an integrated tail/turn light. I scratched my head for two days as to why the motorcycle wouldn’t start. Eventually I found that sensor on a forum and plugged it in. If tipped,the reset procedure was to turn the key off and back in to reset the system and the bike would start. When I dropped the NC and the engine cut off, I turned the key off and then back on and it started. I didn’t think much of it until I read this post and it clicked that the Honda must be set up similarly.

 

[shinøbigami]

Not sure if your problem has been solved or not, but I had my switch replaced. It was doing the same thing you’ve described and I finally found out that if I fiddled with the wire to the switch as I would press the buttons then it would engage into drive. Fortunately for me replacing the switch was covered under the warranty.

 

[saldog]

Not sure if your problem has been solved or not, but I had my switch replaced. It was doing the same thing you’ve described and I finally found out that if I fiddled with the wire to the switch as I would press the buttons then it would engage into drive. Fortunately for me replacing the switch was covered under the warranty.

Actually, I have not solved my problem yet. I'm sorry for not coming back with an update to this post, so here it is.

The bike did almost strand me one day. It decided to start working and after a few tests, continued to work so I thought it was safe to ride. I made one stop on the way to work and when I went to leave, it would not go into gear. Fortunately, I was at a nice place on a beautiful day. I kept trying and trying and eventually it started, at which point I rode straight to a Honda dealership, where they told me they wouldn't even be able to look at it for 3-4 weeks. I had that conversation while still on the bike, idling, because I was too afraid to shut it off. I then rode home and it is still sitting in the garage, mocking me as we have been having famously beautiful Spring riding weather.

I hope it is a simple matter of changing out the switch and its harness. I wonder what would happen if it decided to fail at speed? Would the engine cut off while I was cruising at 80 mph on a busy freeway? That would not be good. Am I lucky that didn't already happen?

 

[shinøbigami]

Try fiddling with the two wires that feed into the switch while trying to engage the drive, I only needed to change out the switch, although I bet it was just a loose connection and they figured since it was under warranty they’ll change out the whole switch instead of just fixing the connection. With all the safety features on the bike I’m sure it won’t happen while your driving since the switch just engages drive and doesn’t control switching gears. Good luck with that and keep us posted.