BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

This new to me 2015 r1200rt will not start in gear with clutch pulled and kick stand up.
Bad clutch switch. Seems this would be dangerous if you stalled in traffic.

Neither will my 2019 1250. I'm new to BMW and I just thought that this was a peculiarity of the brand?

Maybe someone with more knowledge about this will respond.
Never had this on a motorcycle.

Hello,
There are 2 things to look for that are likely trouble spots.
1) There is a small wiring connector on the front side of the clutch handle bracket.
If you have added bar backs/bar risers, that can add undue strain on the little connector, causing it to not make good contact.
If you recently had the body panels off or even deeper around the fuel tank or front shock, or wherever the wiring loom for this wire/switch runs, there may be extra tension on the cable resulting in a poor connection at the clutch handle switch.

2) The gear indicator switch mounted on the aft side of the transmission can be intermittent, or going bad.
If you can only start the bike when the green "N" is displayed on the instrument cluster, and the clutch switch is tested good, this "could" be a source of trouble.
Noting if the digits for the gears are not always consistent, or sometimes blank when in a specific gear, then this also leads to the gear indicator sending unit on the back side of the transmission.

It's best to check the clutch switch wiring connector first before trying the gear indicator switch since the wiring connections for this switch are a pain to get to, let alone disconnect/reconnect.

Good luck chasing electron gremlins.
Brad

Sounds to me like the clutch lever switch to. Take it off and give the 2 contacts a good clean.

Hi

Clutch leaver switch common issue just gone on mine, getting it replaceed under warranty. Same happened on my previous 1200rt twice

Simple fix take about 30 mins the switch unit has 2 micros switches one fails and then you get the problem of not starting whilst in gear

All very helpful

Thanks for suggestions. Will get into it tomorrow. Today was service the snow blower.

Good news. Pulled the clutch swith this morning. There was dirt and lint behind the two micro switches. These handle bar switches and levers get dirty and wet. Had the throttle off yesterday because it had some drag to it. Most of it came frome the housing where the heated grip wires run. Put some dry graphite in the housing and heavy duty silicone on the bar and throttle tube.
Back to the clutch switch, tested the switch with a multimeter. All good. Put a little dielectric grease on the pins. Ignition on, kickstand up, first gear, pull in clutch, hit starter button, success. Yeah!