[Tallredrider]

My wife has a 2006 CRF 230F. It has been a great bike. It has run flawlessly with no problems. We live near an area where there are steep rocky hills and also a lot of sand. This creates many opportunities to stall the bike, sometimes in precarious positions (like just half way up a steep hill).

This bike has to be in neutral in order to start it. While trying to hold a bike upright on a steep hill and finding neutral can be a bit tricky when you weight 125 pounds yourself. My 450X can electric start in gear...What gives? Can I modify this so that she could just pull the clutch and hit the button, even when in gear? Do I want to do that?

[Cantstunt]

Mine starts in gear with no modifications as long as the clutch is pulled in. Take a look at the clutch perch. There is a small switch with two wires going into it. I think one is green and one is green with a pink stripe. Make sure both of them are plugged in. If they are both plugged in, then chances are the switch is bad. You can bypass the switch by connecting these two wires together, but be careful because it will start in gear even without the clutch pulled in.

[Tallredrider]

Thanks for your suggestion.

I go to the bike, and sure enough, the wires are there, but appear to be loosely connected if at all. So I connected them...still no start while in gear. I reconnected multiple times, shake the dirt out of them and still not starting when in gear with the clutch in.

Then I did as you suggested and put the green and green with pink striped wire together and like magic 'VROOM'. She fired right up. Looks like I am off to the dealer to get a new switch.

It has been that way for a long time, the wife just accepted it as a sad fact of life.

THANKS!

[mr50]

WHAT MODEL IS YOUR BIKE IS IT UNDER WARRANTY MINE STARTS WITH IN GEAR EASY WHEN I MASH THE CLUTCH

[Tallredrider]

Since this is the 230F forum, it is the CRF 230F, kind of like I said in the first post.

I told my wife what I found and she thought it was interesting because she thinks it has been that way ever since we bought it. Since I bought it brand new in December 05, I am sure the dealer will not cover it. Warranties in general on dirt bikes are pretty poor.

[Cantstunt]

Looks like it's #7 in this diagram

http://www.ronayers.com/fiche/200_0421/ ... arent=7370

I think they have for like $10.25. It will be a little higher at your dealer, but you won't have to pay shipping. Mine are soldered together so I don't have to worry about the switch going bad again, but if someone hits the starter button while it's in gear on the kickstand...watch out!

[coljam]

Bad form, Cantstunt. Sending some one to one of Ken's competitors in the open forum. Ken's a nice guys and all, and probably wouldn't complain (too loudly), but he isn't hosting this site just cause he's a nice guy. It brings in business.

I might suggest in the future that a PM would get your message through without Ken's CRFs site to promote a competitor.

[Tallredrider]

I cannot find it on CRFsonly anyway. If he has it, I would be happy to order it from this site. If you see it, let me know. Perhaps that is why he referred me to the other site.

[gal8x]

i had a problem with this switch, destroyed it trying to fix it.
i noticed a hole in the case directly under the contacts. not smart for a dirt bike. i have a new switch in the mail and plan to put some tape over the hole (if it has one too).

replacing it with a kill switch is another idea.

[Cantstunt]

Coljam, you're right. I probably shouldn't have posted that link, but I didn't really think it was a big deal since Ken doesn't sell factory Honda parts. Next time I will use PM. I have ordered from Ken myself and want to support the site as much as possible. I guess I just wasn't thinking, only trying to help a fellow rider.

[JAWS]

Coljam, you're right. I probably shouldn't have posted that link, but I didn't really think it was a big deal since Ken doesn't sell factory Honda parts. Next time I will use PM. I have ordered from Ken myself and want to support the site as much as possible. I guess I just wasn't thinking, only trying to help a fellow rider.

While I cannot speak for Ken, I suspect he doesn't mind you posting a reference to something that he doesn't provide. Unfortunately, (Ken are you reading this??) he provides a lot more than he tells us about. It's hard to know what the line is. I don't think you crossed it.

Joe

[the hawk]

you could just take the cover off the wires and push them together by the ends and tape them thats what is did when i bought my asv lever and i didnt feel like taking the purch off

[Tallredrider]

I forgot to update. I got the new unit, installed it, and now it works like it is supposed to. I decided not to just put the wires together incase of those stupid moments, when you might forget to pull the clutch in, or I do have kids who sometimes push buttons just to see what might happen.

[Cantstunt]

Glad to hear you got it fixed!