Hey guys!

I'm new on this forum and a first time owner of the RVF400, I currently have two issues - well there's only one issue for now as the other still needs clarifying

1. So I've taken my bike out for 1 or 2 rides since buying a new RVF400 (only has 13,000 km) and I noticed that the temperature gauge would read 1/2 to 2/3 after only 10 minutes of riding. I wasn't riding hard or anything, kept the revs under 7k. When stopping I can hear the fan kick in. Is this normal running temperature? should it be below 1/2 on temp gauge?

2. I'm sure this is a problem, I've done a quick search on this forum and have found a thread a while ago which had the same problem and still remains to be addressed.

Off a cold start my neutral light works perfectly and would come on every time I kick it into neutral. After riding for a while and the bike warming up, the green light neutral indicator would flicker and then disappear and doesn't seem to detect neutral anymore!! The bike would be running in neutral (side stand up) and the indicator would not light up. The annoying issue is that you can't start the bike with the side stand down, in neutral, because the indicator isn't on, so the only way to start it now is to hop on, raise the kick stand, put it into first, hold in the clutch and start - or you could wait 10 minutes for the bike to cool down so the neutral light can function again......I know doesn't sound like a big deal but it's annoying as fck when you just wanna make a quick stop and start. I'm just wondering if anyone's managed to solve this annoying little problem.

Anyhow, the bike is a marvelous piece of engineering and I love it to bits, so I hope that there's nothing else wrong with it! and sorry for the rather long and boring first post but thanks for your help :D

Hi, welcome aboard and congrats on getting an RVF.

The temperature issue might be fairly normal if those 10 minutes were spent in town; all the stop-start and traffic doesn't help with keeping these V4 beauties cooled!
A good clean of the rads and a change of coolant should do wonders for it, so I'd do that as it's fairly easy to do and doesn't cost much!

As for the neutral light, it may be a wiring problem - perhaps one of the earth points is loose - or maybe the neutral switch is faulty. You'll have to try and eliminate the various bits that could be causing the problem. If you don't have a Haynes manual yet I'd recommend you getting one, especially if you plan on doing some work on the RVF yourself, it'll pay for itself many times over!

P.s. About the side stand; its safety switch (which prevents the engine being started when the stand is down), tends to get oily and muddy; check that all is ok at that end too, it's attached to the stand itself!

Good luck!

Hey,

Thanks for the reply, it's good to hear that the temperature issue wasn't odd. I was riding in traffic conditions and it only seemed to get worse whenever I stopped.

As for the neutral light, I do have a haynes manual but it doesn't help much with isolating the problem. Also there's nothing wrong with my side stand, I do know that if it's down the engine won't start unless it's in neutral. In this case the bike IS in neutral, it's just that the darn neutral light won't turn on, and the logic system seems to require the indicator to be physically on before it'll allow the engine to start

Bike will start normally in any other gear with clutch in and side-stand up.

The only strange part is that the neutral indicator will operate fine when the bike is cold or cool but once it warms up, it malfunctions

The bulb is probably just loose in the holder, or the fragile metal tabs on the bulb are bent.

If in doubt take it out and replace it, should cost less than a dollar.