Stuck in 1st gear & won't start - any ideas?

[Garf]

Went to start my 2017 rt SE6 today and turned the key and the bike went thru the power up procedure
but the gear selector indicates 1st and the bike won't turn over.
Any ideas? Thanks

[Garf]

Problem solved!
Took the key out, waited 10 minutes and tried again. It still indicated 1st gear but this time it turned over and started.
The gear indicator then changed from 1st to neutral.
All is well....Silly Spyder!

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Problem solved!
Took the key out, waited 10 minutes and tried again. It still indicated 1st gear but this time it turned over and started.
The gear indicator then changed from 1st to neutral.
All is well....Silly Spyder!

Over the years I have decided that a low battery is usually the cause of the bike not starting because it was left in gear ( 1st ) when it was shut down. .... I ALWAYS leave it in Neutral and it always starts even if the battery is low because it's 5+ years old .... It appears the AUTO shift into Neutral needs more juice than if the trans. is in Neutral at shut down ..... just my personal experience ..... good luck .... Mike

[MONK]

If you're stuck in 1st gear, press on the brake whilst trying to start. It's a built in safety feature.

[Garf]

Spyder is always on a tender when not in use, but I agree that a 5 year old battery is probably ready for replacement.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Spyder is always on a tender when not in use, but I agree that a 5 year old battery is probably ready for replacement.

As batteries age they begin losing their ability to provide maximum output ..... Do you have STAR washers on the terminals ...... Mike

[2dogs]

1330's suck a lot of volts/amps during and just prior to startup. If you have a volt gauge you can watch it drop and then rebuild quickly. As your battery grows older that time frame takes longer. I got 7 good years out of my OEM battery. I guess a lot of folks don't get that kind of battery life. Depends on how you care for it I guess.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

1330's suck a lot of volts/amps during and just prior to startup. If you have a volt gauge you can watch it drop and then rebuild quickly. As your battery grows older that time frame takes longer. I got 7 good years out of my OEM battery. I guess a lot of folks don't get that kind of battery life. Depends on how you care for it I guess.

X's 2..... I got six years which is good considering the size we use ..... Mike

[PaladinLV]

Over the years I have decided that a low battery is usually the cause of the bike not starting because it was left in gear ( 1st ) when it was shut down. .... I ALWAYS leave it in Neutral and it always starts even if the battery is low because it's 5+ years old .... It appears the AUTO shift into Neutral needs more juice than if the trans. is in Neutral at shut down ..... just my personal experience ..... good luck .... Mike

I've had a 2014 RT-S for 8 years and for 8 years every time I shut down the bike goes into Neutral regardless if it indicated 1st at the time I shut-off power.
So HOW do I know this. Easy! When my "Parking" brake needs adjustment or has sufficiently worn, the bike rolls on an incline. It also rolls if I shut it down without applying the "Parking" brake.

If it were "really" in gear, it would never roll.

AJ

[Peter Aawen]

I've had a 2014 RT-S for 8 years and for 8 years every time I shut down the bike goes into Neutral regardless if it indicated 1st at the time I shut-off power.
So HOW do I know this. Easy! When my "Parking" break needs adjustment or has sufficiently worn, the bike rolls on an incline. It also rolls if I shut it down without applying the "Parking" break.

If it were "really" in gear, it would never roll.

AJ

Nice thought that, but the 1330 SE's have a clutch that's activated by the oil pressure that's ONLY present when the engine is running, so the moment the engine shuts down, even if the trans is still in gear, it's the clutch that disengages the driveline from the output shaft, not the trans shifting to Neutral; and the clutch disengaging is why your Spyder will roll freely once the engine's not running in the manner that you've experienced !

So if you shut the engine down while it's in gear, the Spyder will roll freely as per your post even tho the trans still has a gear engaged; but as soon as you try to start the engine, then as Blueknight suggested, the computer senses that the trans is still in a gear so it selects Neutral on start-up, and as BK suggested, that does take some 'extra' electrical power!

However, I don't think it actually takes any more power for that shift, it's just that before the engine has started firing again, instead of that shift being powered by the alternator, all of that power hasta come straight from the battery at pretty much exactly the same time you're calling on the starter to crank, & the coils to fire, etc, etc - and that's all happening before the alternator has started to provide any green steam!

[Garf]

As batteries age they begin losing their ability to provide maximum output ..... Do you have STAR washers on the terminals ...... Mike

Yes indeed on the star washers. My background is in pro audio, and I used star washers when mounting components to racks. Solved many noise and hum problems by ensuring a good bond between the equipment and the rack.

[Mike0123]

. It appears the AUTO shift into Neutral needs more juice than if the trans. is in Neutral at shut down ..... just my personal experience ..... good luck .... Mike

heh... this is pretty interesting. I wonder if you are on to something here...
Nice observation

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

heh... this is pretty interesting. I wonder if you are on to something here...
Nice observation

I think so .... I bought my 14 RT NEW and the dealer didn't charge it correctly ..... As I was coming home from Ill. ( to Vermont ). I had stopped and shut it off ... IN GEAR .... It wouldn't re-start .... A good Samaritan stopped and gave me a JUMP from His car Battery .... My RT started instantly .... I decided at that point to always leave it in neutral .. and had no further issues. ..... JMHO .... Mike

[Piratezz]

I listened to Mike, and it is now the procedure i use, Neutral when stopping, practice it, and it will become, muscle memory.....

[K80Shooter]

I also never leave mine in gear when parked/stopped. Why would you?

[Yabbadabbadoo]

From day one I've always shifted to Neutral before shutting down. Maybe it's because I had read about people having this problem.

[billybovine]

Sorry that is not the way it works. On a SE model. When starting in gear. Your foot needs to be on the service brake for the starter to crank the engine. After the engine starts and reaches idle speed. The transmission will shift will to neutral from any gear. The transmission is not shifted to neutral before starting. That's impossible. Hydraulic pressure shifts the transmission and that does not happen until the trans pump is running.

There is no extra power needed to start the engine in gear. So in this case there does not appear to any evidence of a battery issue and it was not stuck in gear.

[ThreeWheels]

Went to start my 2017 rt SE6 today and turned the key and the bike went thru the power up procedure
but the gear selector indicates 1st and the bike won't turn over.
Any ideas? Thanks

Sorry if I'm late to the party, you may have seen this answer already.
You need to have your foot on the brake to start the bike in any gear other than neutral.

[budC]

Problem solved!
Took the key out, waited 10 minutes and tried again. It still indicated 1st gear but this time it turned over and started.
The gear indicator then changed from 1st to neutral.
All is well....Silly Spyder!

Irrelevant to your issue, but for everyone else...

Check the kill switch. I had this problem and it took me better than 15 min - finally RTFM and found reference to it in the "troubleshooting" section.

The reason it took so long is that the spyder is different that most bikes. On every other bike I've owned, the kill switch just interrupts the ignition. If it was switched to "off", the starter (if it had one) would turn over, the engine would just not start.

On the Spyder, the kill switch evidently interrupts the starter circuit, as well.