2016 F3S shut down in gear, now won't restart - any info/ideas?

[Rangu01]

Hi all, I created a problem on my 2017 F3S this morning. I inadvertently turned off the ignition while it was still in 1st gear (It is an SE6 - with the hand brake on).
Turned ignition back on, but it would not crank as it was still in 1st gear.
After much stuffing around I located what appeared to be the gear shifter shaft, if it were a manual. I was able to grip the shaft carefully and rotate it until it clicked, thankfully into neutral!
After that, it started perfectly, just a trap for new players? Or is there a procedure for getting back to Neutral other than climbing underneath and rotating the gear spindle to overcome this error.
I know I won't do that again (hopefully).
Thanks for any info - procedure.
Cheers.

[Peter Aawen]

Hi Rangu, welcome to posting.

Your F3 SE6 should still have cranked over and started even left it in gear, IF you had your foot on the brake. There is a lock-out unless the Brake Pedal is applied for those times you do happen to leave it in gear, but your Spyder really doesn't actually need to be in Neutral to start, cos the clutch won't be engaged until you get oil pressure from the engine, and as soon as you get oil pressure, the trans computer will immediately shift the trans into Neutral.... And Yes, that was the gear shifter shaft - the SE's are actually still a Manual gearbox, only with the added bonus of a sexy quick-shifting clutch and some flash electro-solenoid gear change stuff!

So unless your F3's Brake Micro-switch is dead or dirty; or your Gear Position Sensor is dead or way out of whack, my first thought about all this would be that you only needed to make sure that you had your foot on the brake when you tried starting it, even if you did stop it in Neutral. You wouldn't be the first caught out by that little feature, either; nor likely to be the last!

I'd guess that you found the hard way to solve what should've been a fairly easy thing to resolve - I hope!

Now that you're starting again, just remember to stop it in Neutral if you can; and always try to start your bike with your foot on the brake!

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I bought my 14 RT new in Ill., I flew there and planned to drive it home ..... While on the way back I stopped and shut it off, it was still in gear ..... It would not re-start .... luckily a good Samaritan stopped and was able to give me a jump start from His car ..... The spyder switched into NEUTRAL and then started right up ..... After getting home I determined that my oem BATTERY HAD NOT BEEN PROPERLY CHARGED at the dealer ..... So I learned to always put it in neutral before shutting off .... If your Battery is even slightly WEAK it may not have the power to start from anything but Neutral .... good luck .... Mike

[Rangu01]

Thanks for the reply Peter.
Yes, I did apply the brake, but still no start. The brake lock out must work, as even when starting in Neutral, I have to apply the brake.
Thanks for the additional info as well.
Cheers.

[Rangu01]

Thanks Blue knight. I'm sure my battery was fully charged, I had only just driven it about a Kilometer from initial start, where it had been sitting with a battery maintenance device attached. (And it started straight up once I manually selected Neutral).

[CloverHillCrawler]

There are times when the nanny gets straight up confused. Several months ago I had to do an evade, brake hard, and stop when cut off by a cage on an off ramp. I braked hard enough that the engine stalled in 3rd. I went to hit the starter with the brake on and no joy.

Tried several times and nothing would happen, gear shift indicator was stuck in third the whole time.

I then turned off the ignition switch and removed the key hoping this would reset whatever was upset and luckily it worked. I attempted to restart again, it started, and shifted itself back into neutral.

[blacklightning]

I hardly ever switch my spyder into neutral before turning it off. It always goes back to neutral when it starts.

[Rangu01]

Thanks Cloverhill, I didn't try the key removal trick, but I will keep it in mind if I ever get stuck again.

[CloverHillCrawler]

Thanks Cloverhill, I didn't try the key removal trick, but I will keep it in mind if I ever get stuck again.

I just figured like any other cpu it does a POST (Power On Self Test) and one of the checks would be gear position. I may just be speaking out of my a$$ as I have never looked and checked in any manuals, but it seemed to have worked at that time.