neutral light problem

[5str48]

1988 GL 1500 green neutral light will occasionally fail but will come on when I manipulate the reverse lever. Bike runs fine and starts when in neutral gear even with green light not on. Reverse itself works errantly (have to continually press start button to back up). Hoping that this is not a difficult fix. Any thoughts? Thanks

[Rambozo]

Go through the reverse adjustment procedure. (cables, switches, etc.) Sounds like it's just out of adjustment, or maybe a dirty switch.

[bellboy40]

1988 GL 1500 green neutral light will occasionally fail but will come on when I manipulate the reverse lever. Bike runs fine and starts when in neutral gear even with green light not on. Reverse itself works errantly (have to continually press start button to back up). Hoping that this is not a difficult fix. Any thoughts? Thanks

That neutral light not coming on probably is caused by the reverse lever switch not making good contact. The 12 volts to light the neutral bulb comes through the contacts of this switch. Try spraying some contact cleaner on that switch. You might can get some where it needs to be by taking the reverse handle off and spraying in beside it.
As for having to continually press the start button in to reverse, that is how it is supposed to work.

[bellboy40]

Here is what the reverse switch looks like. This is just behind the reverse lever. You can see where the reverse lever attaches to this and that switch is just behind it.

Reverse lever switch