Neutral safety switch suddenly starts working

I've had this bike since last year, and none of the start safety switches have worked on it (neutral, sidestand). I always figured the PO had removed them. No big deal to me, never had a problem remembering to put the clutch in when starting. (Sidestand being down is another story... )
Suddenly, last night, the bike won't start without being in neutral. OK, I really don't care one way or another, but now I'm wondering what else is going to suddenly change. Strangely, the headlight starter cut-off began working at the same time. But since the sidestand safety is still dead, the only way I can start is being in neutral.
Damn electrical systems, I'm actually going to have to start tracing wires and circuits to make sure everything actually works as desired. I hate that ****.
I guess the first thing to track down will be that sidestand safety to see if I can avoid having to always start in neutral. Time to start searching the forums for posts on that...
grumble grumble
I like this bike, but I do see the appeal of having a new bike where everything just works. And accessories are readily available. :roll:

 

New bikes require maintenance too; all that's wrong with most 30-year old bikes is the last 30 years' worth of NO maintenance.

Reverse that, and everything will work as it should.

The individual switches can be eliminated by bypassing/jumpering; but I wouldn't recommend it. The Yamaha sidestand is just the wrong shape/geometry to DROP the bike if you turn left with it down; and it's not readily visible when deployed.

Better to fix the safety stuff; once it's all working correctly it's inobtrusive.

 

Not only that, but consider replacing the fuse box if you haven't already. The ears that hold the original fuses in place tend to break.

While electrical stuff on the bike might not seem intuitive, a wiring diagram, multi-meter, and some basic knowledge (which this site and it's members can provide) will be enough to figure out almost all electrical issues.

Also, don't forget to clean all connectors and grease them up. Corrosion is an issue on all old electronics that are exposed to the elements.

I agree with Fitz, once it's all working, its inobtrusive. Heck, it saved me just the other day when I forgot I had JUST put the bike in gear (on a hill) and tried to start it.

 

My original fuse box crumbled when I touched it, so that got replaced last year. That was a must; it wasn't reliable enough to drive around town let alone outside of town.
I can do most electrical work, I just don't like to mostly because the type of problems they cause are intermitent and hard to track down. BUT ya gotta do what ya gotta do. I'm sure I'll be hitting the search hard.