My lever has to be pulled all the way to the grip to start. I would say the lever switch also. May be bad or may need adjusted. I'm assuming it can be adjusted.
Check your grounds, especially the one under the airbox, that is the main one between the engine and frame, trust me, I did everything else before I cleaned that one and when I finally did, Wa LA it fixed it.
Is your neutral light on? I found that after I did all the grounds, that the neutral switch connector was coming apart. I pushed it together and that fixed that.
the bike STARTS fine... it just has to be in neutral.... and that kinda sucks if it coughs and stalls when its cold... then I look like dill hole cause I'm fighting to put it in neutral while the light changes and the peeps behind me are about to run me over..... its fun