TOPIC:

My ignition switch looks like it has taken a beating and sometimes its difficult to get the key to turn in it. My gut feeling is it should be fairly simply to just hack the wires off, remove it and plug a new ignition in. Is this the case or am I over simplifying?

i.e. if i can find a generic ignition switch or a used one from another bike with keys, should it be pretty straight forward to hook it up?

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I have seen several switches on ebay at relatively cheap prices. I don't think I have a spare one, but I will look through some boxes. Looking on Ebay there are currently three listed, but none have keys. Not too expensive to have a key cut though. Good Luck...Also a little graphite and some general cleaning may help it out too. I think you can disassemble it to accomplish this.

Post edited by: Sputnic81, at: 2007/02/14 23:47

Sputnic81 wrote:

...Also a little graphite and some general cleaning may help it out too. I think you can disassemble it to accomplish this.

I was going to suggest the same; or try this.
Put your key up to the switch but just insert it 5mm or so, not all the way in, then spray a shot of PB Blaster or WD-40 onto key and into cylinder as you finish inserting. Work switch a few times. Now remove the switch plug and assembly. Then spray switch back and try to get some around the terminals and down into the "works" where the switch contacts live. This works best if you let gravity work for you; that is, with terminals sticking straight up in the air. Therefore the removal of switch assembly from the bike. I have also sprayed it, let it sit half an hour, then use compressed air to force the spray into switch body. You don't really need to worry about overdoing it with the spray, as it is non-conductive. Do it now and again in a month or so.
I have done this to umpteen gazillion "dry" tumblers, ignition switches and light dimmers/switches and have never yet suffered any ill effects.
Hope this helps.

Post edited by: JimatMilkyWay, at: 2007/02/15 01:28

Thanks for the tips guys, certainly lubing it up, as it were, will help in the interim but like I say, it looks like originally someone may have taken a screwdriver to it or something. Its beaten up a bit, dinged and dented. Just wondering if there is some physical deformation of the metal that might one day make me sad, thats why i was hoping for an easy to switch out aftermarket ignition

I use some stuff available at Radio Shack...electrical contact lube and cleaner. Lubes and removes oxidation and corrosion.

Robjb84 wrote:

....like I say, it looks like originally someone may have taken a screwdriver to it or something. Its beaten up a bit,....

You are right to be concerned. If it is bad enough to allow water in, then you really are riding on borrowed time.

The different aftermarket Emgo switches are different in large part because they are installed into the "dash" in different ways. I would not be terribly concerned about how they install as you could always fabricate something to keep a new switch in place.

To get the correct switch, keep in mind that they all work in a similar way and will use similarly colored wires as your OEM switch. The other difference will be that there are a variety of connectors used (the one in the headlight shell) to connect the ignition switch to the main harness. This connector is usually partly melted on the OEM switch anyway. The Emgo switch for the 900 has a SIX pin connector that actually fits inside the OEM EIGHT pin female (I think the number of pins is correct but if not, the Emgo connector is definitely has less pins than the original OEM connector but it does fit)....

OK, what you want to look at is the wire function. THE MAIN issue you will want to look at is getting a switch from a bike where the right hand switch gear has the SAME headlight function as your bike. Any of these ignition switches will have a larger gauge white wire coming in. This is the power-into-switch wire. Out of the switch will be a variety of other wire colors. BLUE, RED, BROWN, WHITE are commonly coming out. On the bikes with NO ON/PO/OFF switch on the right switch gear, the BLUE wire will not connect with the right switchgear connector but will go to the left switch and to the brake light circuits directly through the harness. If your bike bike has an ON/PO/OFF type headlight switch on the right switch gear, what I am trying to say is that wiring will be much simplified if you get an Emgo ignition switch from another bike with a similar ON/PO/OFF switch.

I would also not hesitate to cut the connectors OFF the Emgo switch and the wiring harness and install heavier, stouter connectors. Z1Enterprises.com can sell you some. The stock ones tend to melt over time. Use dielectic grease on the new connections.

If you are not interested in the nominal security of a keyed ignition switch, you could basically hotwire the white wire to the other circuits and put a simple continuity switch in its place. If you put it out of the way, it would probably be as effective as a theft deterrent as a keyed ignition switch.