Removing headlight (+ sidestand killswitch)

Personally, I think the best compromise would just be a very loud warning buzzer and/or light, but nothing to actually affect the motor's operation, and definitely no rube goldberg connected to a moving part of the motorcycle.

A warning light seems reasonable. and an added self-checker warner unit to flash the warning light would be good. similar to the way the brake indicator/warning light functions on my 650-csr, to let you know whether or not the brake light is working.

Lot's of great functions and possible mods discussed here, nice!

For me, the charm of getting an older bike is to get away from all the nanny stuff. I just want an engine and two wheels. As a fairly new rider, it's what I've learned to enjoy with motorcycles. Less is more etc

As long as the bike is mechanically safe, I'm happy!

/Lajning

Well, the bike in my avatar has almost nothing. Head, tail, and brake lights. No battery, even. Sometimes I wish it had a horn.

Forgetting to put the side stand up is the story I was told on this bike. The right side damage and bent side stand mount tab are consistent with the story. The PO stopped to check something and took off with the side stand down. He made it to the first left hand corner. He never rode it again. The bike was shoved in a shed where it sat for 30+ years.

The bike looks a little different now.

Wow, that bike looks stunning man! Great job!

Today I finally got to measuring the killswitch circuit. The switch itself has 4 wires. 2x black, 1 blue/white and 1 pink. Bluewhite/pink let's current through when the stand is down, black pair let's current through when the stand is up. So by shorting the two black ones, the bike should behave just like the kickstand is up all the time.

If I my mind does not deceive me, one of the black wires goes down and into the cover over the starter, the other ones just hides inside the main harness.

Oh, soon I will have enough material to start a proper project log, stay tuned!

I seem to remember a few bikes in the 80s had sprung stands .When you got on the bike and righted it,taking the weight off,the stand would automatically spring up. A nice idea for safety.No way of driving off with the stand down. The problem came when you jjust sat on a mates bike ( to get a feel for it) then got off again thinking the stand was still down!! Crunch!! A lot of broken fairings back then. ( and probably friendships)
I think they were called suicide stands.

davido wrote: I seem to remember a few bikes in the 80s had sprung stands .When you got on the bike and righted it,taking the weight off,the stand would automatically spring up. A nice idea for safety.No way of driving off with the stand down. The problem came when you jjust sat on a mates bike ( to get a feel for it) then got off again thinking the stand was still down!! Crunch!! A lot of broken fairings back then. ( and probably friendships)
I think they were called suicide stands.

Ducati's were known for that. In addition to the gotcha trap, it was harder to park the bike, generally, since you'd have to have your left foot on the stand until you set the bike on it. That's not a great position to be in for balance, especially if you are on an uneven surface.