Killswitch not working

[Guest]

I killed the engine because the traffic wasn't moving. Now it wont start at all. Tried to roll start but it seems not to work.
?


If I pry off the start button, will I be able to manually start it? By just bypassing the switch?

What color wire is for the killswitch? Can I just cut those off and connect?

 

[hannibal]

Orange wire to the kill switch and orange/white from the kill switch.

Don't pry off the button. Use a screwdriver to open the switch.

 

[Brendan W]

Check the ignition fuse. Third from the top or the middle fuse.
Find the plug for the handlebar switch
Three wires,
a) Orange, supply from fusebox
b) Orange/White supply to coils after kill switch
c) Yellow/Green supply to starter solenoid after start button.
If you loop the O and O/W at the supply plug the ignition is live and you can roll start.
If you loop the O and O/W at the plug and then close it up, you have bypassed the kill and should have push button start.
This is the 850, almost identical.

 

[Guest]

I rolled it to a furniture store (damn this thing is heavy uphills), disassembled the switch thing, killswitch seems fine? Found a wire I had to short to start the bike, cut that wire off, had my wife start it with a paperclip and rode home clinching the wires together. Thank god I didnt stall it.

I think the whole thing needs a good clean. Might actually take the left appart too, the honk button is severely wonky.

Cut off a bit of the wire trying to strip it (furniture store had a very limited selection of tools to lend me) so I need to longer it.

 

[Guest]

I see bikebandit has both assys. Should I just replace them both?

 

[Dogma]

I see bikebandit has both assys. Should I just replace them both?

Bike bandit is probably expensive. Definitely more expensive than a cleaning. You local auto parts place should have contact cleaner and dielectric grease to protect them after. If that doesn't fix things, you'll need to do some diagnosis with a meter to find where the problem really is.

 

[Guest]

I did some experiments today. I am fairly certain the switch works now (I pulled the spring longer and sanded the connectors). But still no dice.

Even if I hold something metal around it the bike wont start.

Only way of starting it is having the orange red touch the orange white. Touching the orange red to one side of the killswitch also seems to work (it is somewhat hard to hold the loose wire and my paperclip).

Im buying a voltometre and will find my soldering iron so I can solder the red and orange back in place.

Could this be a dead fuse Im bypassing by moving the wire?

Altho if the switch worked I guess I should be able to touch either end with the red and orange wire.

Edit: I rested touching red and orange to the killswitch. If its in the on position you can touch either side and it runs. If off, only one side. This confirms the switch works. No idea why it wont run without the red and orange (headlight wire?) Touching it.

 

[Guest]

It was the fuse. I replaced all five (couldn't see which was damaged). So now I just need to solder the orange/red wire back on, reassemble the switchgear and Im good to go again!

The entire fusebox looks a bit grimy, I got some contact cleaner and dielectric grease spray (couldnt find other kinds).

I guess a box of fuses will be an addition to my bikes glove compartment. Do fuses blow regularly?

 

[Grimly]

Do fuses blow regularly?

Very rarely.

 

[Guest]

Very rarely.

Could you quantify that? Like, is it once per season, or once per five years? I realize there isnt a clear answer, but I just want a ballpark. Wondering if an automatic fuse solution would be better for me. And how important a stack of spare fuses are. I got attacked by seagulls trying to get the bike started, and I am rather motivated to avoid that in the future.

 

[bull958]

Fight back, they're not so big. :0)

 

[Guest]

Fight back, they're not so big. :0)

They are small, but unfortunately they are vertically divided from me, and have the ability to litterarily s*hit all over me and my bike... It felt terrible at the time (winded from pushing this fat bike uphill) and covered in bird excrements in my new jacket, but I suppose its an amusing anecdote now.

 

[Brendan W]

Could you quantify that? Like, is it once per season, or once per five years? I realize there isnt a clear answer, but I just want a ballpark. Wondering if an automatic fuse solution would be better for me. And how important a stack of spare fuses are. I got attacked by seagulls trying to get the bike started, and I am rather motivated to avoid that in the future.

My 850 is seven years in the garage. It blew a fuse in the first summer. I was still sorting the electrical cornucopia bestowed by a PO or two.
Was it bad wiring or an old fuse? Who knows.
Since then, nada, nothing.
Some of the glass fuses you find are of poor quality. In particular the solder at the end caps cracks.
Test them with the bike running for a hot spot at one or both ends.
The fuse holders are prone to oxidation which does not help.
A good clean will.
Some have changed to a modern fusebox with blade type fuses.

 

[Grimly]

<shrug>
I've blown one fuse in the last 20 years and that was caused by carelessness.
Recently though, the main fuse developed a fault, which was a bloody nuisance as it was only 30 years old. I had to fit a new one.

 

[Guest]

My 850 is seven years in the garage. It blew a fuse in the first summer. I was still sorting the electrical cornucopia bestowed by a PO or two.
Was it bad wiring or an old fuse? Who knows.
Since then, nada, nothing.
Some of the glass fuses you find are of poor quality. In particular the solder at the end caps cracks.
Test them with the bike running for a hot spot at one or both ends.
The fuse holders are prone to oxidation which does not help.
A good clean will.
Some have changed to a modern fusebox with blade type fuses.

The fuse holders looks well oxidated. I have some anti-oxidation spray. Is it safe to spray them liberally?

I replaced all the fuses (fuses are pretty cheap, and I couldnt remember which one was wrong).

<shrug>
I've blown one fuse in the last 20 years and that was caused by carelessness.
Recently though, the main fuse developed a fault, which was a bloody nuisance as it was only 30 years old. I had to fit a new one.

Thank you. Now I am assured the broken fuse was a case of extremely bad luck or a possible electrical error. All the fuses are replaced, and at least one of them had the metal lead just loose inside.

Is the main fuse different from the glas fuses? The electrical layout confuses me on these bikes. When I get more familiar I will get proper relays for my accessories, or a fancy automatic fusebox. It seems both the charging and the battery is strong though, so having the GPS directly connected to the battery hasn't posed an issue yet.

I am so puzzled why it broke just as I flipped the killswitch off (or on) or when I pressed the starter (it didnt turn over at all). I hope it isnt a symptom of some other error. But I guess I am all sorted to get it to the garage to sort the other issues, just have to solder the wire on.

 

[Grimly]

The main fuse is the top one of them. The ones under that deal with ignition, lights, signals horn, etc, but not necessarily in that order.
Over the years I've had to keep on top of making sure the fuse contacts are clean. Several times I've meant to replace the fuse holders with a modern bladed type, but they continue to work fine.

 

[Brendan W]

The fuse holders looks well oxidated. I have some anti-oxidation spray. Is it safe to spray them liberally?

I replaced all the fuses (fuses are pretty cheap, and I couldnt remember which one was wrong).

.

Spraying won't do any harm but probably won't do much good either.
You will need to clean the contacts either manually or with a product like Deoxit or naval jelly or a combination of them.
While you are there the plug on the fusebox tail can also hide corrosion and it's well worth opening that and cleaning the pins.
If the kill switch is dirty the ignition switch is probably not far behind and at some stage you could open that and clean the contacts before other strange issues start happening.
The blade fusebox is an option. The original can work fine but at some stage you make a call if the old box is beyond redemption.
Switching on and off is a high stress time for a circuit and any weakness could show up first right at that time.
The fuse was likely the middle one, ignition. That supplies power to the kill switch and the starter button.

 

[bull958]

I had the lights fuse pop on me last week. It was only 39 years old, I guess they don`t make things like they used to...

 

[Gorminrider]

as Grimly said, Very rarely. I'm tempted to say NEVER but seeing as the real universe doesn't function with "NEVER" I have a spare 15 and 10 in the bottom of the toolbag.
In my experience, you only blow them by misadventure an accident when fooling around with components and you soon learn to be careful.

Otherwise, you have a troublesome short and that needs fixing.

Seagulls attacking? What are you doing-eating their eggs? Or killing the kits? Or eating french fries? It's also possible they have had trouble with someone that looked similar, though you might be suprised how well they recognise particular people.

 

[Guest]

as Grimly said, Very rarely. I'm tempted to say NEVER but seeing as the real universe doesn't function with "NEVER" I have a spare 15 and 10 in the bottom of the toolbag.
In my experience, you only blow them by misadventure an accident when fooling around with components and you soon learn to be careful.

Otherwise, you have a troublesome short and that needs fixing.

Seagulls attacking? What are you doing-eating their eggs? Or killing the kits? Or eating french fries? It's also possible they have had trouble with someone that looked similar, though you might be suprised how well they recognise particular people.

It happened when I used the killswitch. I don't usually use it too often. But now I have dielectric grease and sanded down all the copper. I will have a fuse handy and see what happens.

They went crazy when I took of my helmet. I was just stopped in the bottom of the hills I tried to roll it to start. They were less upset while I was wearing my helmet. Theyt had kids not eggs, but I couldnt see any young seagulls.