82 450L Left hand control disassembly

[82GS450L]

Hi everyone! Love the site so far.

I recently acquired my first motorcycle, an 82 GS450L. After going on a long trip and having the starter button collapse on itself and drain the battery while I was riding (a fun, rainy adventure to diagnose), I decided I wanted to swap the horn button with the worn out starter button.

Here's the screw up: most switches in a car pop off, but our turn signal/light switches do not. They break. Or at least, mine did.

I've ordered a replacement off eBay, but it's missing it's horn button and of course, I'd like to fix that. Does anyone know how to remove the plastic turn signal switch so you can separate the electronics from the plastic surround without breaking it?

Thanks!

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Welcome

There aren’t a lot of twin owners on the forum, so probably not a lot of familiarity with your exact switch. Chances are it’s just like one of the 4s of some year/ model. A pic would help. I’m sure someone here knows how.

[82GS450L]

My Bad, here's an image of the replacement I just received: IMG_20200830_165205.jpg

or on imgur: https://imgur.com/VYdQaDt

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Hmm. Pretty much the same as mine without the choke thumb switch on the bottom. You’ve already been into it so I don’t need to warn you that it’s a spring loaded puzzle inside. I’ve had mine all apart to clean except for attempting removal of the turn signal switch. Was afraid it was fragile. Guess I was right. Sorry, I don’t know.

[82GS450L]

Maybe I'm being dense - there's a way to get it apart without removing the turn signal switch? And yes, one spring from the broken switch is very lost in my garage from my attempt to reassemble it the first time.

I'll do some more investigating and see what I can figure out. Thanks!

Edit: OH! The turn signal switch plate is not snapped on, so it all just comes apart! DUH! Thanks for your help!