Faulty Side Stand switch

In case anyone else experiences the same problem, here is my story.

A couple of days ago, I cranked up and when I put bike in 1st gear, it died. Re-cranked, and went on my way with no further incident. The next morning, cranked up again, put it in 1st, and it again died out. Re-cranked, and it died again. Finally got it going and it died out 6 or 7 times. Once it was warmed up completely, problem seemed to go away. The next morning, cranked up again and it again died out numerous times when put in gear. It also cut out many times while cruising at 65+ miles per hour. I started checking it out, and discovered that the side stand switch was "shorting" out when I would touch it while bike was running. I lifted tank and found the blue 2 pin connector (normally closed circut), took a very short piece of wire and jammed it in the female part of the connector, put connector back together, and now the switch is completely by-passed. Currently debating whether or not I will replace switch.

2004 model with 18,500 miles on it.

Jay

'04 FJR 1300

Happens on lots of different models. Some people bypass it (jumper at the switch down by the stand). They also tend to insulate the jumper and weather protect it.

Or they clean/service the switch and put it back into service.

Jobbin pointie thingummies into electificational doohickies an be bad mojo.

My recommendation is document whatever you choose to do in your maintenance log. That way, when it comes time to sell the bike, the potential buyer is aware that a factory safety device has either been repaired or bypassed. Might save you a big lawsuit.

Bounce said:

Or they clean/service the switch and put it back into service.

Click to expand...

Concur that this is your best course of action...

Personally, if I couldn't clean it and bring it back to life, I'd replace it.

Yeah, I'll probably pull the switch one rainy weekend and try to clean it up, or order a new one if that fails, but sure wasnt going to let a faulty switch disable my daily rider. Hell, back in the old days, we didnt have no doggone safety thingies.

Jay

'04 FJR 1300

Had a friend crash and die back in the 70's because he forgot the sidestand down. Went into a fast left hander and ended up on the wrong end of a culvert pipe.