Kill Switch

Hello

The kill switch on my 75 MK III doesn't work. I took it apart today. There are two wires in the holder that are spliced together. Obviously the PO did this for some reason. I don't see anyplace where the wires should be attached. The handle on the switch moves from side to side under a spring-like piece of metal that doesn't seem like a set of contacts. The wiring diagram doesn't help. I can't see how this is supposed to work. I can't find any illustrations of this set up.
Can anybody enlighten me? Thanks, Terry

tban52 said:

The kill switch on my 75 MK III doesn't work. I took it apart today. There are two wires in the holder that are spliced together. Obviously the PO did this for some reason.

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This switch often causes problems, so it's not uncommon to find that it has been disconnected/removed, and a previous owner has joined the white and white/yellow wires together.

L.A.B. said:

tban52 said:

The kill switch on my 75 MK III doesn't work. I took it apart today. There are two wires in the holder that are spliced together. Obviously the PO did this for some reason.

Click to expand...

This switch often causes problems, so it's not uncommon to find that it has been disconnected/removed, and a previous owner has joined the white and white/yellow wires together.

Click to expand...

It's frickin' eerie on how much you know about these bikes and how you have access to a photo of every single part, even disassembled. :mrgreen:

"It's frickin' eerie on how much you know about these bikes and how you have access to a photo of every single part, "

That's what makes him, him and us, us!

I disconnected my 850's kill switch a few years ago and just bypassed it at the harness itself (under the tank) but I reconnected it fairly recently when I changed the switchgear from oem Commando to CNW's Honda( I believe) switchgear. I Purchased the CNW Brembo mastercylinder (absolutely worth every cent) so I had to remove the oem Commando right side switch gear/MCylinder anyway. I like having a kill switch handy - though not at the expense of erratic or non-running.

swooshdave said:

It's frickin' eerie on how much you know about these bikes and how you have access to a photo of every single part, even disassembled.

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No, I don't think so, as I simply pulled a spare switch unit apart, photographed it, and uploaded the photos, all of which didn't take much more than a few minutes! :wink:

Thanks,
This forum never lets me down... What the heck did we do before the internet?
From the picture, it looks like I'm missing the little board under the switch handle. I guess I'l do without a kill switch for now.
Thanks so much! Terry

YUP I believe the internet and digital cameras were created just so this forum could exist :mrgreen:

tban52 said:

What the heck did we do before the internet?

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I'm sure the question didn't need an answer, so i'll answer it - I bought a Haynes manual, consulted a morkmate who had previously owned a BSA (as close as i could get to a Norton expert), and made a number of best guesses - none of which proved terminal for bike or rider, but a few of which have been put right in recent years.
Yes the interweb is a wonderful thing.

Interweb, did he say Interweb?

Before the innertube, I learned everything the hard way-by screwing it all up the first time!

innertube, did he say innertube?

Before we had electronic wizardry, we had Haynes, plus a lot of friends & friends of friends who mucked about with bikes.
Now nearly everone is a "biker", aboard pocket calculators & things that go fart in the sunshine, & don't have to know or do anything to their bikes.
Now we are fewer & farther between, thid interthingy is one big help for help & keeping our enthusiasm up.

Flo said:

Before we had electronic wizardry, we had Haynes, plus a lot of friends & friends of friends who mucked about with bikes.

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We also had Motorcycle Mechanics magazine!

Flo said:

Before we had electronic wizardry, we had Haynes, plus a lot of friends & friends of friends who mucked about with bikes.
Now nearly everone is a "biker", aboard pocket calculators & things that go fart in the sunshine, & don't have to know or do anything to their bikes.
Now we are fewer & farther between, thid interthingy is one big help for help & keeping our enthusiasm up.

Click to expand...

Solar-powered fart-producing devices? I need me one of those.

A kill switch saved me from being an ornament on the back of a bus. I was driving my works "hack" 650SS through Wolverhampton rush hour traffic. A gap opened up and I did a quick "squirt" to take advantage of it, which put me behind a double-decker bus - one of the old style with the open platform at the back.

When I backed off the throttle, nothing happened, so I'm at full song in 2nd gear and only about 30' from the back of the bus. The kill switch saved the day.

We had been testing the 650 with a single carb, to see if bottom-end torque was improved (it was, slightly, but at the expense of top-end power). When I put the twin Amals back on, I hadn't realised that the slides were individually lapped into the carb bodies and were NOT interchangeable. The slightly larger slide in the slightly smaller body had hung up at full-open, and the way the cables were arranged kept the other one full open too.

There was quite a bang when all that full throttle mixture made it through to the hot exhaust pipes!