Handlebar switches.

[Woodchips]

 

Just finishing up on a major maintenance/replacement on my 96RT and want to address some of the "lazy" switches on the handlebar.

The turn signal cancellation switch has always been a bit reluctant to do its job and the horn button would sometimes require a couple of hits to work which was usually too late to warn a sudden lane changer that I was in his way.

I am a bit reluctant to dismantle the controls on both sides and was wondering if an application of electrical contact cleaner would displace of the suspected dirt and grime that may be present.

 

Any thoughts would be welcome.

 

Ron

[RAMBLIN RED]

Give it a squirt, how can it hurt....

[Woodchips]

I was about to do that then wondered about the type of material inside the units and would they be affected by the cleaner.

[schneeman]

i always use WD40, no issues so far.

[szurszewski]

I've taken the left switch completely apart - like, down to the point where little springs and bearings going flying around the garage and you need four sets of hands with miniature fingers to get it all back together - and the right switch almost completely apart. There isn't anything in there you will hurt, and it will likely do some good.

 

I have the exact same bike and have done what you are thinking of doing - it worked for a while but eventually the gunk inside overwhelmed the ability of the switches to properly route electricity (and things started to melt).

[Toast]

I too took apart the left hand switch when the WD-40 trick stopped working. Basically, there are little metal "nubs" that make the actual contacts and a couple of these had worn down so low that there just wasn't enough to make a contact. I tried soldering a little in there and after burning my hands with the iron, sucked it up and bought a new switch for $175 which i couldn't afford. BUT now i know it will work as intended. Not having a horn or blinkers is a scary proposition...The switch came with all the wiring to a block harness tucked WTF up under the nose fairing (i had to take off everything, including the windscreen to get my hams in there). You can bet i put a bunch of dielectric grease in those connections while i was there.

[Woodchips]

We have an unusually warm day today (snow for the next few days) so with the garage door open i'm going to try the WD-40 before thinking about replacing the whole units.

[Clive Liddell]

Hi Ron,

 

The switches are all "unsealed". When you access them the fixed and moving contacts are in plain view. If you suspect that some previous lube has picked up road gunk then I think electrical contact cleaner will do the trick.

 

[Selden]

I've taken the left switch completely apart - like, down to the point where little springs and bearings going flying around the garage and you need four sets of hands with miniature fingers to get it all back together - and the right switch almost completely apart. There isn't anything in there you will hurt, and it will likely do some good.

BTDT, you need to be careful not to lose little fiddly bits, but there is a lot to be gained by taking things apart and cleaning contacts, etc.