Starter switch issue

[Crazcnuk]

Pretty much.

[zejaybee]

Kill Switch woes

So, there must be a kill switch virus or something... Now my bike, '79 XS1100SF, has it. I came to the same conclusion as Incubis, cleaned the kill switch along with painting my badly rusted battery box. In the process of moving wires and such it seems reasonable to think the problem is a wire in the wiring harness has melted insulation. After putting it all back together. It started right up! Ran real nice for a time and then after putting other disassembled parts back on and getting ready for a quick test ride, no start... So this is leading me back to the wiring harness. Oh and the turn signals are goofed up too Turning on the left signal initiates all four signals and right does nothing???? Checked and double checked the wiring for turn signals, they are correctly wired, not crossed. Also leading me back to the wiring harness. Any suggestions are appreciated. My tests of the kill switch and starter button show virtually no resistance 0.0-0.1 Ohms when circuits are completed. I have to check for power but the puzzling part is continuity is complete through each wire, kill switch r/w to fuse box, kill switch r/w to solenoid, starter button l/w to solenoid, fuses all good. It seems the power is intermittent though. Leads me back to the wiring harness. Man I don't want to unwrap that thing. But a man does what a man's got to do, right? Oh and another reason methinks it's a short in the wiring harness. Ignition on, connection to the oil pressure sensor disconnected, connection to the lighting reserve unit disconnected. Still have power at the oil pressure indicator lamp. In fact there was power at this lamp with every connector disconnected until the power was removed from the wiring harness. Did I miss something?

[Geezer]

Prize goes to Incubus.

Cleaned the kill switch and voila!

I find it amazing that you can take a fully functioning switch off one bike and it won't work on the other, but hey, what do I know.

Now pack it with dielectric grease so it won't quit on you again...

Geezer

[zejaybee]

It appears the way the turn signal circuit is wired it is a major problem to use a standard incandescent indicator bulb with all four turn signals retrofitted with LEDs. Took the indicator bulb out and viola'! Signals work as they should. Now resolving the indicator with a couple 12V LEDs from Radio Shack to separate the left and right signal circuits to get the dashboard indicator back.
As far as the starting problem goes, my battery is fully charged. My starter button is cleaned packed with di-electric grease and reinstalled. We will see if these steps will address my starter weirdness. After unwrapping about 1/3 of the wiring harness, the area that seemed most likely to be the problem, no joy. All wiring looks great. Nothing melted and shorting in that area. This has me double, triple and quadruple checking the connections to make sure they are clean, tight and low resistance. It seems possible at issue may be the reg/rec so next time it is running that will be checked.
Oops! Thought I posted this earlier but come back to the computer to find it still here.
Well, Turn signals fixed and she's running. Yippee!

[Geezer]

NAPA stores carry an electronic flasher that will work with LED signals but you loose the self canceling feature. I don't use the self canceling since I have 30+ years experience riding bikes that didn't have it.

Geezer

[zejaybee]

Thank you Geezer

I got the electronic flasher from Superbrite LEDs. It works fine. Apparently it is the way the indicator light is wired in the instrument panel. After separating the two circuits with one 12V LED on the right and one on the left it is working fine. Now to get the regulator/rectifier replaced and we should be up and running.