My key fell out of the ignition while going down the highway, no spare. What to do?

[JeremyL]

I hate to keep asking more and more questions but will the four pin connector in the 1980 Special ignition switch be a problem on my 79? I haven't got mine off yet to see if it's 3 or 4.

[crazy steve]

I hate to keep asking more and more questions but will the four pin connector in the 1980 Special ignition switch be a problem on my 79? I haven't got mine off yet to see if it's 3 or 4.

If you pull the bucket, you have to undo most of the wiring in the bucket. Pull the top tree, you'll have to unplug the ignition switch and the gauges only.

Yes, the four pin connector won't match up to your '79 (assuming a stock harness). You can remove the pins and transfer them to your three pin (matching colors) and just tape up the 'extra' red/yellow...

[DGXSER]

Jeremy, I would not bother removing the Triple tree, only because it becomes a bit of a gangly mess with the cables and brake line and pulling all the connectors to the gauges and such, and not denting your tank or fender while getting it to rest somewhere. I would maybe loosen the clamp bolts on the top tree, and loosen that center bolt. Then remove your headlight, and one turn signal. Now you can swing the headlight bucket to the side to better see the bolts. A 10mm socket will get them out. no extension or swivel required.

If you look through THIS thread, you will see how to take the key switch apart. You can also see that the contact board with the wires attached pulls out. IIRC, you could simply pull the board with the wires on it out of your two switches and swap them to make your four wire switch a three wire switch and vice-versa.

[tarzan]

I removed the one on my Special without removing the headlight. It is doable.
1/4 inch drive socket and ratchet.

[DGXSER]

FYI, Here is what the 3 wire switch electrical connections look like, and the rotating part that makes the connections. If you compare it to this picture of the 4 wire setup, you see only the part the wires attach to is different. So, you can easily pull two screws out of the switch to separate the metal fork locking part from the black plastic key switch section and swap out the wired components to turn a 3 wire switch to a 4 wire or vice-versa.

3 Wire Switch components...


4 Wire Switch components...

[JeremyL]

Just to update the thread, I finally got the key/gas cap/helmet lock set from eBay that was posted earlier (Thanks!). I did what DGXSER recommended and just switched the wiring plate thing from the old key switch to the new one and it worked great. Got everything installed (except the helmet lock, never use it, might do it when I'm bored) and did a few things while I was working on the bike like fixing my front brake light switch, bled/changed fluid in my rear brake, replacing dead bulbs in my speedo, putting new plugs in, and installing fuel filters on my lines -- felt dumb for putting it off for so long because I do NOT want to rebuild the carbs again. But by the time I got everything together it was too late and I was too tired to really get a ride it... just glad it starts and runs again!

Thank you all for the help, and thanks again for showing me the pics of the key switch, DGXSER! I wouldn't have tried it without seeing the pics.

[DGXSER]

No problem, glad they helped you.