I figured I can’t be the only sportclassic owner that has had an ignition switch problems over the years but I have never heard of any complaints from the forum and figured I would tell my story to help others. My bike is the ’07 model and you can see the mods I have done in my sig line. As part of the back story I have had my ignition switch replaced once already due to the bike not turning on when you turn on the key. It felt as if something was either broken or just dirty inside the switch because if you turned the key on and off several times it would clear itself up for a while. I had the first one replaced under factory warranty but it started to happen to me again and the bike is now well out of warranty. Being I tend to be good with my hands and kinda cheap I figured I would try to take the darn thing apart and clean it this time versus buying a new one for a few hundred bucks. I am including the pictures and the procedure for anybody that wants to try this on their own to save some cash.
I am starting with the ignition key switch assembly already removed from the bike. As you can see, not terribly clean.
The view from underneath before cleaning the outside.
Here is the after cleaning but what you need to notice is the two fasteners on either side of the housing in the small recessed holes. I had originally figured on them being some form of a rivet. They turn out to be a special kind of screw that the head snaps off of after they are torqued down at the factory.
Here is a picture of the special hole cutter bit I used to drill out the screws and what is left of those two screw style fasters after I drilled the heads off them. I would think that any standard drill bit would be fine to remove the screws as long as you took your time and was sure to be centered on them. You may be able to unscrew them if you can make a special tool that could bite into them and spin them counterclockwise and skip the whole drilling part from the beginning.
The next image shows the level of dirt inside the bottom cover and all over the contacts.
Disassembly from this point is very straight forward. All parts will slide out of the bottom with very little effort. There are no other fasteners in this part of the switch and all the parts are keyed so they can only be put back in one way.
Closeup of the dirty contacts.
I cleaned them with regular rubbing alcohol and a very light scrub with a scotchbrite pad to get the dirt and oils off the contacts.
Check the next post for the continuation.
I am starting with the ignition key switch assembly already removed from the bike. As you can see, not terribly clean.
The view from underneath before cleaning the outside.
Here is the after cleaning but what you need to notice is the two fasteners on either side of the housing in the small recessed holes. I had originally figured on them being some form of a rivet. They turn out to be a special kind of screw that the head snaps off of after they are torqued down at the factory.
Here is a picture of the special hole cutter bit I used to drill out the screws and what is left of those two screw style fasters after I drilled the heads off them. I would think that any standard drill bit would be fine to remove the screws as long as you took your time and was sure to be centered on them. You may be able to unscrew them if you can make a special tool that could bite into them and spin them counterclockwise and skip the whole drilling part from the beginning.
The next image shows the level of dirt inside the bottom cover and all over the contacts.
Disassembly from this point is very straight forward. All parts will slide out of the bottom with very little effort. There are no other fasteners in this part of the switch and all the parts are keyed so they can only be put back in one way.
Closeup of the dirty contacts.
I cleaned them with regular rubbing alcohol and a very light scrub with a scotchbrite pad to get the dirt and oils off the contacts.
Check the next post for the continuation.