Ignition switch replacement & radio problems

[Cory4366]

Hi all, I bought an 84 back in December. Something I first noticed was the key being snapped off and stuck in the ignition, I thought no big deal, I'll replace the switch. Fast forward to today, and holy hell is it harder than I thought. I took my replacement switch apart, noting that the top half could be taken off via 2 phillips, but unfortunately, one is stripped to all hell on the current one. I can barely fit one hand in there, much less an impact driver. So now I'm thinking I'll just take the whole thing off and replace it, problem is I don't have either tools to reach the two bolts (I'm guessing 10mm?)on the underside or a socket big enough to take the triple tree bolt off and make life a whole lot easier. I don't want to wait til the weekend and ride it an hour to my buddy's shop, anyone have any easy fixes I might be overlooking?

 

My only other qualm with the bike other than that and needing to replace the clutch plates is the radio. It worked fine when I rode it home from where I bought it, but when I rode it to work a few days later it rained a bit and now the whole left side has 0 power. I did replace all the tube fuses with a blade block, so I'm thinking that might have to do with it, but I can't find any reading on which fuse it could be. Come to think of it I'm actually more sure I messed up something when I did that.

[cowpuc]

Cory,,, if it were mine this is what I would try....

If the key is broken off in the switch and I needed to ride it like it is to get to my toolbox I would carefully take a flat head screw driver and see if I could place it into the switch and get a good enough grip that I could rotate the switch into the on position so I could start the bike. The broken key inside the switch should be holding the tumblers open and allow for this..

Before I would go thru the hassle of removing the entire switch to fix it, I would dig out a couple of dental pic's (available cheaply at Harbor Freight if you dont have a set) and, with the switch in the off postition, carefully contact each side of the broken edge of the key and lift it out.. I have done this many many times and it works great.. Be careful once you have the broken piece out that you dont lose it.. I would take the broken piece to a lock smith and have him cut me a new key from the broken one..

Something to remember about that ignition key is that all the locksets on your scoot are probably keyed to it = all take the same key.. Another thing to consider is that these keys are not steel (brass under chrome) so you cant use a magnet to remove the broken key - just gotta use patience and those pics..

Puc

[Cory4366]

After tearing the left side fairing apart, I still haven't found anything. The acc fuse goes to the cigarette lighter, and everything else on the bike works so I doubt it shares a fuse with anything else. There's an unlabeled fuse I put on the block, I believe it was in a rubber case with a spare, anyone know if that's it? I'm gonna check it. Unfortunately I don't have a multimeter handy to see if the left side is even getting power, but no lights work and no sound comes out at all so it seems like it's a fuse or something. The fuse in question has red wires that go into a connector that's black and red.

 

Edit-just found a diagram...looks like it's the aux fuse and it goes to the audio. I'm going to take another look at that wiring.

Edited February 1, 2018 by Cory4366

[Cory4366]

I brought it to a locksmith and he found it was too corroded and rusted together to salvage it...I don't mind having a separate key for the ignition and everything else.

 

Cory,,, if it were mine this is what I would try....

If the key is broken off in the switch and I needed to ride it like it is to get to my toolbox I would carefully take a flat head screw driver and see if I could place it into the switch and get a good enough grip that I could rotate the switch into the on position so I could start the bike.

Before I would go thru the hassle of removing the entire switch, I would dig out a couple of dental pic's (available cheaply at Harbor Freight if you dont have a set) and, with the switch in the off postition, carefully contact each side of the broken edge of the key and lift it out.. I have dont this many many times and it works great.. Be careful once you have the broken piece out that you dont lose it.. I would take the broken piece to a lock smith and have him cut me a new key from the broken one..

Something to remember about that ignition key is that all the locksets on your scoot are probably keyed to it = all take the same key.. Another thing to consider is that these keys are not steel (brass under chrome) so you cant use a magnet to remove the broken key - just gotta use patience and those pics..

[mraf]

There is a button on the radio that toggles the radio from the speakers to headsets. Mine quit once and it was the tuner. After 30 something years in this humidity it had given up the ghost. I open it up to have a look see and it was actually green inside, TOAST. If you find you need a replacement try to get one from the warmer, dryer climates. They tend to be in better electronic condition. If it doesn't turn out to be that fuse check the pins that the radio sets down on. Make sure one has not dropped down or is not making contact in some way.

[Cory4366]

Definitely going to check if it's getting power from the r/b wires first and foremost when I get to the shop, then check the power to the connecting pins if it's getting it at the aux fuse. I'm planning on replacing the whole thing with upgraded speakers/bluetooth/higher capacity amp anyways. It just kinda sucks that I don't have tunes for the time being.

 

There is a button on the radio that toggles the radio from the speakers to headsets. Mine quit once and it was the tuner. After 30 something years in this humidity it had given up the ghost. I open it up to have a look see and it was actually green inside, TOAST. If you find you need a replacement try to get one from the warmer, dryer climates. They tend to be in better electronic condition. If it doesn't turn out to be that fuse check the pins that the radio sets down on. Make sure one has not dropped down or is not making contact in some way.

[bongobobny]

The reason you had so much trouble with the p[hillips screws is it is a Japanese bike so the screws are JIS, not SAE!!! You will continue to strip out screws if you do not invest in a good set of JIS drivers!!! Also, those screws have loctite on them so they come out a little hard to begin with...

 

I'll analyze your electrical issues later, too tired to think tonight...

[Cory4366]

I use JIS on this bike and my XS11. I just say phillips out of habit. The screw was already stripped by the P.O. (He's allegedly the only owner and bought it new, but everywhere I look there are stripped screws and zipties so I doubt it's been shop maintained like he said) Still.....for $500 I can't say I got a bad deal all things considered.

 

 

 

The reason you had so much trouble with the p[hillips screws is it is a Japanese bike so the screws are JIS, not SAE!!! You will continue to strip out screws if you do not invest in a good set of JIS drivers!!! Also, those screws have loctite on them so they come out a little hard to begin with...

 

I'll analyze your electrical issues later, too tired to think tonight...

[bongobobny]

OK! Great that you are aware of the differences between a JIS and SAE Phillips, a lot of people do not!

 

There is an inline fuse for the radio in the wiring harness that goes to the radio, just follow the red wire and you will find it. Also, one of the biggest problems with that harness is that it gets pinched between the upper fairing and the frame and shorts out, so make sure the PO didn't accidentally pinch it when he was "fixing" something else!!

 

PS Welcome aboard!!!

[Cory4366]

Thanks! Happy to be aboard, great to see that people are actually on here unlike the XS11 forums I tried to join. I replaced all the old fuses when the main fuse blew conveniently right after my 12 hour ride home from buying it in December. There's a solid red which is the headlight and gear indicator, it's the only one I haven't replaced as of yet. Did you mean red/black? That's the only one I have that isn't labeled and according to the only circuit diagrams I can find goes to aux & audio.

 

OK! Great that you are aware of the differences between a JIS and SAE Phillips, a lot of people do not!

 

There is an inline fuse for the radio in the wiring harness that goes to the radio, just follow the red wire and you will find it. Also, one of the biggest problems with that harness is that it gets pinched between the upper fairing and the frame and shorts out, so make sure the PO didn't accidentally pinch it when he was "fixing" something else!!

 

PS Welcome aboard!!!

[bongobobny]

Actually, there are 2 fuses, one on the red line, and one on the red/black line. I don't remember which one is which, but here's a couple of pictures for you of the connector for the radio and the fuses...

 

 

 

 

Of course, your harness won't have the fancy chrome spiral wrap on it!

 

Want to see a wiring nightmare???

 

[Cory4366]

I haven't seen fuses that look like that....then again, I haven't taken the fairing completely apart yet. Waiting for a nicer day to ride it down to the shop. Tomorrow's Superbowl Sunday and we're close to mass so it would be sacrilegious to do anything but watch the game. Is that what the stock wiring looks like under everything? I pretty much had an aneurysm just looking at it....

 

Actually, there are 2 fuses, one on the red line, and one on the red/black line. I don't remember which one is which, but here's a couple of pictures for you of the connector for the radio and the fuses...

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=111522

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=111523

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=111524

 

Of course, your harness won't have the fancy chrome spiral wrap on it!

 

Want to see a wiring nightmare???

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=111525

[bongobobny]

Actually, that picture is a harness transplant after a short happened in the original harness, so you are seeing double, plus a whole bunch of additional wiring for air horns, driving lights, GPS, LED's, etc.

 

One upside of the great electrical fire of '09 was the wife asked me "Why don't you just buy a new bike??" Took me less than 24 hours to test drive a few bikes and come home with a brand new RSV...

 

If you look around the front forks you will see the harness for the radio/audio system!

[Cory4366]

Was gonna say, I'm not familiar with this bike just yet, but that looked excessive. The harness transplant into my XS earlier last year took maybe 4 hours tops but that looks like an absolute nightmare. All the fuses should be inside the battery cover, right? I just feel like I'm missing something.

 

 

 

Actually, that picture is a harness transplant after a short happened in the original harness, so you are seeing double, plus a whole bunch of additional wiring for air horns, driving lights, GPS, LED's, etc.

 

One upside of the great electrical fire of '09 was the wife asked me "Why don't you just buy a new bike??" Took me less than 24 hours to test drive a few bikes and come home with a brand new RSV...

 

If you look around the front forks you will see the harness for the radio/audio system!

[bongobobny]

You would think that all the fuses "should be" inside the battery cover, but think again! The radio was an option, not standard equipment, so they put the fuses in the wiring harness for the radio, which plugs into the main harness...

 

Once again, one of the big issues with that harness was it would get pinched between the fairing and the frame if it was not properly installed. Even dealers would screw that up!

 

The inline fuses are inside those two protective plastic covers.

[Cory4366]

Oh wow. I'll have to rewire them to make it more easily accessible. I haven't been working on bikes very long, even though I've caught on quickly, I still have to have my mentor handle the electrical aspect of things for now.

[Cory4366]

Update in case anyone reads this with the same problem-

 

I ended up snapping the top part of the ignition switch off (VERY CAREFULLY) and getting a grip on the threaded end of the screw with vices to get it out. It ended up being a hell of a lot easier than taking the fairing apart. Very nice to finally have a working key again and be able to lock the forks!