do you like safety switches?

[alke46]

I can remember suavely standing next to my bike, gearing up suavely. Suavely turning the key. Suavely hitting the button and watching the bike suavely launch itself without me aboard. Good times!

I'm guessing it didn't go too far until you had to pick it up.

[alke46]

I'm also guilty of taking off with the kick stand down but for some odd reason nothing happened until after I had pulled out to pass a truck. Kept on going until I rounded a left hand curve then I felt like something bad had happened. Didn't know if I had blown a tire or what but something was pushing me violently to the right side of the road.
Lucky for me, the road forced the kick stand back up almost all the way. I could see some scraping on the front of it. Scared the crap out of me for just a little while.
Here's hoping I don't ever forget that moment.


edit: this was just a couple of weeks ago, so still very fresh in my mind.

[Brendan W]

The Z400B in our garage has a side stand retract mechanism driven off the drive sprocket. If the bike moves forward the stand retracts. It can be a pain when shifting the bike in the garage as you can forget that the stand is no longer down. Maybe I need a stand up warning lamp? Maybe I just need to look?

[Grimly]

In a bone-headed attempt to address this sidestand problem, BMW decided to make the stands on the 7-series fully sprung.
Great idea.
Except when the bike gets lifted off the stand just enough by the wind to allow the stand to retract... then the wind drops, and so does the bike.
I was just walking out of an office building towards the bike when I saw it happen.
Idiots.

[Cipher]

People should just remove it and just use the center stand if they're paranoid of it. Kind of like the waitress that brought me a coffee and told me it was hot, I just told her I knew that because I'm not an idiot.

Because all bikes have centre stands?
Because all vendors serve coffee at a temperature describable as hot?

[bwringer]

I think everyone should adopt the Honda rubber flipper finger.

Don't get me wrong; I realize this is a problem, and it happens to good riders. I've witnessed the ugly aftermath of more than one GS kickstand incident, and I've set sail more than once with my GS's kickstand dangling in the breeze.

This tends to happen more on group rides, when people are distracted from their normal routine, or hurrying to get going.

The GS system of dimly illuminating a dull red light on the dash is pretty much entirely pointless, but it at least does no harm. (GS clutch switches universally fail and almost all are bypassed; very few ever get repaired and put back into operation.)

However, the "modern" mandated system of installing shoddy 2 cent unsealed switches on the kickstand and clutch that inevitably fail and kill the engine at inopportune times only trades one hazard for a few others.

[Redman]

Our sidestand go quite a ways down and out, and further forward past straight out sideways, so are somewhat pointing forward. And so if/when they hit the pavement, they are getting pushed up-forward more than they are getting pushed back-up.

I maybe one of the cases that Brian bwringer says he witnessed.

I think everyone should adopt the Honda rubber flipper finger..
..
...

I can say that on Hondas, well, Shadow 500s anyway, It is not just the rubber finger thing that provides the function of the pavement throwing the sidestand back if happen to leave it down. THere is also another feature of the sidestand that comes into play here . ANd that feature (hard to decribe) is that the side stand doesnt go much further forward than straight out sideways, is a spring to retract it, but it also hangs kinda limp in the outways direction, doesnt lock into position until some weight is put onto it by leaning the bike over onto it. WHen lean bike over on it it touches down, then bike leans over further with the sidestand going further out. When weight is leant onto it then it locks into position so it stays in position, doesnt let it roll back. WHen is no weight on it, it kinda comes out of this knotch, and can easily be moved back some and the spring retracts it.

Harleys do that also, the sidestand goes about straight out sideways, not forward at all, and when weight is leaned onto it, then it locks into some knotch to hold it in place (to me it looks like the rider didnt put it forward enough).



And, yah, the 79 KZ400 I had, was a thing sticking out from the front sprocket that would come around and hit something that would retract the side stand.

[timebombprod]

by the way it turned out it wasnt the safety switch lol. i just have to get my headlight working and tach and speedo lights working, they all are connected, theres a headlight relay and its not clicking on the bike, i tested the relay and it seems to work fine. i confirmed i have power running to the relay from the fusebox, i have confirmed i have ground just from knowing i have other certain lights working that are connected to the same ground wire, i have confirmed that the diode unit works as everything else it runs to works fine, and then ofcourse i dont have the power going out to the wires that runs to my speedo, tach, and headlight.

what im starting to suspect is the wires to the relay may be incorrectly connected, i just have to get somebody to send me a video of their headlight relay with the wires hooked up and since the plug isnt symmetrical i will be able to tell which side is which. if its not that then the relay might be the culprit even though it clicks, it could be that 1 out of the 7 connections on the diode unit are bad which sounds very unlikely, or it could be as simple as i need to clean it up more, we will find out.

the good thing is once i have those 3 lights back i will have everything electrical working, i have confirmed that the motor spins, i just need to confirm i have spark and aslong as i do have spark it should be as simple as hooking up the carbs and giving it fuel. unfortunately this bike probably isnt here to stay, i can definitely profit off of this bike as i havent needed to buy anything other than a battery, some gaskets, and some intake boots. i also bought an extra set of carbs that are dirty, i gave an offer for them and it was accepted so i can rebuild the carbs and just sell them for more. this all looks good on paper....lol

[850 Combat]

I don't care for safety switches in general. Babbits doesn't carry the clutch switch, though all the parts appear to be available. I do not like the quality of the Suzuki GS clutch switch and the front brake light switch, $35.00 or so at Babbits. I have experienced both getting full of crud and becoming sticky. With the front brake, it was slightly dangerous with the brake light on all the time. Pulling it off in a parking lot in Crescent City and spending 10 minutes looking for the the spring was not that great of an experience. Would prefer a hydraulic switch or at least one that isn't designed to trap and hold dirt and grime. Most of the GS components are pretty good, but those switches questionable. Some of my bikes still have the clutch interlock switch hooked up, some don't.

I believe that vacuum petcocks, side stand switches, and clutch switches are all the result of product liability litigation.

[850 Combat]

I don't care for safety switches in general. Babbits doesn't carry the clutch switch, though all the parts appear to be available. I do not like the quality of the Suzuki GS clutch switch and the front brake light switch, $35.00 or so at Babbits. I have experienced both getting full of crud and becoming sticky. With the front brake, it was slightly dangerous with the brake light on all the time. Pulling it off in a parking lot in Crescent City and spending 10 minutes looking for the the spring was not that great of an experience. Would prefer a hydraulic switch or at least one that isn't designed to trap and hold dirt and grime. Most of the GS components are pretty good, but those switches questionable. Some of my bikes still have the clutch interlock switch hooked up, some don't.

I believe that vacuum petcocks, side stand switches, and clutch switches are all the result of product liability litigation.

[GS1100GZ]

There is an option for the brake light switches - Spiegler Brake Light Switch, Banjo Bolt. It's a switch built into a banjo bolt for $20.95. Available from Spiegler or aftermarket retailers.

[Cipher]

I don't care for safety switches in general. Babbits doesn't carry the clutch switch, though all the parts appear to be available. I do not like the quality of the Suzuki GS clutch switch and the front brake light switch, $35.00 or so at Babbits. I have experienced both getting full of crud and becoming sticky. With the front brake, it was slightly dangerous with the brake light on all the time. Pulling it off in a parking lot in Crescent City and spending 10 minutes looking for the the spring was not that great of an experience. Would prefer a hydraulic switch or at least one that isn't designed to trap and hold dirt and grime. Most of the GS components are pretty good, but those switches questionable. Some of my bikes still have the clutch interlock switch hooked up, some don't.

I believe that vacuum petcocks, side stand switches, and clutch switches are all the result of product liability litigation.

itys a conspiracy? Vacuum petcocks are a superb answer to a very nasty fact about fuel spigots.
They work well considering the abuse and neglect owners expose them to.
a clutch starter interlock is also a superb safety device. Suzuki really made a crap cheap switch though.

[rphillips]

Yes, Suzuki has a very cheap & crappy front brake light & clutch switch, much worse than others. But,, Very easy to remove, clean, & replace, ( just don't lose the tiny parts ). Also complete repair kits with all the parts on Ebay for less than $15.

[wymple]

its an 82 not a 90s virago but im sure its got alot of the same things going on, on the virago the kickstand switch completely disables the bike from starting but im glad its that and not something else that i would have to really mess with the wiring to get to.

i had no clue any of the GS bikes had a kickstand switch i only have the neutral light and the clutch switch but i do have a pretty basic model as far as a GS goes. find it crazy that these 2 bikes i own are from the same year but they got a good amount of differences that really set them apart, aside from the obvious layout of the motor.

no i havent got the virago going, the carbs look nothing short of superb as for the cleanliness of them. the whole issue ive been having is i wasnt able to get power to the starter button on the virago aswell as lights not operating, but its all because that stupid kickstand switch, it probably wont be today but once i confirm i have spark to the virago it will be up and running very soon after.


cant seem to upload the photo of the virago that really shows its shape.

I've owned a couple of Viragos, and they had many positives. The best clutch feel in the business for my money. Bulletproof rear drive, never have seen one bad. Far better wiring than Suzuki seemed capable of. Great charging system also. Great wide torque band, and really smooth for a twin of any kind. I liked the seats. Every Virago I have seen that was a "problem" was just like every other problem bike, poorly looked after. They had horrible starting systems in 81-to mid 83 before they fixed that issue, and it ruined the reputation, tho they still sold a butt load. Upgraded 4 brush starters can be had on ebay for about 100 bucks, and it helps, but does not overcome the early "box of rocks" design flaws. If the carbs are done right they will start at a touch, so it isn't really a problem. Getting the carbs right requires a really good carb man & that is not easy to find on the early carbs. They guy I used was golden, he died of cancer last year. Extremely good grounds are an absolute must for that starter. There are starter upgrade kits available for 83 & newer models that slow down the spin of starter gear during engagement so it doesn't mill teeth on the flywheel down trying to get engaged. You can easily replace the cam bearings in about 30 minutes with off the shelf roller bearings to extend an already decent engine life. I still have some stuff in the garage. There is a huge Virago forum that addresses most of this stuff. I still check out Viragos for sale just because.

[Rob S.]

The side stand idiot light on my 11E is not connected, I don't even know if it was originally also a cut off, but I say no. You forget to put the stand up when you get under way? Nine times out of ten it will get kicked up by the asphalt ('tarmac' to you Limeys). It doesn't, and causes a crash? Your own damn fault.

The more we make our machines idiot-proof, the more we become idiots.