Wow, just cleaned the signal switch mechanism

dkruitz · Dec 7, 2016

Mine has been stiff ever since I bought the bike 15 months ago, and I just attributed it to the design. This past weekend it got good and wet during a ride and got suddenly worse. So last night I took it apart, cleaned and greased it lightly and put a few drops of lacquer thinner down the switch working it back and forth. Reassembled and wow, it's like buttah! I also cleaned the choke lever added a couple of drops of oil down the cable while in there, and that helped too.

If your switch is stiff, give this a shot. You might not have to pull the actual switch internals out, just the lever. If you do pull the switch, watch for the spring and ball in there which are part of the detent mechanism.

dwalby · Dec 7, 2016

I did this to mine about 6 months ago with similar results. As I recall, the factory grease had turned into a lump of hardened goo on the internal sliding parts.

dduelin · Dec 7, 2016

I disassembled the switch pods on my 1300 to clean and relube them maybe twice in 9 years of ownership. They feel so good, actually better than the switches on my 2015 NC700X.

Jim Van · Dec 7, 2016

dkruitz said:
Mine has been stiff ever since I bought the bike 15 months ago, and I just attributed it to the design. This past weekend it got good and wet during a ride and got suddenly worse. So last night I took it apart, cleaned and greased it lightly and put a few drops of lacquer thinner down the switch working it back and forth. Reassembled and wow, it's like buttah! I also cleaned the choke lever added a couple of drops of oil down the cable while in there, and that helped too.

If your switch is stiff, give this a shot. You might not have to pull the actual switch internals out, just the lever. If you do pull the switch, watch for the spring and ball in there which are part of the detent mechanism.

I have been spraying mine with contact cleaner periodically, but finally spraying won't help. I disassembled & cleaned and re-lubed ( with silicone grease ) and what a difference. I recommend disassembling instead of spraying because you will see a great improvement over spraying. I think the re-lubing makes the difference.

dwalby · Dec 7, 2016

Jim Van said:
I recommend disassembling instead of spraying because you will see a great improvement over spraying. I think the re-lubing makes the difference.

agreed. I sprayed lube into mine several times over the years with marginal results, if any. Removing the internal gunk and relubing directly onto the sliding surfaces made all the difference.

Bush · Dec 7, 2016

dkruitz said:
I also cleaned the choke lever added a couple of drops of oil down the cable while in there, and that helped too.

That may have helped now, but oil there will attract dirt and cause problems later. Cables should be cleaned and left dry.

dkruitz · Dec 9, 2016

Ah ok that make sense too.

Wow, just cleaned the signal switch mechanism

dkruitz

dwalby

dduelin

Tune my heart to sing Thy grace

Jim Van

dwalby

Bush

dkruitz