Dropped it... Bent the Clutch lever, no biggie. I pulled the level and straightened it. I have a spare but it was only bent a little so, what the heck.

The real trouble was when I was replacing the Clutch Lever I snapped off the spring loaded pin from the Clutch Switch. This is the little guy that when you stall the bike in gear and forget to pull the clutch lever says "Hey ya pumpkinhead, dont start the bike in gear unless you pull in the clutch lever".

Mine is broken, the default is no starting in gear... at all!

If you short the circuit, it works but no more "Hey Pumkinhead" warning. The bike wants to drive forward with the starter motor is you dont pull in the clutch. I tried it, it is not catastrophic, the bike wants to go forward and then you says "opps." and pull inthe clutch and go.

If you are not a Pumkinhead, and you pull in the clutch when you press the starter then all is well.

Can anybody convince me I should spend the $21 + S&H to replace this part?

Here are some pics. Unless convinced otherwise. I think I short the circuit and pull in the clutch.

 

Don't bother spending the money! Just train yourself to "Pull in the clutch, then push the button". Solder a jumper in place and put it back so it looks like its all there. Same goes for the kickstand switch, bypass it before it messes you up out in the boonies somewhere/somewhen. My 0.02$

 

I wasn't even aware this switch existed until now, I've always habitually pulled the lever for fear of what might happen if I didn't.

 

Cool. Thanks for the feedback.. apon further inspection. I was about to solder a jumper inside and I took a closer look at the spring and circuit design....

Hmmm. It looked like if I just put it back together then it has the short I desire... What the... The broken pin indicates that the clutch is pulled, this is the goal to what I was going to solder... I was mistaken about the default.

Here is what must have happened. When I broke it, I had pushed the pin in and sideways at the same time. This was clearly the cause of death, but it fractured in a way that pushed the slide inwards just a bit. Just enough in fact that it was slide in to a circuit position that indicates that the clutch was "not" pulled. Hence all the trouble. So, to test the theory I just cleaned it up and put it back together. Making sure the slide was sprung all the way forward and WaaLaa.

It is still broken. But as long as you pull the lever it will start in gear. Actually it will start in gear whether you pull in the cluth or not. Hence the "broken" status. But had it broken more cleanly, I may never have figured out what it did in the first place or that anything was really broken at all

So after an hour of messing around. Broken is not worth the 20 bucks unless somebody comes up with a go reason to replace it. If you think of one, let me know. Thanks

Good idea about the kickstand... That has made me wonder WTF once before when I had fixed something electrical and was testing then FINALLY REALIZED... oh damn, the kickstand is down... DOH!

 

Ok one more post. Just incase this happens to somebody else.

The black is the sliding contact. Spring on the left and pin on the right. My pin broke at the blue dottted line. The clutch lever will push the pin in when the lever is released and make the red contacts slide off the Brass and break the short. That will not allow the bike to start in gear if the clutch is not pulled. If your pin breaks. Just be sure that the slide is all the way forward. This will make the bike think that the clutch lever is always being pulled in.

Please comment if anyone thinks this is bad.
Thanks

 

I see no benifit to fixing it just make the repair as so it won't fail when you are in the boonies.

 

Not bad.

 

Deleting this switch is on my 'to do' list based on other's recommendations here. It just makes sense and I don't think you're doing anything wrong as long as leaving it the way it is doesn't bite you like linkin5 said.

 

This switch is a waste.
Furthermore, bypassing the system is taking away all boundaries in the rpm EFI models.

 

Heh,,, i broke mine the first day i got it,,,, INTENTIONALLY!!!