MoreCowbell
Member
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2025
- Messages
- 19
- Age
- 64
- Location
- New Mexico
- My Ride
- 2016 Bonneville T100
- Riding Since
- 1970s
This topic may well have been covered in other posts on this forum but maybe not as completely as in this post.
Rationale:
No rider but a complete moron would not know to always have the bike in neutral in order to start the engine, and no rider but a complete moron would ride off with the kickstand down. There, I said it. 20 years ago, and long before – motorcycles didn’t have these show-stopping features. So why did Triumph begin installing them, whenever that was? To those with real discernment, the features are much less about real rider safety, and are much more CYA devices advised by Triumph corporate attorneys in case there’s a serious accident. There, I said it. In this forum and others, there are anecdotal reports of such “safety” switches failing, leaving the rider stranded in the middle of nowhere. Who needs that?
Mysterious impediments to successful starting are reported on several threads, notably this one initiated by me:
https://www.triumphtalk.com/threads/starting-dilemma-tied-to-the-starter-solenoid.62008/
Given this perennial issue with the Bonneville, the last thing a rider needs are additional interfering impediments. Okay … end of sermon …
Clutch interlock switch
This switch uses is a spring-loaded plunger and is mounted in the aluminum clutch lever bracket. Unfortunately, the deficient 556-page Triumph service manual says nothing about this switch not how to remove it (say, in case it fails). You will have to take a small screw driver and perhaps another small tool and coax it out of the bracket, essentially destroying the switch. Once it’s out, further break up the plastic switch body to yield 2 thin copper leaves (see Pic 1). Clamp these together with an alligator clip and carefully solder them together, thus closing the circuit (Pic 2). At this point, you can simply tape the soldered pair to an adjacent wire. I made a “sock” out of a short piece of plastic tubing, fitted the “sock” over the exposed work, and taped it up tidy.
Kickstand interlock switch
To disable this switch, you don’t really need to remove the switch itself but I chose to. This one’s more work than the clutch switch and again, nothing in the deficient 556-page Triumph service manual makes a whisper about how to remove it (say, in case it fails). This switch also uses a spring-loaded plunger and is mounted on a steel plate behind the kickstand mount (near the oil filter). It is fastened to the plate with two 6mm screws with Torx (T30) heads. Unfortunately, those screw heads are virtually inaccessible and the area above them is tiny and dark, making their removal virtually impossible.
Before I describe how I removed the switch, let me say this: As a machinist, it boggles my mind that Triumph/Hinkley didn’t simply tack weld two 6mm nuts on the TOP of the plate so that the switch body could be fastened from the BOTTOM - so that an average person could easily effect a removal.
• When the kickstand is DOWN: Switch is open (BLK & BRN have continuity.
• When the kickstand is UP: Switch is closed (BLK & GRN have continuity.
Rationale:
No rider but a complete moron would not know to always have the bike in neutral in order to start the engine, and no rider but a complete moron would ride off with the kickstand down. There, I said it. 20 years ago, and long before – motorcycles didn’t have these show-stopping features. So why did Triumph begin installing them, whenever that was? To those with real discernment, the features are much less about real rider safety, and are much more CYA devices advised by Triumph corporate attorneys in case there’s a serious accident. There, I said it. In this forum and others, there are anecdotal reports of such “safety” switches failing, leaving the rider stranded in the middle of nowhere. Who needs that?
Mysterious impediments to successful starting are reported on several threads, notably this one initiated by me:
https://www.triumphtalk.com/threads/starting-dilemma-tied-to-the-starter-solenoid.62008/
Given this perennial issue with the Bonneville, the last thing a rider needs are additional interfering impediments. Okay … end of sermon …
Clutch interlock switch
This switch uses is a spring-loaded plunger and is mounted in the aluminum clutch lever bracket. Unfortunately, the deficient 556-page Triumph service manual says nothing about this switch not how to remove it (say, in case it fails). You will have to take a small screw driver and perhaps another small tool and coax it out of the bracket, essentially destroying the switch. Once it’s out, further break up the plastic switch body to yield 2 thin copper leaves (see Pic 1). Clamp these together with an alligator clip and carefully solder them together, thus closing the circuit (Pic 2). At this point, you can simply tape the soldered pair to an adjacent wire. I made a “sock” out of a short piece of plastic tubing, fitted the “sock” over the exposed work, and taped it up tidy.
Kickstand interlock switch
To disable this switch, you don’t really need to remove the switch itself but I chose to. This one’s more work than the clutch switch and again, nothing in the deficient 556-page Triumph service manual makes a whisper about how to remove it (say, in case it fails). This switch also uses a spring-loaded plunger and is mounted on a steel plate behind the kickstand mount (near the oil filter). It is fastened to the plate with two 6mm screws with Torx (T30) heads. Unfortunately, those screw heads are virtually inaccessible and the area above them is tiny and dark, making their removal virtually impossible.
Before I describe how I removed the switch, let me say this: As a machinist, it boggles my mind that Triumph/Hinkley didn’t simply tack weld two 6mm nuts on the TOP of the plate so that the switch body could be fastened from the BOTTOM - so that an average person could easily effect a removal.
- Put the Bonneville up on jack stands (I made a special bar - 1¼” tubing - that fastens to the center stand mounts. Once the bar is attached, I hoist up the bike from the rear loop behind the seat and set it onto the jack stands.)
- Using a sharp 15/64” drill bit (or 6mm if you're metric), drill out the screw from the bottom (they’re not hardened) – one at a time. A lot of press force and cutting oil is required! You’ll probably destroy much of the aluminum switch body but it’ll eventually fall off.
- Pull the switch up to the area behind the left-side cover (see pic). Disconnect the terminal block and clip the 2 small-gauge (~22ga) wires from that block (one is black; the other black/red).
- Carefully strip the 2 wires back ~⅝” and twist them together.
- As with the 2 wires going to the clutch switch, carefully solder these 2 wires together. Tape up the exposed parts and fold next to an adjacent wire; tape this all together.
• When the kickstand is DOWN: Switch is open (BLK & BRN have continuity.
• When the kickstand is UP: Switch is closed (BLK & GRN have continuity.
