charles
Active Member
Like a lot of Bonneville owners I found the factory ignition switch location awkward and decided to try some alternate spots. The first spot that came to mind was to use the rear head stay area.
Of course to try this I needed to find out if there was enough reach. So after getting the plugs out of the headlight I carefully cut the sheath around the feed to the headlight and folded back the plug to under the frame.
In order to hold the switch I fabricated a bracket from a unused part of a yard dump bucket.
This arrangement worked well and sitting on the bike I could drop my arm straight down and be on the key. My one concern was that, during the summer the switch would get quite hot and be damaged, or at the least, drip out the grease that is used inside. So on to plan #2.
I have seen various home made and aftermarket solutions that put it up at the instrument area. Which IMHO is where it should be. I didn't want to alter the stock parts permanently. Looking at my available supply of materials to work with, I found an old piece of brass door trim.
This pic is after I laid out the mounting holes and cut the hole for the switch to poke thru. The hole saw kit that I own is not top quality and I do not have a drill press, so the end result was that I had to file the hole to fit. This picture shows all the hardware.
I used plastic spacers to fill in the gap between the plate and the switch ears. My local True Value store had the longer recessed hex head screws in black. I found some steel spacers to go under the plate where the bolts screw into the handle bar clamps. That allowed the plate to sit proud of the clamp.
As you can see here, the switch hole is not concentric. The plate angles were cut with a hack-saw. It could be trimmed some more, maybe later. The reason the switch securing bolts are in a 11 and 5 o'clock plane is that it allows the wires a strait shot to the headlamp.
Some more filling, sanding, and a couple coats of black paint and this is the final for now. I does look clunky, but it is not in the way of my tank bag and certainly accessible. When I feel like I have run out of new projects I will trim and round out the plate some more. For now it works for me.
Of course to try this I needed to find out if there was enough reach. So after getting the plugs out of the headlight I carefully cut the sheath around the feed to the headlight and folded back the plug to under the frame. In order to hold the switch I fabricated a bracket from a unused part of a yard dump bucket. This arrangement worked well and sitting on the bike I could drop my arm straight down and be on the key. My one concern was that, during the summer the switch would get quite hot and be damaged, or at the least, drip out the grease that is used inside. So on to plan #2.I have seen various home made and aftermarket solutions that put it up at the instrument area. Which IMHO is where it should be. I didn't want to alter the stock parts permanently. Looking at my available supply of materials to work with, I found an old piece of brass door trim.
This pic is after I laid out the mounting holes and cut the hole for the switch to poke thru. The hole saw kit that I own is not top quality and I do not have a drill press, so the end result was that I had to file the hole to fit. This picture shows all the hardware. I used plastic spacers to fill in the gap between the plate and the switch ears. My local True Value store had the longer recessed hex head screws in black. I found some steel spacers to go under the plate where the bolts screw into the handle bar clamps. That allowed the plate to sit proud of the clamp. As you can see here, the switch hole is not concentric. The plate angles were cut with a hack-saw. It could be trimmed some more, maybe later. The reason the switch securing bolts are in a 11 and 5 o'clock plane is that it allows the wires a strait shot to the headlamp. Some more filling, sanding, and a couple coats of black paint and this is the final for now. I does look clunky, but it is not in the way of my tank bag and certainly accessible. When I feel like I have run out of new projects I will trim and round out the plate some more. For now it works for me.
