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Ignition switch woes

J

juspassinthru

Member
I have a small problem-on Saturday, I pulled out the Sturgis and did all of the usual Spring stuff to get it ready for the Season-change Oil (all three places), new Plugs, drained the old Gas (and put in new), changed all the Filters, cleaned the Tappet Screen, checked the Belt, Primary Chain, etc., etc.

Anyway, after I got it all done, it fired on the second engine revolution (it was great!), and it was a little dirty. I usually wash it in the Driveway, but i couldn't wait and went to the Car Wash-I was careful to watch where I was spraying, and then i wiped it all down-beautful day, and everyhting was going great until................I wouldn't find my Keys! I looked everywhere, and a guy washing his Car offered me a ride Home to get my other set. Got back (was nervous leaving it there), and put the Key in and off I went to get my annual Safety Inspection. Got to the Inspection Station, no key in the Ignition! Wnet back to the Car Wash, and, out in the Street were my Keys. they had been run over and smashed. As you may know, these are a "Barrel Key", or what I call a Coke Machine Key.

Anyway, I'm going to get a new Switch, but I looked at the nut (Bezel) holding the Switch in, and it is weird-it has a Chrome "Nut", but no where to put a wrench. It appears to have a couple of holes drilled in it around the bezel diameter for removal, and I've done a Google search and can't seem to find a Tool. Does anyone know how to get the Switch off?

Thanks in advance for your help-
 
Short of having the right tool for the job, try two punches or ice pics in the holes at 180* opposite each other and see ifd you can spin it loose.
 
glider,

I was hoping that you would chime in-I wa thinking about this last night-what about if I took an old Spanner wrench and ground down the "tang" to a point, or I drilled it and put a piece of, say, 1/8" Drill bit in there? and, while I was at it, I put in a new Harlye Oil Pressure gauge-it reads at 80 psi at 60 mph! The only thing I did not do (according to the instructions) was to bend the tappet screen down (I didn't like the idea of decreasing it's capacity). Besides, the tappet screen is in a seperate fitting (below) the 45 degree adapter that hold sthe gague, so I ddin;t see the need-any ideas before I do something else?
 
The screen as long as it flows the oil will be fine with the reduced capacity. It's only there to catch any nuts or bolts :D or possibly carbon that would be in the oil.

As far as the spanner wrench, that idea should do the trick. It's not difficult to fabricate a wrench to fit it. I have made other tools in the past that worked out well.
 
Im not sure here but perhaps the tool you are looking for is the one that a jewler uses to remove the srew off cover from the back of some wrist watches and small clocks
its a sort of meatal bar with sliding jaws that protrude over the edges of the bar with flat blades one side and pointed at the other side

Brian
 
just passinthru; I had the same problem with my '92 Dyna switch. I stuck a phillips head jewelers screwdriver in each of the holes, then used another screwdriver between them to twist the ring off. I bought an aftermarket blade key switch for replacement. I'd had more than enough of the barrel key falling out, or not turning the switch. I have to carry 2 keys (still have barrel fork lock), but at least I know where the key will be when I get home.
P.S. I keep a spare key hidden on the bike, Dyna's have a great hiding place.
 
Gosh,

Thanks everyone for the ideas, it gives me a better perspective! fin_676, thanks for the idea, but I believe this ring or nut or whatever you want to call it screws on.

Breeze3at, thank you for the tip-I will give that a try before I go to grinding on another Tool :s . As for the hiding place, (I must be dense) where is it?

OK, now that we have solved this problem, on to feeding the poor-oops, wrong Forum :D !

Any ideas on my Oil Pressure Gauge problem, or should I start another thread? After I installed the new Gauge, I only was able to ride it about 5 miles or so before I lost my key :newsmile040: .

Last fall I thought I heard some upper end noise, so I expected to find some debris in the tappet screen-I found a few gasket flakes, but nothing else, and after I changed Oil (Mobil 1 V-Twin), it seemed to be quiet, but then again, it isn't 95+ degrees yet. The Bike has 6200 miles on it, and as I have bragged before, I almost hate to ride it because of it being a part of Harley history, but I have decided what the heck-

Thanks again to everyone, I truly appreciate your help!
 
juspassinthru said:
Gosh,

Breeze3at, thank you for the tip-I will give that a try before I go to grinding on another Tool :s . As for the hiding place, (I must be dense) where is it?
Click to expand...
It just occured to me, a couple of small drill bits would work as good as the jewlers screwdrivers.
By your key description, and Sturgis, I assume (I often regret that) that you have a 1991 FXDB. The hiding place is under the seat, where there are 2 open ended tubes. I looped the key to a piece of insulated wire and dropped it down the tube. There's a small hole near the top for the wire to come out of. Then the key wire is just tucked in among all the rest of the wires to be unnoticeable. Yea, you might need a screwdriver to remove the seat (mine has a pin), but thats easier to get than a ride home for the spare key. :34:
I also kept a decent tool kit in the area behind the frame backbone and rear fender.
 
Is it just me or does it seem like a positive not having to drive around with your keys flopping in the wind. I would just get into the new habit of turning on the ignition and then pocketing the key. That's one of the main reasons I disassembled my neck ignition and added a new switch to my dash panel on the tank.

That said, I understand your desire to have a proper working ignition. I used 2 jewelers screwdrivers and turned my locking nut quite easily.
 
cdn-bigfoot said:
Is it just me or does it seem like a positive not having to drive around with your keys flopping in the wind. I would just get into the new habit of turning on the ignition and then pocketing the key. That's one of the main reasons I disassembled my neck ignition and added a new switch to my dash panel on the tank.

That said, I understand your desire to have a proper working ignition. I used 2 jewelers screwdrivers and turned my locking nut quite easily.
Click to expand...

I clip my keys around the throttle cables , hate it when they fall on the ground
 
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