Switchgear replacement options: Royal Enfield switches

[Sidecar Bob]

I decided last year that it was about time to replace Mr.H's original handlebar switchgear. The right side housing has been cracked & held together with a zip tie as long as I can remember and, since I removed the turn signal cancelling unit (it never stayed on as long as it should have anyway) I no longer need to have the big clunky housing for the relay.

I have a nice, almost new looking set from a CX650E (the same style as the originals but without the crack & the relay and with much shorter cables) and I have a set from a GL1000 that would look nice with the residual anodizing removed and polished up. Either of those would require changing the wiring but that isn't anything new for me (I have a set of Honda switches with Suzuki wires around here somewhere).

When I moved the GL500's handlebars to Eccles (necessary to clear the Interstate fairing) I moved the switchgear too. This week Eccles' right turn signals wouldn't stay on unless I kept my thumb on the switch. I spent an hour taking it all apart and getting it to work yesterday and today I had to jiggle & hold the switch to make left side work. It looks like I will need to replace Eccles' switchgear too.

And even the almost new looking set I have are 29 years old so how much more reliable would they be long term?

So if I have to replace the switches on both bikes I would like to use the same type on both of them.

I know about the original type ones that are available for $80 & up, but if I am going to change them I think I would like something more modern and maybe even with more functions.

I spent a bit of time looking around eBay for not too expensive brand new ones and found these
Left/Right Set Switch Assembly Honda CG125 Combined shipping keeps the total under $65 for 2 sets. The price is appealing and, since they are for a Honda, the right one is more likely to accept the new throttle sleeves I bought last year and the Honda throttle cables without much modification. But they aren't much more modern than the originals and I'm not entirely sure what one of the switches is for. The left side (on the right in the picture) has the normal turn signal switch, horn button and high/low switch. The right side has the normal kill switch & Start button but what is the switch on the top for? I guess I could turn the sidecar headlight on with it or something like that anyway.

ROYAL ENFIELD ELECTRA HANDLEBAR LEFT HAND SWITCH 560114 I like the style of this one. It has the normal turn signals, horn & high/low switches plus the decompressor lever (could this be used as a choke lever?) and that yellow button on the top - maybe for flashing the high beam when passing? Could that be used for the garage door opener?

ROYAL ENFIELD ELECTRA RIGHT HAND ELECTRIC START SWITCH The match for above (with combined shipping 2 sets would come to about $80) It has a nice, big, red kill switch, a Start button and that same 3 position switch that the first set has.

What do you guys think?

[jdvorchak]

They look good. The only thing I'd confirm first is the handle bar size. It's probably 7/8 in but????

[Sidecar Bob]

Good point. The listing for the CG125 ones says they are 7/8". I had to do a little poking around but I found a set of handlebars for a Royal Enfield Electra on eBay and the listing says they are 7/8" so the switches should be OK.

[jdvorchak]

then it looks like you are good to go. Take lots of pics and let us know how it worked out.

[Sidecar Bob]

At this point I am still exploring the possibilities.

Surely I'm not the first to consider changing the switchgear to something non-Honda. I would like to hear/see what others have done before I start

[Sidecar Bob]

Opinions? Ideas?

[Hal]

That looks like an extremely good idea to me. They are a fraction of the price of the GL1000 unobtainium units, and that also goes for the lookalike CB400SS ones I wasted a lot of money on recently for both sides of both bikes.

I'd rather have bought either of the ones you've shown and kept the change.....good for a few curries in the local Indian restaurant!

Unless you are into showing bikes, and compulsory originality, why not?

[Easter]

I installed a new left hand control set on Dragon Wing that was advertised on ebay for KTM dual sport bikes. Color codes of wiring were identical (just fewer of them) you must tie front and rear blinker wires together before splicing to the new switch wires (Honda has two wires for each side and ties them at the switch itself) The wires are also a little lighter than mother Honda's but so far I am very pleased with looks and function and the price was very nominal.

[Sidecar Bob]

BTW: I found out what the 3 position switch is for. I'm surprised someone in the UK didn't tell me that it is Off-Pilot-Headlight for places where parking (pilot) lights are required when parking on dark roads. Its not required here but I'm sure I can find a use for another switch I can reach without taking my hand off the handlebar...

[Sidecar Bob]

So I have had a few more weeks to think about it and I am about ready to order.

- The logo clearly visible in the pics of the Enfield left reveals that they are made by Minda. Minda won a Honda quality award last year.

- Both of these sets are made for bikes that do not have running lights in the front signals. The running lights on both of my machines are LEDs, the ones on the 'Wing are not near the signals and moving the ones on the 650 wouldn't be difficult so leaving them on is not a problem.

- I wouldn't expect the contacts in either of them to be quite as heavy duty as the original Honda items but since my headlights all run through relays and everything else is LEDs that shouldn't be an issue either.

- I spent a couple of hours on eBay today and couldn't find any I like as well as the Enfield ones that aren't much more expensive.

Any further thoughts? Suggestions?

Edit Apr 2022: dead image removed

[Sidecar Bob]

I have had the Enfield switches for a couple of months but I was ill for much of that so I just started working on installing them this week. They are not made by Minda but by Swissauto, another ISO certified Indian auto electric manufacturer and Honda (car division) supplier.

Last night I opened up one set and went over the wiring. They are a bit less expensively built than the ones Honda used 30 years ago (self tapping screws instead of machine screws & threaded inserts and stuff like that) but what isn't these days? The actual switches themselves seem to be just as good.

As I expected they are not a straight replacement.
- The connectors are female while the Honda ones are male. I expected to have to solder so this doesn't bother me.

- Enfield uses a different method of attaching the throttle cable so I need to tap the housing for the Honda cable and fabricate a stop for the twistgrip to match what the original housing has.

- There is no hole for the throttle return cable. I have never had a throttle return cable on any bike since the one on my first bike caused me more trouble than it was worth so this just means that I don't need to block off the hole

- I think I can use bicycle cable parts to attach the choke cable.

- The start button doesn't have the contacts to turn the headlight off while starting. It isn't a good idea to switch HID lights on & off a lot so I have been trying to get myself into the habit of switching the headlights off when I park and turning them back on after I start the engine anyway.

- The turn signal switch does not have contacts to turn the running lights off when the signals are on. I have LED turn signals without running lights and the running lights I do have are 1W LEDs (and more than 100mm away from the signals) so this doesn't matter either.

- The PASS button (hold to turn high beam on while passing) can easily be connected to a garage door opener.

- The one thing that does bother me is the headlight switch.
The original configuration is:
right = OFF
centre = PARK (turns on a small bulb in the headlight)
left = HEADLIGHT (the park bulb is on when the headlight is on too)

If I connect the bike's headlight to the PARK part of the switch and the sidecar's headlight to the HEADLIGHT part I will be able to have:
right = OFF
centre = DAY (bike headlight only)
left = Night (bike & sidecar headlights both on).

I would prefer if the position that turns on the sidecar headlight was on the right (like the sidecar) but I guess I can get used to it. The new instrument panel will have indicators for both headlights (5mm flat top white LEDs) so I will know at a glance anyway.

I need to figure out whether I want to try to change the markings or just remove the ones on the switches I am going to re-purpose. I will post pics after I get them installed.

[Rat]

Your usual thorough work.

Gord

[Sidecar Bob]

I've spent about half of the last 4 days modifying the switches to fit the 'Wing.

- I had already unsoldered the wires from the new switches when I took them apart last week so I started by cutting the wires off of the old switches and getting them ready for the new ones. They appear to have been hot glued together and to the plastic sleeves at the ends so I had to cut them apart and remove the glue residue with mineral spirits.

- Before I started soldering the old wires to the new switches I slipped a new piece of 3/4" black heat shrink over them but did not shrink it until all of the wires were soldered & the switches plugged in and tested.

- Rubbing compound removed the unwanted markings nicely and I gently buffed the areas to restore the original sheen.

- I drilled locating holes in the handlebar to match the pegs in the switch housings.

LEFT
- I had to file a little off of the back of the housing to clear the clutch perch.
- The choke lever required no modification. Even though the switch has a square hole, the original cable popped in place as if it was made for it. It didn't even need to be adjusted. I will worry about removing the original lever later.
- Since the new turn signal switch doesn't control the running lights I removed the wires for them from the connector. I added a piece of clear insulation speaker wire that is about the same gauge as the original wires and connected it to the passing light button for the garage door opener.

RIGHT
- I ran an M10-1.25 tap into the existing hole for the throttle cable. I found some 1/4" long pieces of 1/4" aluminum window frame in one of the drawers of shop stuff I inherited from my Dad that were the perfect size for the stop for the twistgrip. I drilled & tapped one of them for a #6-32 screw, filed the back of the piece a bit to fit the inside of the housing and chiseled out a flat spot on the housing for the head of the screw.
- I used a drill bit to make new markings for the headlight switch, a single dimple with a bit of white paint around the edge for OFF, a single dimple painted entirely white for DAY and 2 siamesed dimples painted white for NIGHT.
- I used the wires that originally went to the headlight contacts on the START button for the power (black/red) and bike headlight (blue/white) wires to the headlight switch and added a purple wire for the sidecar headlight.

I will post pics of what they look like on the bike later. This work is part of a larger project and I have to get it finished tomorrow so I can drive it to work on Tuesday.

Edit Sept 28 2013: "clutch lever" changed to "choke lever"

[CYBORG]

i used harley switch gear, but needed to up grade to 1" bars. also like the feel of the larger bars

[Sidecar Bob]

The finished product (well, almost - I will be mounting the new windshield this afternoon).




Edit: Pics hosted on Photobucket replaced