'95 FXSTSB Badboy...

Everything that is supposed to be powered when the switch is turned to "Accessories" and "Lights", works as it should (horn, lights, signals, etc.), but I have NO power to anything when the switch is turned to "Ignition". No brake lights, no horn, no starter, no headlight, no horn, NOTHING...

I went for a ride today and when I came home, my little boy was on the driveway, waving. I gave the obligatory horn honk, and got a terrible response. Kinda sounded like I had a cat caught in the spokes. I hit the horn again, and got no response. Hit it a couple times in succession and it was hit and miss, and when it did sound, it was still a hungover Garfield.

I shut the bike off and a couple minutes later, I hopped back on, expecting to go for a ride to meet the wife for supper, but she wouldn't turn. That's when I discovered the above problem of having no power to anything when switched to "Ignition"...

Logic says it's either a fuse, circuit breaker, or the switch itself, and that's where I'm going to start the assault, but I figure it would hurt to see if anyone else has ran into this...

 

So I took a circuit tester to the switch and I'm guessing the switch is toast. Connections all look ok, but there's just no power going out to any of the circuits at the ignition setting.

That being said, for a temporary repair, can the ignition wire (at about the 11 o'clock position) be moved to the circuit to the left until I get a new switch? I jumped the contacts and it does turn over when I do that, but if anyone has some wise words or cautions, it would be appreciated.

I want to emphasize that this would be a temporary repair only until I can get a new switch.

 

The ignition switch on the Harleys are really just a brass bar that connects different brass nubs that are connected to the different terminals. It's not a switch with internal contacts that can wear out or fall apart. Don't really know how the switch could fail as far as connectivity. Usually when they go bad, its because it is falling apart, not because there's no connectivity from a certain terminal. Unless the switch is loose and the bar is not contacting a terminal nub in a certain orientation.

It doesn't matter where you connect something as long as it has the connectivity that you want when on and doesn't have connectivity when off. You won't be overloading a contact or anything.

I actually rewired everything on mine so that the lights come on when the ignition is one click to the clockwise and lights and ignition come on when two clicks to the clockwise (all the way left). The original wiring was ignition on the first click and ignition and lights on the second. Harley doesn't wire them that way anymore because you don't want to be running with no lights even during the daytime. They then changed the wiring to nothing on the first click and lights and ignition on the second click even though the dash labeling still states ignition, lights.

 

I've had the stock ignition switch fail. The contacts are rivets which hold the terminals to the plastic base. In my case, the rivet head (contact) actually sheared off, and the terminal came loose. Without the rivet head, there was nothing for the center bar to contact, and no power.

 

My '94 Softail came wired that way from the factory (lights at first click, then lights and ignition at the second), and I rewired mine the old way, so I had a way to start the bike without the extra load of the lights. That helped me nurse the failing starter for a few more seasons.

 

I did just that and ran it for over a year with no problems...as stated in other posts, the only reason the switch has multiple positions, is so you could run the bike without the lights on...I believe it was in 86 the US law required the headlights always be on...so Harley installed a jumper wire to make the bikes legal...so you have the same amount of load no matter what...they changed the wiring completely in 96 and went to a different switch entirely.

 

Thanks for the input guys! I fired it up today for the first time since it fried and I think I figured out my "click-of-death" problem was coming from the switch as well. THe starter turns over immediately everytime now that I swapped the one wire. I am gonna take her out for a ride this afternoon, but a new switch is ordered.

I now know how the switch works, and that it's not totally uncommon for it to fail.