'71 r75/5 ignition woes

[turtle]

i need help ya'll

i'm in corpus christi texas, and i own a great German 71 r75/5 which has one drawback which causes a few related issues

my key won't stay in and this shuts down the engine at VERY disopportuned times

is there a little spring or something in there which can be replaced thereby making the switch functional again

i have ordered a new key, but that didn't solve the problem

i love my bike, but shes really been getting on my nerves as of late

kinda like the wife

thanks so much for ya'lls help

[Stretch Hendrix]

gently bend the switch contacts...

The switch contacts will loose tension after years of use. They are generally considered to be no maintenance items, but... as you seem to be experiencing they can require some attention. Disconnect the battery then, remove the headlight, put the key in as you observe what actually happens as the key makes the switch connect. You will see an upper and a lower contact. Remove the key. Using needle nosed pliers carefully bend the lower contact upward so that it almost but does not contact the upper one. Now put the key back in and observe the contacts. They should be touching better than they were. Reconnect the battery and test. Unless the key is loosening and jumping out of its locks holding it in place I bet you just fixed it. If not feel free to email me at alabmwstretch@yahoo.com and we can discuss it further.
Good Luck
Stretch

[Raceydog]

If the key is actually "jumping" out of the lock, your key is most likely worn down. Keys are made of brass so that they wear out instead of the lock. When they get years of use, the high parts of the cuts get worn down and rounded off. Depending on the order and depths that are cut on the key, it can create a situation where the key can actually be removed when the switch is in the "on" position. Older Toyota, Nissan and other double sided automotive key types are prone to this. I would suspect the same for older motorcycle keys/switches. If you bought a new key, was it a blank you had cut/copied from your old key? If so, you basically have an exact duplicate of the old key that works just the same. The only solution to this is to have a locksmith "read" the key and make a new key by code.

Oh yeah. The wafers inside the lock cylinder have springs that push them back down to fit in the spaces of the key. That's what pushes the key out.

Of course you could just be holding your mouth wrong.

Jimmy
Shelby County Lock & Key

[Stretch Hendrix]

I hate to tell you but....

BMW bike nail type keys are NOT made of brass.
Stretch

[Raceydog]

Ahh. I didn't realize he was talking about that one. I haven't ridden my '72 yet, so I forgot about that one. As far as the nail key, what are they made of then? Mine seems to be non-ferrous.

[Raceydog]

My explanation does apply to other types of double sided switches though. So if anybody's '84 Corolla spits out it's key, there 'ya go.

[SteveHebert]

My /6 exhibited a similar behavior last week when I was home. I turned the key on and got nothing for power. Then a minute later I noticed the headlight on. I fired her up and rode for a while just fine. Then I took a little ride and all of a sudden while cruising on the highway at about 65, I felt a little stutter and then a moment later the GEN light came on and the bike died. No more power anywhere. She is in the garage now and I am back in Afghanistan so I will deal with the issue later. Any ideas? I am guessing a short or a fuze.

[Vance]

(HiJack) Sorry I missed seeing you while home. I know you were jammed for time but I hope it was a relaxing time even so. Take care and get finished up over there...I don't think your bike can stand anymore of our mechanicing! I told Tommy we didn't need to do anything to the wiring! (Kidding....Really!) Take care and stay in touch!!

[SteveHebert]

Fixed my electrical issue on Louise

I finally had some time on this break to tinker with Louise a bit. As some recall from my last post on this in Nov, I had what appeared to be a short somewhere, but it was a total electrical failure when it happened. I thought about that for some time and figured it had to be something easy and something straight from the source.

I started pushing on the wires at the started relay area and presto! She came back to life. I isolated it to the main red wire going from the relay to the bucket.

When I got the bike back from Rick Jones last year and per his reommendation, I decided to disconnect every wire and apply some electric grease before re-connecting. That man is a genious by the way!

What I did though was slide the female connector, next to the spade of the male connector on the relay instead of snap it on it. Bad lighting or bad beer is all I can figure. It was making contact by shear luck and just enough pressure to keep the power alive. I guess I bumped the tank or turned the bars one too many times in November and gave myself that headache.

I spent 3 hours on the side of the road waiting for a ride and a trailer thinking it was something major.

So the morale of the sorty is - Don't be a dumb ass!

Humbly submitted,

Steve

[Stretch Hendrix]

the real moral of the story...

Usually you won't experience major electrical troubles from an Airhead without seeing smoke and smelling wire fires. And that happens only rarely and usually after someone has worked on it...
I had one of my connectors' plastic insulator deteriorate and fall off allowing hot and ground wires to meet after I put the headlight back in the housing letting the sacred smoke out of the headlight as I rode along.... New connectors all around and more careful installation of the light into the bucket and no more troubles...
Most often when you have a total failure its a loose connection the trick is finding out which one.
Happpy motoring.
Stretch

[Raceydog]

So did you ever figure out what the nail keys are made of? It's going to bug me 'till I know. I would guess either brass with the nickel plating or nickel-silver. Which is a brass and nickel alloy I think.

[Vance]

Glad to hear you are home for a bit Steve! And glad to hear that Louise is feeling better...and I hope you are out riding today...it is so nice! Take care and hopefully we will see in Montevallo??