This is my first attempt at a how-to, so I hope you all enjoy. I figured I'd give back to the community since you've given so much to me.
First, the disclaimer: I don't ever claim to know what I'm doing. I'm not a mechanic, however I'm also not an idiot and this wasn't exactly really rocket science. Switches are simply harder to come by these days and so I figured I'd give a shot at rebuilding mine. If I did anything wrong, I welcome people to chime in and give their opinion so my bike doesn't light on fire in a couple months when I turn it on. Also, sorry for the couple blurry pictures. My camera is ancient.
Please note that I actually did my turn signal switch first but didn't document it. The good news it, it's much easier to do if you can get through this.
Here's the beast. It's my switch from my 1972 CB750K2:
The first thing I did was remove the throttle cables. You simply unscrew the two black fittings that are holding them in place. When you've done so, you'll be left with the switch, and here's what it looks like inside:
Next, I removed the screw and plate holding the cabling between both switches in:
Then, I cut the shrink wrap so that I could separate both halves of the switch:
The switch halves split:
At this point, I went to work on the starter button. I unscrewed the plate holding the button/wiring in place:
Then, everything came out. You should be left with a screw, a plate, some wiring, a spring and a button:
Put that all aside and move on to the top half. It's much more intricate. Remove the plate holding the wiring bundle for the top half by unscrewing the screw holding it in place:
Here's what the internals of the switch look like:
Unscrew the light switch's screw. At this point, pull out the light switch, and the white bundle of plastic which controls the switch.
BE CAREFUL. Learn from me, there's little springs and ball-bearings inside which will fly all over the place if you're not careful. Here's what you're left with. I'm sorry the picture isn't that clear, but you should have the following: a screw, a washer, your light switch, a small spring, a ball-bearing, the white plastic, a small metal plate which goes on the connectors from the white plastic. Also, you should now pull out the wiring.
Now we're left with the kill switch internals:
To get this out, again we need to
BE CAREFUL. There's two little springs and a ball bearing in the red switch. If you don't pay attention, they'll fly out. Now, pull off the small C clip holding the red switch in place. Then carefully turn the switch upside down and pull out the red switch. You're left with this:
I pulled apart the red switch because I wanted to paint it. It has two springs and a ball-bearing as described above, but it also has a small plate which contacts the wiring.
The next thing I did was clean everything. I used wire brushes mostly, and some household cleaner with Q-Tips for the insides of the switches. Some compressed air works well too. I used my drill with the fine wire brush to get the polished look on the outside of the switches. If this isn't your thing, I'm certain you can paint them just fine. Here's a nice clean half:
Now would also be a good time to inspect and repair any wiring that may be in bad shape. In my case, I only had to add a little individual shrink wrap for a couple wires.
Putting it back together, I started with the bottom half which contains the starter switch. I lubed up everything very well with some dielectric grease. I was personally very generous. I first put the button and the spring in, then the wire wall and finally the plate and screw. I didn't take any pictures of this, but it's really trivial, reverse of removal.
Back on the top piece, note that I've painted my red kill switch with some automotive spray paint. Lots of thin coats seems to have worked well. I loaded up the wiring board with die-electric grease, then slid it in:
At this point, I also put the red kill switch back together. Two springs on the bottom, the round slot contains the ball-bearing and the square contains the connector plate. Note that the springs are different sizes, and the small spring only fits for the square pattern. Make sure you use some dielectric grease on all these as well as the shaft for the red kill button.
Next, flip the switch half upside down and place the red kill switch in the correct hole. Re-insert the C clip to hold it in place:
You'll now have to put the white plastic back together and back in place. To do this, I inserted the small metal plate and spring in the white unit, put the ball bearing and held it in place with my finger. I then grabbed the wiring board and installed it on the white unit (in the small metal plate). I then put it all into place in the actual switch. Again, I was generous with the dielectric grease:
Then, you simply have to install the light switch and screw it in. Make sure you use the washer. After that's in, re-install the wiring bundle plate with screw. Here's what it should look like:
You then need to re-install the holder for both wiring bundles (top and bottom):
At this point, you should check all your connections using a test light and a battery. I found it to be easy enough if you study the diagram a little. You should shrink wrap both bundles together when everything is complete. Here's how she looks:
Hope this was helpful! Feel free to message me if you have any questions!
