Disabling Kick Stand Switch

Hi,

I'm finally deciding to disable the kick stand switch, just curious if there are any good "instructions for dummies" out there on this somebody might know about.

Thanks!



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I would advise against that.  Someone I know watched a guy get killed on the interstate because his side stand was down.  In a lean on a lane change it catapulted him like a pumpkin into a guardrail.

What's your reason to compromise a safety feature?

I have NEVER understood the desire to do this.

motokid wrote:

I have NEVER understood the desire to do this.

Safety switches like this are just one more thing you have to check if your bike won't start. Not a big deal in the garage but hours away from the nearest paved road? I'm of the mindset that I've been riding for 23 years without a safety switch on my clutch or kickstand, so why do I need one now? But the WRR is my dad's, and he hasn't been on a bike in 40 years. So for now the switches are staying.

Wallrat wrote:

motokid wrote:

I have NEVER understood the desire to do this.

Safety switches like this are just one more thing you have to check if your bike won't start.  Not a big deal in the garage but hours away from the nearest paved road?  I'm of the mindset that I've been riding for 23 years without a safety switch on my clutch or kickstand, so why do I need one now?  But the WRR is my dad's, and he hasn't been on a bike in 40 years.  So for now the switches are staying.

Do you know how many people have had issues BECAUSE they've futzed with the safety switch?

I don't think I've ever heard of somebody having an issue with a bad safety switch, other than those who have decided to by-pass it.

If you ride rough off road the side stand can bounce around and shut the motor off.

I removed mine, I think all I did was un plug the switch and remove it... it was so simple I forget lol.

If the bike wont run with the switch un plugged plug it back in then cut and twist the wires together.

Imo if you use your wrr as a offroad bike get rid of the safety switches, if you use it as a street bike keep em.

Biglake wrote:

If the bike wont run with the switch un plugged plug it back in then cut and twist the wires together.

Imo if you use your wrr as a offroad bike get rid of the safety switches, if you use it as a street bike keep em.

I'm 99% offroad and usually in remote areas where "rescue" could be difficult.

However, if it really is that easy, maybe the best solution is to leave it alone and bring the tools along to do it in the field in the rare circumstance it does fail?

motokid wrote:

[quote="Wallrat"
Do you know how many people have had issues BECAUSE they've futzed with the safety switch?

I don't think I've ever heard of somebody having an issue with a bad safety switch, other than those who have decided to by-pass it.

i hadn't heard that before. Thought I heard the opposite on here years ago when I first got the bike.

However, maybe more reason to leave it alone and do things in the field if ever needed?

I would do like big lake says, unplug it and see if the bike stays running.  If that doesn't work jumper the wires in the plug with paper clip or something.  That way you know what you have to do for a field repair.

I would think, at least where I ride, the odds are a branch will bounce up and tear the wires, or maybe the switch will get knocked loose in a crash.  Both visible to the naked eye, not really something I would mod in advance.

An example of a bypassed switch being less reliable would be if you just twisted the wires together wrapped some electrical tape around them and called it good. That is probably less reliable then leaving the switch installed.

beee wrote:

An example of a bypassed switch being less reliable would be if you just twisted the wires together wrapped some electrical tape around them and called it good.  That is probably less reliable then leaving the switch installed.

I couldn't agree more.  All my electrical work on dirt bikes is always soldered and heat shrunk - haven't had a failure yet.

But yeah the circuit is either normally open or normally closed. It won't hurt anything to open and close the circuit with the bike running to see which is needed to eliminate the switch.

Wow the safety nannies are out in full force. How did we all survive before side stand switches? People born into the modern over legislated, over litigated world are just conditioned to it I guess.

As mentioned unplug it. If that does not work cut the wires off the switch end (not the main bike harness--I hate it when people do that), & solder them into a jumper. I have mine removed but it was years ago (& I am still alive to tell about it no less). I think I made the jumper but can't remember--my bikes all run together in my mind after so long.

Make sure you cut the ugly bracket off for a nice clean look.

WRXer wrote:

Wow the safety nannies are out in full force.  How did we all survive before side stand switches?  People born into the modern over legislated, over litigated world are just conditioned to it I guess.

My response had nothing to do with safety and everything to do with mechanical reasons.

I've seen a few "help - my bike won't start" threads where the problem turned out to be the side-stand switch removal mod.
Mainly it's people who've cut wires, twisted them together, and then used electrical tape to "secure" it.

If the terrain you ride is so insane your side stand might be bounced far enough down to shut your bike off, you could use a zip-tie or possibly even a velcro "belt" to secure side stand to frame.

I can assume nobody wants the side-stand out when riding regardless of off-road or on-road.

motokid wrote:

If the terrain you ride is so insane your side stand might be bounced far enough down to shut your bike off, you could use a zip-tie or possibly even a velcro "belt" to secure side stand to frame.

Would that ever be a PITA  

It only takes a couple of minutes to remove the switch and I did it in a way it can be reinstalled if the guy who buys my bike when ever I sell it wants to.

Laugh all you want.

What's better, your side stand deploying when you don't want it to, or taking 15 seconds to secure side stand with velcro strip?

What's better, side stand deploying and shutting off engine thus alerting you to side stand being out, or not knowing it's out and risking the possible end result?

If the main reason to remove the safety switch is due to side stand being bounced down, then I'd think the smartest thing to do would be to prevent side stand from being bounced down rather than just disconnecting the switch. Maybe a stiffer spring on side stand?  

Ultimately, it's up to the rider to decide what they want to do.

As I said:

#1) I don't get it

#2) cutting wires has lead to more than one "help - my bike won't start" threads

Peace out....

motokid wrote:

If the terrain you ride is so insane your side stand might be bounced far enough down to shut your bike off, you could use a zip-tie or possibly even a velcro "belt" to secure side stand to frame.

This had more to do with an eventual/random failure of the safety switch stopping the bike from starting.  When I first joined this board I ran across some posts where this apparently happened to some folks.  I remember hearing "not if, but when" kind of statements.  One dude local to my area has had this happen too.

So, it was just a matter of not wanting to get stranded somewhere very remote because of a failed switch.

Now, that I understand more how to disable it and how it easy it is, I will bring tools and just do it in the field if it ever fails.  Otherwise, I'll leave it alone.

Problem solved ;-)

motokid wrote:

Laugh all you want.

What's better, your side stand deploying when you don't want it to, or taking 15 seconds to secure side stand with velcro strip?

What's better, side stand deploying and shutting off engine thus alerting you to side stand being out, or not knowing it's out and risking the possible end result?

If the main reason to remove the safety switch is due to side stand being bounced down, then I'd think the smartest thing to do would be to prevent side stand from being bounced down rather than just disconnecting the switch. Maybe a stiffer spring on side stand?  

Ultimately, it's up to the rider to decide what they want to do.

As I said:

#1) I don't get it

#2) cutting wires has lead to more than one  "help - my bike won't start" threads

Peace out....

I dont mean to be a dick but you just dont get off road riding at all...

Having the bike cut out when the stand bounces can be very dangerious too, if it happens when I need power to clear something or ride through whoops and the bike cuts out im going over the bars!

Other bikes have straps to hold the side stand up but they're such a pain to use no one uses them as you normally need your hand on the bars while putting the stand down.

I have a hard time believing the side stand can deploy due to rough terrain. Has this actually happened to anybody? (Moto, I see your point that if this is your concern than disabling the switch is not a full remedy).

Fully deploy to the point it stays down?
Not to me.

Feel and hear it bouncing up and down?
Yes, more than once.
If the inertia of the stand is high enough, the spring pressure will be overcome.

If I recall, the stand does not have to come fully down to activate the switch.

I've never seen a sidestand switch accidentally triggered or fail while riding, but I've seen more than a few clutch switches get buggered. Small crash on the left side and the guy spends the next 30 minutes pulling his bike apart. We pull up, find the wires got crushed, twist together (or tape apart), and he's back on the trail - well after reassembling all the crap that he pulled off trying to figure out what was wrong.

I still stand that we survived for decades without these "safety" items so my bikes won't have em.

I suspect that many of these items on modern bikes were added with the support of several lawsuits by irresponsible individuals with good attorneys.

That being said I have not had an issue with the ones on my WRR and my WeeStrom. But I know them well enough to be able to make repairs (aka bypass) in the field if I should FUBAR them.

My GasGas and Beta have a nicely designed kick stand that will pop up if you forget and leave them down. The issue with the one on the GasGas is if you are ever checking out something on the bike and lift it off the side stand you need to keep your hands clear of the side stand retract path or you will likely be missing a chunk of meat from your hand. Don't ask me how I know that but lets just say it is burned into my survival instinct memory now.

The one on the Beta is much nicer.. doesn't retract as fast. Must be like a 2nd gen of that type of design.

Hell I even remember that my 1978 KZ400 had an auto retract kick stand. There was a pin on the C/S sprocket that would rotate around and hit a tab on the kick stand that would bring it up. That was a nice feature unless you were checking tire pressures and would walk the bike a few feet to get the valve stem in a good spot to hook up the pressure gauge. You would always need to check to make sure that the kickstand was down or the bike would decide to take a nap on you.

granite4brains wrote:

Biglake wrote:

If the bike wont run with the switch un plugged plug it back in then cut and twist the wires together.

Imo if you use your wrr as a offroad bike get rid of the safety switches, if you use it as a street bike keep em.

I'm 99% offroad and usually in remote areas where "rescue" could be difficult.

However, if it really is that easy, maybe the best solution is to leave it alone and bring the tools along to do it in the field in the rare circumstance it does fail?

If this is correct, it could be extremely useful.  The fix would be as simple as carrying a Leatherman.

Wallrat wrote:

I still stand that we survived for decades without these "safety" items so my bikes won't have em.

Fair enough. But as a Newb in '08 the side stand safety switch saved my butt 2X.

I have heard of quite a few people disabling it, Also have seen where some one replaced it with an actual on/off switch and hid it as added anti-theft device

I have seen & assisted with several failed kickstand switches. I remember two that were causing intermittent issues while riding. I prefer not to have the interlocks. K.I.S.S.