Im new to the savage community.  Im building a bobber and am wondering if I have to have the kickstand saftey switch or the switch that runs to the clutch lever.  Or is there a bypass for these?  Any help will me much appreciated.

Be aware that removing or disabling safety circuits is a BAD IDEA.

T Mack 1 - FSO wrote on 04/18/10 at 17:44:31:




& that momentary Bump/Jerk can be a highside crash. That one is a real safety issue with potentially very serious repercussions.

The clutch thing, ehhh, yea, I can see how it could be a problem, but I cant wrap my head`around it being such a huge deal.

Quote:
I don't particularly like Suzuki's way of using the clutch safety switch. I would prefer it allowed the engine to crank and start with the clutch lever out, if and only if the transmission is in neutral.
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Somehow I'm glad you weren't the saftey engineer for my bike. If I killed the engine at a red lite, I'd hate fighting to find neutral just to restart.

All this saftey stuff, but still, even to this day I can still raise the hood w/ the engine running, and stick my fingers right into the fan,....no guard, no nothing

Thanks for all the replies, and after much consideration and for the ease of things, Im just going to leave them the way they are.  The only reason I wanted to discard them is to 1. change my levers to sportster levers, and 2. minimize my wiring.  Once again. thanks folks

i noticed that u don't have to pull the clutch in to start some bikes...that was a weird experience lol

I did have an intermittent spark miss,... that devolved into a no start over a period of a week...  that turned out to be a dirty clutch lever cut-out switch...
So,.. if you have that problem in the future,.. be aware... ...

It took me a while to figure it out,.. I was looking for ignition problem...

Ridgerunner, perhaps you have noticed a few small changes since the '60s. Then, your starting procedure was correct. Then, few bikes had electric starters so starter interlocks were unneeded. Then, kickstarters worked through the transmission, and the clutch lever had to be released to get the engine to turn over, using the kickstarter. Then, the bike pretty much had to be upright, because the rider usually straddled the bike to use the kickstarter. Then, should the transmission happen to be in some gear, operating the kick starter made the bike move and usually didn't result in a start. Should you still be riding a motorcycle of that vintage, your procedure is admirable.

Now, most (road) motorcycles have electric starters and very few still have kickstarters. Since you no longer have to hold the bike up to use ths kickstarter it is very common to see people stand beside the bike, start it up, then put on helmet and gloves while the engine warms a little. Doesn't take much imagination to see a bike - absent safety interlocks - depart on its own. And there have been a goodly number of crashes caused by forgetting to retract sidestands.

Let's discuss procedures. There are proper procedures for almost every task. Pilots use checklists for various stages of flight, yet despite these checklists every year there are unintentional wheels-up landings. Despite variations on "Insure adequate fuel for the intended flight" every year there are unscheduled landings due to fuel exhaustion. The list can go on, but the difficulty is that humans make mistakes. Safety circuits can fail, too, but they usually don't. If properly designed safety systems interfere with your usual way of doing things, it is very likely you are doing something wrong.