You dont want an ON/OFF switch, you want a momentary switch. One that when pressed, does not stay depressed. Think of your "flash to pass" switch.....it is only ON when you have it depressed and when you release, it it is off. That is a momentary switch and what you need for this application as well.
I wouldn't mind giving up the functionality of "flash to pass". Does anybody know if the "flash to pass" switch is indeed normally open?Yes it is nolmally open
Mark
WEll, Lord Fred's warning was a day too late. I drilled too close and don't have enough clearance to get the nut on my switch. I did manage to successfully solder a wire onto the panel circuit board. For now I will patch up my botched hole and make do. Will replace the switch housing and redo later.
To ground the switch I soldered a very thin copper wire to the switch's other terminal and ran it under a plastic piece inside the other side of the housing where it contacts the handlebar. This can be better understood when you remove the housing for a visual assessment of my explanation. There's plenty of room to run the single wire next to the gang of wires where they enter the housing. If you are unable to decipher my ground wire instructions, let me know and I'll pull it apart, take a picture and post it. I did it this way because it seemed a waste to run a separate ground wire alongside the other wire to a ground on the frame when the handlebar is right there and is certainly a ground.
I would like to avoid running a separate ground wire as well. I decided to use the FTP switch. I disconnected the wires then had a look at the wire diagram. It appears that one wire is 12 volts hot and the other is a ground when the headlights are on. The wires to the switch are not color coded in the diagram. I probed the wires and found that one is hot and the other has a very small floating positive voltage. Since this is being connected to the display circuit board I am concerned about using what appears to be a ground but has a positive voltage. Even a small voltage can fry a sensitive circuit board. Any advice on the use of this apparent ground is welcome.You have a real ground in that housing. the BLACK/YELLOW wire that goes to the horn switch is ground you can confirm that in the wiring diagram
Mr. Callaghan – I don’t understand your grounding solution. The places that I see that contact the handlebar are the circular cutouts that allow the housing halves to come together and a plastic pin that fits into a hole on the handle bar that prevents the housing from rotating on the handle bar. I really studied this but I am at a loss to understand. Your elaboration would be appreciated.
Mark
Mr. Callaghan – I don’t understand your grounding solution. The places that I see that contact the handlebar are the circular cutouts that allow the housing halves to come together and a plastic pin that fits into a hole on the handle bar that prevents the housing from rotating on the handle bar. I really studied this but I am at a loss to understand. Your elaboration would be appreciated.
Mark
I had a suitably sized piece of two strand wire lying around so I used it. For ground I bared an inch of one strand and wrapped it around one of the panel bracket bolts a couple inches from the other strand that connects to the wire coming out of the panel. Seemed simple and logical to me. The way I read Bud's ground solution, he just used the two halves of the switch housing to clamp his ground wire to the bar.
It's nothing more than a thin copper wire that is bent around the aluminum bar and held firmly in place by the other half of the housing.
You need to connect the test battery's negative post to the motorcycle frame to complete the circuit.
After two days and 180 miles of "test riding" I am thoroughly delighted with my fingertiip panel display control. The first 3 or 4 uses I had to feel around for the switch location but after that it was automatic. The only thing I am wondering now is who knows which spot on the IC board controls the odometer? And where can I find a two-way momentary on toggle switch? Most riders probably don't fool with the odometer switch much but I do.
Huge thanks to Lord Frederick for the how-to posting and to Bud for his helpful suggestions.
Lord Frederick really opened a can of worms with this one.