Perhaps I should clarify, it doesn't have a mechanical switch with a spring, it uses a button akin to a button on a cell phone (Makes contact with a PCB instead of closing a contact between 2 larger wires) Now this model is too new to know how reliable that button will be after being exposed to the elements for a while, but what i DO like is they have the ability to bypass the FOB authentication system and enter a code manually to start the bike.
As much fun as it is to debate Kipass (and it IS fun) it has it's pluses and minuses, and I still assert that for motorcycles this is really a first gen system and they still have not worked out all the bugs yet. Bugs will hit different people differently, which explains why many people have had no problems with it at all, and then you have many who have, and some (like Bob) who REALLY got whammied with Kipass failures.
Reminds me of my old 93 Hyundai Excel, biggest piece of crap I ever owned (I was 19 and it was cheap LOL, so cheap a 19 year old could afford it brand new working part time to make the payments
) I had that car for 4 years and 80k miles and in that time I went through 6 transmissions (Kept blowing the syncros and bearings for some reason) 2 AC compressors, a rear Axle, 2 Steering columns and 2 bad wheel bearings.
However, a fellow classmate of mine who bought the same car a year later drove it for years and racked up over 150k without a single issue.... I suspect we are having a similar thing with Kipass,