Kill switch wiring question??

[Golden Eagle]

I have a Sensation Go Devil. I am going to use this NOS high/low headlight/horn switch for a kill switch. I have 2 of these bikes with this exact switch that appear to be original to the bike. Unfortunately, everything the wires connected to is missing. I plan on using the horn switch as a kill switch. I believe that is what the factory did. My hs40 engine has the exterior coil wire connection. As you can see there are 4 wires from this switch, one black, green, orange and blue. My question is, is the green wire for the horn and does one of the other wires go to a ground or is the switch itself grounded when mounted? I don’t have a multi-meter but will get one if needed.

 

[chrisr]

A multimeter is going to be needed to check continuity - https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=volt ohm meter. The kill switch works by taking the lead off the coil and putting it to ground when you want to kill the motor. On the old engines, there was a strap that you could touch the top of the spark plug that would ground the coil system and kill the engine

You may look on the coil and there may be a small male plug that would allow you to have a wire attach and when the engine is running you can ground that wire to see if it kills the engine and if so, just re-route that connection through your horn switch so when you push the horn button it will go to ground.

Hope that helps.

 

[Golden Eagle]

A multimeter is going to be needed to check continuity - https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=volt ohm meter. The kill switch works by taking the lead off the coil and putting it to ground when you want to kill the motor. On the old engines, there was a strap that you could touch the top of the spark plug that would ground the coil system and kill the engine

You may look on the coil and there may be a small male plug that would allow you to have a wire attach and when the engine is running you can ground that wire to see if it kills the engine and if so, just re-route that connection through your horn switch so when you push the horn button it will go to ground.

Hope that helps.

Yes. Mine has that small male plug from the coil. Do you know if the switch is grounded , or if one of the other wires is for that? Thanks

 

[chrisr]

The horn switch should have two wires that when you push the button, they have continuity between them, these are the two wires you want. One of those wires go to ground the other to the coil.

 

[Golden Eagle]

The horn switch should have two wires that when you push the button, they have continuity between them, these are the two wires you want. One of those wires go to ground the other to the coil.

Got it! Ok, thanks

 

[massacre]

I see you have 4 wires.
If that horn button only has 1 wire going to it, it most likely grounds to the handlebars. If it has 2 wires, then 1 wire goes to the coil, and the other wire goes to ground.
I used to use a pushbutton for a kill switch, but for safety, changed it over to an actual switch. I found that i had to hold that button down for a long time until the engine stopped turning, or else the engine would start back up when the button was released.
If you started to press the button, but then fell off the bike or your hand slipped off the button, the button would not kill the engine. Switch is much faster imho and then even if you fell off the bike the engine would stop.
It's a preference thing, depending on what kind of riding you do and/or who is riding it.

I have similar controls, i use the horn button as a horn button, and just mounted a regular on/off switch to the left of the controls.

The small red rocker switch will be hazard flashers, the kill switch is the bigger switch on the left.
Ignore the medium one on top, i bought that one but ended up using the smaller one instead.

Left side with horn button

 

[Golden Eagle]

Thanks for the info. Good point on the falling off aspect. I think I’ll stick with the switch that I have though, since I already have it and I’m pretty sure that’s what Sensation used to use.

I did try taking it apart earlier, but stopped on the fear of not being able to put it back together again. I only saw 1 green wire going to the button. Guess I’ll have to buy a multimeter to sort it out.

Thanks again.

 

[massacre]

If you can post pics we can help you figure it out

 

[chrisr]

Thanks for the info. Good point on the falling off aspect. I think I’ll stick with the switch that I have though, since I already have it and I’m pretty sure that’s what Sensation used to use.

I did try taking it apart earlier, but stopped on the fear of not being able to put it back together again. I only saw 1 green wire going to the button. Guess I’ll have to buy a multimeter to sort it out.

Thanks again.

If you only saw one wire going to the horn switch, most likely when you press the horn button the switch is grounding which causes the horn to sound. Should do the same for as a kill switch with a wire to the coil.

 

[Golden Eagle]

Well, I got this switch sorted out today with a multimeter. The horn/kill button is grounded through the case and uses the black wire. The headlight switch has 3 positions. They are up, middle and down. I believe the up position is bright, the middle is off and down is dim. The up position uses the blue and orange wire and the down position uses the blue and green wire. I’m assuming that since both the up and down switch positions use the blue wire, that the blue wire must be hot. Correct me if I’m wrong. Thanks

 

[chrisr]

Well, I got this switch sorted out today with a multimeter. The horn/kill button is grounded through the case and uses the black wire. The headlight switch has 3 positions. They are up, middle and down. I believe the up position is bright, the middle is off and down is dim. The up position uses the blue and orange wire and the down position uses the blue and green wire. I’m assuming that since both the up and down switch positions use the blue wire, that the blue wire must be hot. Correct me if I’m wrong. Thanks

It could be the "blue wire" is the common power source "hot" and the orange or green go to the different terminals on the low/high beam headlight. The headlight would also need a ground for the low/high beam headlight.

 

[Golden Eagle]

That’s what I was wondering, but I figured the headlight is probably grounded in it’s case. I also thought maybe the blue is a common ground and the orange and green are hot. Maybe it doesn’t matter. I’m not sure what is the proper way to do it! Luckily, the bike I’m working on now just needs the kill switch- which is straight forward. I’m trying to gain info for my next bike which will have lights and will use an identical switch. All thoughts appreciated. Thanks

 

[massacre]

chrisr got it right, From your description, the blue wire is power to the switch, then the switch sends power to the orange wire in 1 position, and to the green wire in the other position. If this is the case, you are correct that the light should ground to the frame through the housing.

 

[Golden Eagle]

Sounds right! I haven’t seen inside my headlight. Hopefully I’ll see two prongs on it when I open it up. It’s still mounted on another Go Devil that I’m going to steal parts from. That bike has the brake light switch on it too. I’ll be using that as well. Thanks everyone for the help.

 

[copyman]

Hi,

I've used that same switch before and the black button as kill switch. It was the black wire I used for button kill switch.

 

[Golden Eagle]

Hi,

I've used that same switch before and the black button as kill switch. It was the black wire I used for button kill switch.

Hi,

I've used that same switch before and the black button as kill switch. It was the black wire I used for button kill switch.

Thanks for verifying the black wire is for the kill switch. I’m putting the switch on the left side. Seems like I read somewhere, the headlight should be on the right, but, since there is no headlight for this switch to operate, I’m putting the switch where I believe the factory put it- on the left.

 

[copyman]

I've always seen it on the left side with brake lever. Not sure how comfortable it would be trying to operate it and throttle if on right side next to throttle.

 

[Golden Eagle]

I’m sure I’ll have more questions when it comes time to wire my brake light. There are 2 wires coming out of that light. I plan on using a hs50 with lighting coil on the bike with lights. These Sensation Go Devils came stock with hs40’s. I hope the hs50 fits.

 

[massacre]

I've always seen it on the left side with brake lever. Not sure how comfortable it would be trying to operate it and throttle if on right side next to throttle.

Zero issues here, all my bikes have the kill switch on the throttle side.

For the brake light, 1 wire is usually power, the other side is usually ground.

 

[Golden Eagle]

If one brake wire is the light and the other the ground, how does the light get brighter when the brake switch is activated? Do 2 wires attach to the one brake light wire?