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Have had my eye out for a left hand switch that enables you to turn the lights off to help the battery when starting. I recently got one from ebay which was originally off a Tuono. When I fitted I thought the knob for switching high beam on and off looked a bit orangey ,so being a bit anal I decided to swap it for the one on my original.Instead of messing about soldering i realised I could just swap the top plastic part of the switch. Unfortunately after doing this the dipped beam would switch off but the main beam wouldn't work.
I did a few checks and found the contacts had a different configuration and so had to put the original back. So I've now got a working main beam but an orange knob
So I guess I've learned not all knobs are interchangeable.

Different contacts!




Before!




After!

I would have thought most men would be more than familiar with the workings of their knob ... And to be honest if mine was bright orange I'd be wanting to do something about it too!

That bottom one is how my Falco is, I never knew it wasn't standard.

wayno wrote:That bottom one is how my Falco is, I never knew it wasn't standard.

Only the last few made had the downgrade in the light switch department.

Not sure when it was introduced but towards the end of production of the grey-frame bikes.

I've thought about doing this Nick. Apart from your orange knob dilemma, was a straight forward swop?

DavShill wrote:I've thought about doing this Nick. Apart from your orange knob dilemma, was a straight forward swop?

I did it on mine and it's a straight swap, had to undo the top fairing to get at the plug properly though.

There's at least three different lots of switchgear though.
There's the one with the grey switches off the older slower bikes.
There's the one that we got with the light switch blanked off.
The one I got was the same as the blanked off one but with the switch intact, same plug, same pin out.

Edited to add-

Being able to turn the lights off got me an extra volt on the dash, it all helps when starting the bloody things.

Doesn't the ignition switch cut the power to the lights when it's turned, as on most cars?

The switch is also a convenient thing for those that choose to do some of their riding in the day time rather than only at night.

DavShill wrote:I've thought about doing this Nick. Apart from your orange knob dilemma, was a straight forward swop?

As random said Dave. just top fairing off and swap plugs.

MartDude wrote:Doesn't the ignition switch cut the power to the lights when it's turned, as on most cars?

The issue is that you have to start the bike with the lights on even though the handbook specifically tells you to turn them off. Effectively they just turned the lights on then removed and blanked off the switch.

On the kwak the lights don't come on until the engine starts which is more sensible. Like Andy says though it would be nice to have a choice. Buggering off down side streets comes to mind.

Has anyone else removed the brass pip that fixes the switchgear in place on the bars? To get the right angle for the brake and clutch levers I had to remove that brass pip in both sides of the switchgear, otherwise I couldn't rotate the levers around far enough. One of the first things I did in my fledgling period of Falco ownership, as I recall.

If you want to do this, the best method is to get a soldering iron and a pair of snipe nosed pliers. Get the soldering iron hot and stick it on top of the brass pip. When the pip is hot enough (normally accompanied by a vague whiff of melting plastic and/or bubbling noises), put the soldering iron down, grab the pliers and whip the brass pip out from the semi-melted plastic. Works a treat.

wayno wrote:That bottom one is how my Falco is, I never knew it wasn't standard.

Same here. My Falco had the lights on/off switch present.

Which is interesting because the Oz design regulations mandated "lights on" for motorcycles built between the early 90s and the early 00s.

What about bikes built after the early 00s?

It seems to depends on the manufacturer.

Once the "Lights on" ADR (Australian Design Regulation) was abolished, a lot of bikes still come with the headlight hard-wired "on".

It's also possible that some manufacturers gave the ADR people the finger and never bothered changing.