Hitchcocks Forum

Hi guys. I have an electrical problem with my 1996 535cc regular (indian) model Bullet. The blue wire escaped from the light switch (regular version, i.e. Off-Pilot-Main). I replaced the blue wire where I thought it had come from but found the lights wouldn’t switch on - didi I put it into the wrong socket? Then I noticed the centre pin of the rotating aluminium switch centre was not contacting the copper connection strip from teh pin with 2 ammeter wires. Is it supposed to do so?



The only other example I’ve seen was posted by Scaleyback while ago (image below) and it shows the copper strip anchored to the centre pin of that block, although it is not quite the same switch.



Also the few pictures I’ve seen suggest there is indeed a connection from the pin with the ammeter wires (#5) to the switch centre. Should I find a way to make the centre block pin connect with the copper strip?
Cheers, ChrisD

Ooops, my typo. The "ammeter" wires should actually read amber wires. Actually one of them does go to the ammeter light bulb.




Having written this all down, and spent more hours perusing the wiring diagram from the workshop manual , I am more than ever convinced that the copper strips MUST connect to the switch body - even though the manual shows the connecting strip on terminal 6 not 5. So either a new switch is needed or a fine bolt could be tapped into the switch body through the copper strips.
Any comments?

The diagrams always look like a plumber's nightmare. They never give a good exploded diagram of the switches. Suggest you check the continuity and configuration of the switch (make yourself a sketch) with your test meter as the easiest way to work out what it does; trace wire continuity to the lamps with the meter too. The screw the wire-off came from may be loose or have a bit of wire left in it. The centre axis connection probably needs re-bending having lost its springiness.

In the top pic it looks like the centre arm is touching the green and the fuzz from the green wire is touching the brown terminal, there *is* blue/green arcing corrosion there! Ooops!!!



Take the wires off, test the switch, mend the switch (it's fixable), check where the wires go and put it back together.

Jefrs – actually that fuzz is grease – 20 year old indian factory grease. I also discovered the ammeter contacts were bad so that occasionally stopped working as well as the ignition switch which also started missing contacts and will soon need replacing because of wear. All of these issues showed themselves, with no prior warning,in a ½ km ride around the block – a test ride to prove the bike was ready for an upcoming 4-day trip away from Cape Town. So now, 3 days later, it has taken many hours to get it back to running, but all seems well (although I’m scared to test it lest I find more faults). Incidentally, the wiring diagram which is purportedly for this bike (1996 indian regular, official import to south africa) matches the actual wiring and switches only largely – so it was quite an issue tracking down faults.
Cheers, ChrisD