Side Stand Relay

I was reading my Haynes manual today while sitting on the throne and just found out that the bike has a side stand relay (I have taken off a few times with the side stand down, and always complained that I didn't have a kill relay for this). It seems as though the spring is a little tight and when the side stand is down the kill switch doesn't get pushed in far enough. Before I tear this apart I was hoping someone else had run into this problem before and know the simplest fix for this.

You input is greatly appreciated.

 

Hi,
I haven't pulled the sidestand switch apart because mine is sealed with resin but, in saying that, I have pulled the clutch switch and the rear brake switch apart and they both use the same 'type' of sliding pin configuration.
The clutch switch is more like the sidestand switch because it actuates with a pushing motion whereas the brake switch is a pulling motion but essentially the same type of configuration but reversed internally.

Got carried away with paint and made a pic for you.

More than likely it is either gunged up with junk or not connected, I would think but if you disconnect it and do a continuity test (check to see if its working when you swing the sidestand out and back in with an ohms meter) that will rule out the 'disconnected' option too.

 

Wow, that was an amazing response... after looking more closely it seems like the side stand doesn't push the pin in far enough. Is it possible the side stand piece which pushes the pin in has worn down? There are only 25k on the bike which doesn't seem to be enough to wear down that fast. There is the possibility that a previous owner disconnected the relay, but I won't be able to check that until the bike is back together.

I will post some pictures in a bit

 

Here is a picture of the relay with the side stand fully extended. It is hard to see (couldn't get a good picture from under the bike) but the side stand does not engage the pin very far.

 

While your switch looks a bit shorter than mine and mine has an extension piece to reach the sidestand which makes it pretty different... there should be a fair bit of movement when the side stand pushes on the switch.
Maybe 10-15mm of push even. I would think yours would still need 5-10mm off travel to actuate as the switches I've looked at are definitely not in the micro-switch family.
I took some pics but they may not be too helpful.

 

Let me help clarify something here:

The term "relay" keeps getting used when we're talking about the switch itself. Most (but not all) XJs have a sidestand relay as well, operated by the "signal" from the switch being discussed.

And I gotta say, I thought the 550s were bad just because of where the switch lives, hanging down in the road spray like it does; but now I gotta take a close look at my 650 Seca--- Underneath the motor looks worse yet...

It's really common for the boots to crack (look closely at mine) and the switch to get gummy, corroded or dirty and start misbehaving (or quit altogether.) A good flushing out with contact cleaner works wonders.

As for travel, the switch doesn't move very far when the actuating piece pushes on it, maybe about 3-5mm (I've never measured.) Here are a couple of pics of a 550, it's a tad easier to see: