Start/Horn button swap?

Hey everyone,
Since I bought the bike (82 XJ650) the start button was super loose and would sometimes eject after I started the bike. Really annoying. I macgyver'd it in there and it worked alright for awhile until one day when it ejected onto the street never to be seen again.
I've heard that it might be possible to swap my Horn button for the missing Start button. This sounds good to me since I never use the horn anyway. I'm just wondering if it's possible or if it's more hassle than it's worth? Or if I should just order a replacement button from Chacal?
I've come to find out that a air pump needle (the kind for filling a basketball) works as a replacement starter button. Macgyver all day! 8)
Thanks!

 

The horn and start buttons are interchangeable. This was the first thing I fixed on my bike - used to carry a metal hook to engage the starter

https://www.mikesxs.net/product/24-6525.html

 

That's good to hear! Thanks Sektorgaz! Now hopefully I wont have much trouble with the cluster. Run into any hang ups when you took all that apart?

 

The button itself requires some finesse to install, it likes to jump out of position - just take your time. It helps to test everything before the final install.

I just spent a little extra time making sure all wires inside the kill switch housing were connected securely/soldered on and not touching any metal including the handlebars.

Also replaced the original throttle tube while everything was apart.

 

Sounds good to me. Thanks for the heads up

 

fyi, you probably need a working horn for inspection. Check your local rules.

 

Initially I thought the title of this thread meant swapping the location of the start & horn button, i.e. have the start button on the left handlegrip and horn button on the right handlegrip.

Just curious without even taking the time to think about it, could this be done?

 

Yes it's a simple wire swap in the headlight bucket. Ground is ground so you only have to switch the other wire (coloured wire, not black).

 

i did it to my bike as i thought my start button was junk, turns out it needed to be resoldered. but my thinking was i would rather have a start button than a horn.

 

Thanks for all the help. I'm going to give it a go this weekend and see what happens. I'm getting tired of using the air pump needle but I guess it beats using a screwdriver.

 

I bought a new starter button and spring of eBay last week. Works great, this is the solution to the old broken starter button problem.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/YAMAHA-XJ-XS-XV ... 5d403a0050



Regards,
Tim in Mass

 

I posted a link above in thread from mikesxs, it comes out cheaper than ebay.