marshg246
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I'm asked from time to time, and I see posts asking things like: "Can my kill button cause ______?" The quick answer is "possibly". This discussion is pre-MKIII only.
With standard Norton factory wiring, the kill button is a normally closed set of contacts that open when the button is pushed. Power to the coils is thus interrupted. The ignition circuit is not the most robust. From the battery negative there is a wire to the master switch and from there a wire to the jumble of connections under the tank from there to the handlebar console with the kill button from there back to the jumble of connections under the tank from there to the ballast resistor and finally from there to the coils (If I didn't miss any, 6 spade connectors, 8 bullets, 4 bullet connectors, and the kill button contacts).
Spade and bullet connectors connected one time and left untouched can maintain a good connection for a very long time even if the outside is corroded as the initial metal-to-metal initial contact usually causes a "gas tight seal". However, disconnect and reconnect just once with a little corrosion and the connection won't last. The kill button contacts are open to the air and have a tiny contact point. Resistance will build up in those contacts over time.
Any connection or contact that corrodes becomes a resistor and therefore, there is a voltage drop across the connection. See: https://www.gregmarsh.com/MC/uvd.pdf for a little more depth.
A points ignition will seem to work at 10 volts to the ballast resistor. The spark is lower voltage than normal but there still is one. Some electronic ignitions will also work. For instance, Tri-Spark specifies that the minimum is 8 volts for it to do its job. However, what they don't say is that at 8 volts the spark will likely be too weak for the engine to run. Best I can tell Pazon requires 10 volts minimum. One source says that Boyer requires 11 volts (I have no personal experience with Pazon or Boyer).
So, "My bike was running perfectly and now I have no spark. Could my kill switch cause this?" Yes, it could. The quickest test with a fully charged battery is to run a wire from the battery negative (positive ground) to the ignition's power lead if an electronic ignition or to the White/Blue wire in the jumble of connections under the tank if points – this will eliminate the entire ignition circuit. If it then works, try disconnecting the White and White/Yellow wires that come from the handlebar switch from the jumble under the tank and replace with a jumper where they came from in the jumble. If it then works, the kill button is the cause; otherwise, it's one or more of the connections in the circuit.
With standard Norton factory wiring, the kill button is a normally closed set of contacts that open when the button is pushed. Power to the coils is thus interrupted. The ignition circuit is not the most robust. From the battery negative there is a wire to the master switch and from there a wire to the jumble of connections under the tank from there to the handlebar console with the kill button from there back to the jumble of connections under the tank from there to the ballast resistor and finally from there to the coils (If I didn't miss any, 6 spade connectors, 8 bullets, 4 bullet connectors, and the kill button contacts).
Spade and bullet connectors connected one time and left untouched can maintain a good connection for a very long time even if the outside is corroded as the initial metal-to-metal initial contact usually causes a "gas tight seal". However, disconnect and reconnect just once with a little corrosion and the connection won't last. The kill button contacts are open to the air and have a tiny contact point. Resistance will build up in those contacts over time.
Any connection or contact that corrodes becomes a resistor and therefore, there is a voltage drop across the connection. See: https://www.gregmarsh.com/MC/uvd.pdf for a little more depth.
A points ignition will seem to work at 10 volts to the ballast resistor. The spark is lower voltage than normal but there still is one. Some electronic ignitions will also work. For instance, Tri-Spark specifies that the minimum is 8 volts for it to do its job. However, what they don't say is that at 8 volts the spark will likely be too weak for the engine to run. Best I can tell Pazon requires 10 volts minimum. One source says that Boyer requires 11 volts (I have no personal experience with Pazon or Boyer).
So, "My bike was running perfectly and now I have no spark. Could my kill switch cause this?" Yes, it could. The quickest test with a fully charged battery is to run a wire from the battery negative (positive ground) to the ignition's power lead if an electronic ignition or to the White/Blue wire in the jumble of connections under the tank if points – this will eliminate the entire ignition circuit. If it then works, try disconnecting the White and White/Yellow wires that come from the handlebar switch from the jumble under the tank and replace with a jumper where they came from in the jumble. If it then works, the kill button is the cause; otherwise, it's one or more of the connections in the circuit.