magneto kill switch ?

[milw.pirates]

what is the correct magneto kill switch for a 20's harley?
is it handlebar mounted?
does anybody have a photo?
are they still available? oem or repop ?
I have seen 2 different styles on E-bay from 2 different venders,would like to see photo of oem.
Thanks Ken S. #6457

[exeric]

I've been looking into this for the teens and early 20's vintage H-D's and I don't see that H-D offered a magneto kill switch. There is a "short circuiting" assembly for the Bosch mag which consists of all the parts you see on the interupter ring that you would attach a ground wire to. However there is no mention of an actual switch. My Hendersons use a Berling mag and those mags had a built in kill switch. It was a piece of blue steel curved to match the radius of the interupter. The blue steel had a bakelite button on the end and you simply pressed the button down and it would ground directly on the interupter. As I said in the previous post, the H-D operator's book tells you to twist the left grip to the left until the motor stops. Personally, I think H-D was too technically sophisticated to use something as crude as a kill switch on consumer motorcycles. Are the switches on ebay a copy of the horn button? The horn button is a simple ground switch. The original part # for it is: EK1022P.

[milw.pirates]

magneto kill switch

Eric,
Cannot find good photo in parts books to refer to, if they used horn button for mag kill switch on the racer models,that is what I would prefer to use,but cannot find good photo of racer handle bar area that shows the switch type,may have to make a trip to H-D museum to get close up photos.
Ken S. #6457

[exeric]

I don't think racers used the horn switch. I recall an interview with (I believe) Maldwyn Jones and he was talking about the quality of race prep on the H-D works bikes. He mentioned the kill switch and how every rider had their own preference on how and where it was placed. The switch was usually a piece of blue steel with a wire soldered to it and it would be taped to the bars with that real sticky cloth electical tape. He stressed that reliability took precedence over looks. Ken, I think that interview was in one of Steve Wright's books.

[milw.pirates]

magneto kill switch

Hello Eric,
I will check with some of the guys in our chapter to see if anybody has a copy of this book,
the switches on e-bay start about 75.00 to over 100.00,but not sure if they are even close to original.
Ken S. #6457

[Smarty]

Ken,

I've purchased one of the switches via ebay and they are a near perfect reproduction. I already had a genuine switch cover and this fits perfectly in place of the repro cover supplied with the switch, which is plated rather than the correct black finish.

These are not the same as the "kill" switch supplied by Comp Dist, as the genuine switches (as the one I have) allow the wire to be routed inside the handlebar tubing, totally concealed.

Regards,

Martin

[milw.pirates]

magneto kill switch

Hello Martin,
Do you have time to post a close up photo to this thread?
would like to see style of switch and mount.
Thanks, Ken S. #6457

[Smarty]

Ken,

Here is the style of switch I have.

If you're interested I'll dig out which ebay seller I bought it from, however I think since I bought mine a couple of others are also selling these type of switches from time to time.

Regards,

Martin

[exeric]

That's the horn switch. Looks like a nice reproduction.

[milw.pirates]

magneto kill switch

Martin,
Thanks for the photo,looks like it fits well, is it on a bakelite pedestal,or wood?
Ken S. #6457

[Smarty]

Ken,

Its on an alternative bakelite base consisting of some form of machined rigid black nylon/epoxy.

Exeric....yes its the horn button, it works really well.

Regards,

Martin

[Smarty]

Ken,

Here is a picture of an original switch disassembled (courtesy of Mark Masa). The reproduction I have is exactly the same with all the component parts

Regards,

Martin

[40 Nuck]

There's another design on ebay now ... $85. Do a key word search with "harley kill switch" and search title and body. It is not as nice looking as this one, but integrates the horn button just as the one pictured here does.

[Eric MATHIEU]

The one sold by Comp. Dist. is not a magneto kill switch, it's a "Rider Kill Switch". The switch itself is not isolated in any way so you might as well just grab the magneto ground wire. Also they used very poor quality metal for the switch so it is not "sprung" at all. Too bad because it looks great but I regret to say that's all it does.
Eric

[milw.pirates]

mag. kill switch

Eric,
Thanks for the info.
Ken S. #6457