My 08 Rev3 250 Doesnt Have A Kill Switch, Help Please

[brenin]

Hi All,

my 08 REV3 250 doesnt have a kill switch. It was like that when I bought it. As I have got more ambitious, I have occassionally become separated from the bike. As such I would like to now fit a kill switch.

Can anyone please help me with how to wire it in? I have had a quick look and cant really see where one has been removed from the loom, so I need a gentle 'walk and talk' through where i should be wiring it in, and where to accomplish it.

My friends have recomended the magnetic type with a lanyard. Any pros and cons with that set-up?

Many thanks

Ian

North Wales

[telecat]

Generally you can get what is known as a "Yamaha" one from any Trials shop. Wiring it in would be another problem. I'd have a look at another Beta and see where the wires go. I suspect they will be taped up somewhere under the tank.

[lineaway]

Get the Yamaha type switch. Lately people have started to `like` the lanyard style. The first time you lose or forget the lanyard you will be quite unhappy. There should be a loose wire off the cdi if I remember right. It is best to get a two wire kill button. Ground the second wire to the frame.

[0007]

Is there a light switch? If I remember correctly there were twinned side by side

They were sticky and had a weak return spring so they stick in the killed position but the wires are probably sitting right there behind the headlight, it was probably just unplugged and discarded, I doubt they chopped the harness off and stuffed it back somewhere

Sorry I can't help with the colors of the wires but there won't be a bunch of stuff there, it's a 2 wire plug and you short the wires together and it shuts off

[bilks]

The power wire is white/black,other wire is black which is earthed,well that's what's on my 2002 and my sons 2004,and what it shows in the 2006 handbook.

[dan williams]

Here is a series of schematics I drew while chasing a wiring problem on my 08.

The first is how it should be wired with a separate ground for the kill switch which is routed to the frame. I connected mine to a point on the tab that the regulator mounts to as well as the mounting bolt of the ignition coil.

The second is what it looks like in the manual.

The little red arrows were to show how current can flow when the ground lug connected to the triple clamp is making poor contact.

Suggest you use a two wire kill switch. One lead to black/white wire and other side to frame. I wired mine to a lug on the ignition coil mounting. The factory Beta wiring has all grounds return to a lug under the headlight. An extremely bad idea because if the ground contact fails then the current from the lighting switch and the kill switch feed directly into each other.

Edited May 22, 2013 by dan williams

[0007]

..?.. The power from the light will feed into the kill switch if the ground fails?

You mean I hit the kill switch and the headlight comes on?

Doesn't work like that, I know ground loops occur but if the ground failed then neither the light nor the kill would work, it simply becomes and Open Circuit

But there is so much surface area in contact with the bolt, the threads and the loop connectors that loss of ground is very unlikely

I know these kill switches have problems, mine was disco'd when I got my Rev, it was stuck in the kill position

I took it part, cleaned, lubed and stretched the spring and its still working today

[dan williams]

The surface finish of the triple clamp is anodized. Aluminum oxide = insulator. I know, I stuck a meter on it just to be sure. As for how I diagnosed the problem with my bike, when it was new the lights and the kill switch didn't work until one time I hit the kill switch with the light switch on. The lights came on briefly as the engine died. Look at the schematic and figure out where the current goes if the ground lug is floating. If both switches are on the kill switch finds ground through the lamp filaments. Feeding a high voltage low current signal (ignition) through a high current low voltage signal (lighting) is bad. Beta included a diode in the kill switch circuit on the '08 to prevent this from happening.

Ah I see the reason for the confusion, the diagram above is how it should be wired. Sorry, grabbed the wrong diagram this morning as I was rushing to get to work. I'll explain better when I get home.

Just another note that I don't think the manual's schematic is entirely correct as when I dug through the wiring it looked like the lights and horn actually run directly off the ac provided by the stator lighting coils. That would kind of make the diode a moot point.

Edited May 23, 2013 by dan williams