Skorpion handlebar switches

[Windmill]

Were always a little loose but usable so one of those jobs for a rainy day.........well it's raining again I'd avoided it too as I knew it wasn't going to be fun...................

Allen bolts of course don't tighten due to overenthusiastic owner at some point. Hardly surprising given they seem to be a fine thread into plastic Anyone have a fix for these? Oversize bolts? drill right through & nuts underneath? suggestions?

I've heard they are the same as Honda CB1-400 ??? if so are they plastic too? if they are I'll try to source something else with more robust fixings. Not impressed with these given twistgrip and choke both strain against the plastic locating pegs.......well what's going to happen not a good day for whoever designed them..........grrrrrrrr

I would fit good originals I suppose, but it's likely any s/h are going to be similarly affected unless anyone has any good ones to sell? Would appreciate some input on this one please if you can add anything, Cheers

[DAVID THOMPSON]

q-bond in the holes then drill tap and reset
or drill all the way threw then longer bolt with nylock nut
or try sudco in California USA they have replacements that may work in there catalog
dave

www.sudco.com/

[Windmill]

Thanks Dave, some catalogue isn't it! Will have a proper read through when I've got a couple of hours

We do get universal bar switch units here too but think I'd struggle to get compatible integrated choke control and the twistgrip side might be a problem too.

I've not tried Q bond, how strong is it? I'm thinking of bonding studs into the existing holes and then nylocs on underneath. Do you think the bond would hold to allow a reasonable tightening of the nuts? would groove studs for a good key of course. Maybe I should just bond the whole housing to the bars wouldn't need the locating pegs then........... joke

[DAVID THOMPSON]

q-bond does a good job its a powder and a liquid hardener and its tuff stuff
does a good job on faring parts
i have even made missing pieces with it using a very hard wax my dad had in his shop
carve out a hole in the wax shape i need fill with powder and let it get hard trim to shape and install
the kit is not cheap

but i think drill on threw and nylock nut it so its tight but not to tight

dave

[Linegeist]

At the risk of getting flayed alive by any purists reading this, there's a kludge that's easy, cheap and VERY effective - if you don't mind thinking out of the box.

Flat-pack screws.

My control pods were floppy and with royally stripped-out plastic screw threads owing to a previous owner with gorilla tendencies, I scratched my head awhile before I hit on a solution that'd save me having to drill right through the pods and install machine screws

Many IKEA furniture packs come with a series of very coarse self-tapping countersunk screws that're about 30mm in length and 5mm in diameter. It so happens that these screws are a perfect fit in gorilla-reamed control pods requiring nothing more than a slight countersink at the head end. They cut a mean thread in the damaged plastic if fitted warm and they can be tightened surprisingly vigorously. After testing the idea on one reamed-out screw hole, I went ahead and fitted them to both sides of my Skorp's switchgear and, 3 years later, they're still in place, invisible unless viewed by a rivet counter and have been removed half a dozen times with no ill effects.

Best of all, I have a box of 'em - so the fix was free. Send me an address and I'll post you some if you want to give 'em a try.

[Windmill]

Won't get flayed by me ............have been skulking in the house since the weather turned again so haven't done much further. Think I know the screws you mean and am sure I have some somewhere in amongst my hoard, black coarse ones with relatively small dia posi heads . I'll have a look and see but thinking about it makes perfect sense, good tip Thanks! Thanks for the offer too, I'll check my stuff first but if I can't find would very much appreciate it.

Were the locating pegs on yours flattened/broken off? was thinking of plastic welding some on - a la soldering iron trick

[edfmaniac]

I've got a set of controls that I could be talked out of. They aren't going back on my bike. $25 a side plus shipping.

[Linegeist]

Were the locating pegs on yours flattened/broken off? was thinking of plastic welding some on - a la soldering iron trick

Yes <sigh> they were broken off............. I think the PO didn't like bikes very much, and crept out to his garage late at night just to torture this one with spiked spanners and sharpened hammers.

Re the soldering iron trick - it's neat when you can get it to work. I have a friend who can literally seam-weld long strips of plumbing pipe with a soldering iron so that it looks like a factory created join. (I secretly hate him). However, I have a sneaking suspicion that there are different types of plastic that react in different ways when confronted with the smouldering solderer. Despite being universally created by thermal means, some plastics give in and melt into neat joins while others do the violated virgin thing and drip all over the place while refusing to cooperate. The trick is figuring out which type you have in your hand (a trick I confess I haven't yet mastered). Oooer! The result is that placing a soldering iron and some plastic in the same space-time continuum as my little pink digits usually results in neat piles of shapeless slag ..................... which should not be confused with the aforementioned virgin.

[Windmill]

I've got a set of controls that I could be talked out of. They aren't going back on my bike. $25 a side plus shipping.

Many thanks for the offer, pm sent

[Windmill]

" I think the PO didn't like bikes very much, and crept out to his garage late at night just to torture this one with spiked spanners and sharpened hammers. some plastics give in and melt into neat joins while others do the violated virgin thing and drip all over the place while refusing to cooperate."

Know the feeling but both mine were tortured electrically, a box of crimp connectors and pliers from poundland and they all think they are auto electricians you know the kind, cut a couple of leads and then join back to the wrong one, colour coding??? what's that? grrrrrrr oh yes and apply loads of that green & black insulating tape they nicked last time a gas fitter came round...........usually applied with superglue cos it don't come off!

I've found a little trick for the shrinking violet type of plastic as long as it's black. I use a large black cable tie just as you would use solder/welding rod and it fills the join and adheres perfectly. I usually lay the cable tie on the join press the iron slowly along it and instant weld. Think the thick cable tie melting stops the lighter stuff retreating too much. No reason it shouldn't work with other colours but haven't needed to yet. Confused? me? Ialways wanted to be the former but these days it's more ss............ Mrs Robinson was on the wrong side of the pond

[stirlke]

Hi Windmill.
I have exactly the same trouble as you. I got some self tapping screws the same length as the standard screws but slightly thicker so they bite into the plastic.
I then turned the heads down so they fit into the recesses on the switches.
After that they tightened up properly but the switchgear was still a bit loose. The trouble was that the internal plastic ribs that grip the h/bars are not
strong enough so i re-enforced these with extra pieces of plastic bonded to them.
Better but still no cigar, so I have resigned myself to changing the switches for something else at a later date. Problem is if I wish to keep the choke
on the handlebars that limits whats on offer, anybody got any good ideas?
A.T.B.
Stirlke.

[Windmill]

Hi stirlke, not surprised you have, I'm only surprised if anyone has a reasonably aged skorp that hasn't. Anyone sitting smug thinking my late Skorp is fine.........just wait! I think though that when they get on a bit and throttle/choke cables get stiff, that is when the real strain is put on the pegs and snap - keep those cables well lubed gents

Plastic pegs in the housings are a real bad idea, why they designed them that way I can't imagine. I believe they are the same as Honda CB1-400 and the pics I've seen on ebay look identical. It's likely the connectors to the loom are different but 9 way connectors (M & F) are available on ebay, so provided you are prepared to change both connectors should be fine.............unless they are plastic too, but I haven't seen one in the flesh yet to confirm.

In the meantime I've managed to anchor mine properly Can't give photo's but will if I get time tomorrow. Firstly fitted Screws very kindly sent to me by Linegeist,( Thanks Mate you are a real Gent ). As you say tightened up lovely and secure but still twisted on bars. Ages looking at it thinking how to strengthen pegs- but couldn't replace with steel and didn't want to put something weak back on which would just fail again further down the road. Why not have a peg in the handlebar which located into the switch instead? Hard to explain without pics but made a 3mm dia nail into a T shape by hammering/filing the head. The bottom leg of the T about half inch long, the top bar about 3/16". Marked where centre of the top left half (opposite end to the choke ) of the switch mated to the bars, removed it and drilled a 3mm hole in bars at that point. Insert bottom leg of T into the hole with the top bar running along in the same direction as the bars. Place top half of switch back on and mark position of the T peg where they meet. Then file small square notch in outside of the plastic housing so it sits nice and snugly over the peg, insert your screws and the jobs a good un........... If the top leg of the T is too long trim it off a bit and I guess it could be araldited into the bars to stop any movement or just made so it's an interference fit. Whatever, it works and I'm well pleased

Not the ideal engineering solution (for the purists) to the problem but if anyone can come up with anything better please let us all know................... A lot better than one of the PO's of mine who simply wound loads of tape around the bars and tightened the two halves of the switch onto it stripping the screws in the process of course.......wondered why the switches were a bit stiff Anyway hope that helps and will try to get a pic on tomorrow, if I survive the dentists

[Windmill]

Here are the pics, sorry quality not good, glare from flash on chrome and wally pushing the button

1, Tpeg made as described. 2,hole in handlebar (make sure filings do not get inside the switch ). 3,Tpeg inserted in hole running in same direction as handlebar. 4,switch reassembled with notch filed out to fit over Tpeg. 5, Choke end switch, you can just see the peg sticking out between the grip & switch. This left on so you can see where it is but can be cut off flush. I intend loosening the switch off and run a very small amount of silicone sealer to prevent water ingress, but from the condition of inside both switches they are regularly full of water anyway.

No doubt others will have refinements or better practises which can be applied to this mod but it works! Both switches are rock solid, no movement at all, and it costs only a small proportion of 2 secondhand nails Now that's my kind of economics, wouldn't care to buy new switches.... how much? Hope this helps someone else too