How many rocket III have had ignition switches fail or kill button

number 1 there has always been a debate on whether to first turn on the key first and then the kill switch
number 2 or have the kill switch on and then turn the key on
i know that the lights took out a lot of ignition switches between 05 and 2010 give or take a couple of years
i installed a couple of relays for my lights way back and always turn on kill switch last so as to save my ignition switch and so far both have held up good
so tale your ignition switch stories

Mt '11 Roadster key switch went bad, but I was able to fix it. One of the wires came loose at the solder point.

Journeyman said:

Mt '11 Roadster key switch went bad, but I was able to fix it. One of the wires came loose at the solder point.

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do you have an idea what caused it to get hot enough to melt the solder?

TURBO200R4 said:

do you have an idea what caused it to get hot enough to melt the solder?

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Memory is a fleeting thing. I looked up my old post and the wire was actually broken about an inch above the solder. Not sure how to explain that...

Put a deCosse keyless early on in my 2012 R3R no problems to date.
Stock ignition still in my 2011 R3R - no problens to date.

Mine took a dump couple of weeks ago 80k miles on clock ,not solder problem it's internal in the switch . Done the relay thing years ago . I don't think it's too bad for a nearly 20 year old bike . considering whether to buy a new switch or just drill the side panel an fit something cheap off e bay. Using this at the moment

I very rarely use the kill switch always used the key.

Journeyman said:

Memory is a fleeting thing. I looked up my old post and the wire was actually broken about an inch above the solder. Not sure how to explain that...

How to remove ignition switch from Roadster?

My switch is going bad and I need to quit putting off the repair. I suspect that one or more wires have come loose or are loose and just barely making enough contact (most of the time). My question is what's involved in getting the switch out? I know that I'll be running into some bolts with...

www.r3owners.net

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In a High Performance Automotive and Aviation Applications Solder Joints are frowned upon because as you experienced;

1) Solder Joints fail in High Vibration applications where heat cycling and vibrations degrade the Soldered Joint. Soldered VDC Joints in these applications usually fail near the junction of the end of the Soldered Wire and transition back to Bare Wire.

There are some new metallurgically-improved solder, (referred to as LF-C2 Alloy), being used as an improvement for SAE, (but I still prefer Molex and similar high quality Crimp connectors vs Solder).

From Dennis Overholser Owner/Inventor of Painless Performance, (manufacturer of wiring harnesses and looms): :

“I have a saying I use in my seminars about soldering, Soldering is fantastic ... in televisions because they never move and encounter no vibration. In a typical OE harness, there are no soldered joints. Crimp terminals allow the wires to flex and prevents them from breaking. Soldering can cause the wire to become brittle and break.”