Wow, 3 1/2 hours to replace that switch seems extreme.
This past week I took the FJR for it’s first ride of the season. It was the first time the dirt roads were dry enough to get her out the 2 miles to pavement. Got out on the highway and tried to power on the cruise control but got a flashing yellow cruise light and it wouldn’t engage.
Looking into it yesterday it appears that the cruise control function in the ECU requires continuity through a series of switches: 12V from the CC fuse, through clutch switch, front brake switch, rear brake switch, and finally through the reverse throttle CC switch. All switches are “normally closed” and any one of them being operated disrupts the continuity to the ECU.
The front and rear brake switches are both dual pole switches with one side being the contacts for the CC and the other side used for the brake light (via the brake light relay). So you can have a functional brake light and inoperative CC or vice versa, which is what I had.
When I inspected the switch on the underside of the brake lever perch I realized that the 3rd gen version of the switch is different that the lever switches I had previously messed with on my first gen, which was a crude set of contacts that could easily be disassembled and cleaned. This one is a small plastic encased microswitch, the operating shaft of which is pushed in by a part of the released brake lever. The switch is held on to the perch by one small phillips (JIS) head screw and the switch’s case has a couple of holes in it, so is not watertight, but easy enough to get some electric contact cleaner spray worked into it.
That seemed to resolve my immediate CC flashing symptoms. I’m wondering if the new recall switches will be more waterproof? I need to make an appointment to have the new one installed, but we had another 6” of snow on Friday so we are back into the mud season delays again.