Warning Dyna Fork Lock

[Tone]

Q: How many Geeks does it take to start a Streetbob ?

Answer: 5 - 1 to wiggle the key for 30 minutes, 1 to cadge a can of WD40 from the pub landlord, 1 to provide a ballpoint pen, 1 to lever that pen into place & 1 to provide encouragement thereby fending off any thoughts of doom & woe & prevent the key wiggler from getting the rage !!

Never liked the position of that damn headstock mounted ignition switch on the Dyna's. I have heard of the fork lock jamming but never worried about it till last night.
After a pleasant drink in the sun with some mates, came time to head home & the ignition switch wouldn't budge f*ck !
Patiently wiggled the key but no joy. Applied Wd40 to the fork lock bolt & ignition switch mechanism, still no joy.

Eventually got the thing free by applying a little upward leverage to the fork lock bolt with the ball end of the pen whilst turning the ignition key. Took about 30 minutes of trying various methods but the pen worked straight away easy as anything. That pen is staying in my bike jacket pocket from now on.
Got home & tried the lock & it is working smooth as anything.

For anyone who finds themselves in the same position, make sure you don't force the key, keep patient & apply that wd40 along with slight leverage to the bolt. Worth carrying a small flathead screw driver or even use a ballpoint pen if nowt else is handy.

Oh & from now on I am going to keep that bolt regularly lubed. I would recommend that anyone with one of these ignition switches does so.

Anybody else had their fork lock jam like this ? Have you trusted it since ?

I would be interested to know if you had any further trouble with it ?

[waywardchild]

Had mine replaced under warranty last year ( 2007 Streetbob ), The new one doesn't fill me with confidence but I still use it..........

[DynaMik]

Mine always was a bit of a sod. Dont use it, got a f***off disc lock for the rear disc.

[Oilslick]

Mine never jammed but was a pain to use so I put one on the console like on the posh bikes.

[DynaMik]

Bloody good mod that mate. Any grief fitting it? May do that myself.

[Oilslick]

Fairly straight forward. Bit fiddly getting the spade terminals off the back of the neck switch. ( Be sure you want to do this as you will have to get the switch out with a special tool to re attach them). Pull the wiring out from the neck area and rethread through to the console. I had to extend them slightly. Make a hole in the console (scary bit) and fit a grommet (meant for a 50mm hole IIRC). Install the new switch (I found this gripped tight enough as it was), reconnect the three wires. BTW don't forget to disconnect batterys, fuses etc before starting work according to the manual).

[gilesgraphics]

Mine fell out the bottom of the headstock.. gets the same lock up thing still even though replaced I find that just moving the bars releases the lock.. usually.
It also needs to be repositioned with the help of a screwdriver every so often.

As designs go this is not really the best

[Tone]

Cheers for the replies & info guys.

Looks like this is fairly common. At least I know that I should hopefully be able to repeat the unjamming fix if it happens again


That looks a great mod Oilslick. May consider that move if I get any further problems.

Thanks all

[DynaMik]

Originally Posted by Oilslick

Fairly straight forward. Bit fiddly getting the spade terminals off the back of the neck switch. ( Be sure you want to do this as you will have to get the switch out with a special tool to re attach them). Pull the wiring out from the neck area and rethread through to the console. I had to extend them slightly. Make a hole in the console (scary bit) and fit a grommet (meant for a 50mm hole IIRC). Install the new switch (I found this gripped tight enough as it was), reconnect the three wires. BTW don't forget to disconnect batterys, fuses etc before starting work according to the manual).

Cheers for the info. Its a better setup than having your keys dangling around the front wheel in the breeze

Ta