Brake light switch failure and solutions

[stuo]

I have had both brake light switches on my Downtown300 fail and one on my Grandvista250. The contacts can be cleaned up by popping open the switch with a knife and sanding the contacts, or you can buy a pair of generic switches on ebay for $8, shipping included. Kymco gets $20 plus shipping for theirs, not to mention the long wait. I don't know if Kymco uses the same switches on all their bikes but for 8 bucks it seems like a good gamble, no?

[CROSSBOLT]

Good to know! How long did it take for yours to fail?

[Ruffus]

AFAIK Kymco and many other producers use those (pls see pic) in LH and RH version available.
In an emergency I would try to repair or bridge, but seeing this price, better replace it.

[stuo]

The Downtown had one switch bad when I bought it with 11,000 miles on it. The second went bad shortly afterward and of course the bike wouldn't crank. The Grandvista had 10,000 miles on it when the first switch stopped working. It's a ten minute job to replace it on the GV: one screw to remove it and two push-on connectors. I don't recall whether the Downtown had any plastic to remove to get at the switches. I gotta give credit to MJR on our forum, or Mike the Master as I call him, the brilliant mechanic who repaired the switches on the Downtown. I watched and learned how to do it watching him. 

The generic starter relay on ebay  at $12 is a perfect fit and has been working perfectly. I also bought a generic starter motor for $36, just in case. Let's face it, there probably will be a day when we can't get parts from Kymco for our older bikes.