Lamp is lit intermittently. Just been thru some deep muddy water. Not really good circs for a proper look. Can be turned off by open and close of lever. Safe to ignore til I get home  - 400 miles?

The switch for the "choke" light works off the lever.  It's there to tell you that the throttles are cracked open.  It is not indicative of a problem with the engine.  If the lever is in the closed position, you can ignore the light.

Thanks. 75

Yah. You've got muddy water up inside the switch plunger holding it in - get a pair of needle-nose pliers (or tweezers) on it and pull it down when you get home, then hit it with the WD40.

'Deep muddy water' is not what I've been hearing....

The exit road was like a sine wave. The second dip was a foot or so under water but the K beast prevailed. Love this bike.

Point-Seven-five wrote:The switch for the "choke" light works off the lever.  It's there to tell you that the throttles are cracked open.  It is not indicative of a problem with the engine.  If the lever is in the closed position, you can ignore the light.

This isn't exactly correct.  The choke light is triggered by a switch on the rear of the throttle bodies when the "choke" is on.  The choke lever pulls on the choke cable which activates the choke device on the back of the throttle bodies. The movement of the choke is what activates the switch, not the lever.



Tinyspuds:  The choke light is only an indicator light for the position of the choke device on the throttle bodies.  It has no impact on the fueling or anything else.

You may have just gotten some water in it and shorted it.  Nothing to worry about.

duck wrote:The choke light is only an indicator light for the position of the choke device on the throttle bodies.  It has no impact on the fueling or anything else. . . .

That isn't exactly correct, either.

The reason for providing a choke light was that the choke (or idle speed adjuster) does have an impact on performance. If the lever is engaged in one of the two On positions and the throttle is dropped off, the moto will not decelerate fully as expected. That can lead to trouble, especially in corners at low speed. The light was installed as an attempt to help the distracted and/or elderly from launching themselves unexpectedly into guardrails or into free fall at corner apexes, or into car bumpers in traffic when off the throttle turns out not to be completely off.

The problem with that light was unreliability, as tinyspuds has discovered. It was abandoned by the time my moto was manufactured and not described or indicated in the rider's handbook. I'm stuck with relying on memory but, because the longest time I ride with the choke engaged is about ten seconds, I'm able to remember to disengage it.

If tinyspud's moto's engine idle is ok when the light is on, the problem is with the switch/wiring as duck and dai have indicated.

He could put a piece of tape over it.

It was early and I hadn't had enough coffee in me to get into a lot of detail.  I was just giving the 50,000 foot view.

Laitch wrote:

duck wrote:The choke light is only an indicator light for the position of the choke device on the throttle bodies.  It has no impact on the fueling or anything else. . . .

That isn't exactly correct, either.

Read more carefully please.  I said the switch and choke light have no impact. It is a different component from the actual choke.  If that switch is shorted and the light is on but the choke on the TBs is in off position that has no impact on the fueling. (It sends no signal to the L-Jetronic.)

Thanks Laitch. No tape needed. Can live with the lamp if it doesn't dry out, just don't want an en route breakdown after a tough weekend.

On K bikes after 1990 BMW did not bother to install a choke switch. (But the connector on the main wiring harness is there if you want to retrofit one.)

If you pull the tank and disconnect the switch at the connector then the light will go out.  It's under the left side of the gas tank.  Yellow and yellow wires to the switch side of the connector with brown and violet/white wires to the main wiring harness connector.

Hi. I have to ask, i think the answers was a little confusing.. I'm planning to delete the choke on my bike, and I'm in doubt if I can just pull the plug on this switch? or should I tape the end as you mention? 

Sorry to disturb the thread, but this switch is a little hard to find info about when on google.

All that the choke switch on the back of the TBs does (on 90 and earlier bikes) is illuminate that light in the cluster.  Removing will not impact anything else.