CB350 Switches - Necessary?

SUUUUPER nooby question - The switches on my CB350 were broken when I purchased the bike, and somebody purchased the handlebars for a really good last minute deal for me, SO, long story short, I ended up cutting out the cables for the switches (they were suuuuper stuck into the bars) and planning on just purchasing replacements.

After a ridiculously long time hunting around for new switches and some terrible experiences with them, I'm at the point of wondering how much of a switch do I really need to run my bike. Can I start it without any of the switches? Does anything vital run through them? I'm very inexperienced with the electrical side of things, but willing to learn, I just don't even know where to start. I have the wiring diagram from Old Man Honda.

I'm interested in cutting out as much as possible from the switches, so possibly just wiring the brake light switch to always on (that makes sense, right?) and removing the blinkers.

SO, all I'd need is:
horn
starter
headlight switches
the little button that tells the brakelight to turn on when the lever is pulled


If I wanted to go about doing this with the wiring - getting rid of the brake switch, where would be a good place to start, and is there a good switch that you would recommend getting for a CB350 cafe?

Thanks so much for your help - holy hell wiring has me lost

The "little button that tells the light to be on" IS the brake light switch haha.
Anyways, you only need the switches to run said items. You need a momentary button for the starter and horn, and a toggle for the headlight. Look in to POSH switches. They're super small and sleek. However, to run them you have to drill out your bars to run the wiring through. If you'd like a little more clarification I can try to help, but I'm not claiming to be a wiring genius by any means

This one has everything you need except the starter button.
http://www.dimecitycycles.com/black-left-side-turn-signal-headlight-and-horn-handlebar-control-switch.html

This one on amazon is cheaper and you get both sides. Not sure of the quality.
http://www.amazon.com/Motorcycle-Handle-Starting-Switch-Suzuki/dp/B00TX5RNUI/ref=pd_sim_sbs_263_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=0Z4C7T65YDJZA3WJJ08H

You guys are awesome! I for some reason thought the break light switch was a switch that turned on or off the functionality of the brake light. SMH.

I'm definitely going to look into these. Somehow with the $400 bike I got from a barn that was barely running, these switches are by far the most difficult part. I have a feeling that once I do it once, though, it'll be much easier.

OK!

Additional stupid question:

I'm going to be going with just a momentary button on the right side, BUT, I need a way for the brake light to activate when the brake is engaged. How do people usually go about this if they don't use the stock switches?

Thanks!

I haven't gotten that for myself, but I imagine you could use something similar to a rear brake light setup where pulling the lever pulls a wire connected to a switch. I'm not sure though, so I'd wait on a response from someone who has done non-stock controls

Sounds good. Yeah, I'm stoked for the simplicity of the whole thing but the process to get there will be a huge learning one. Trying to figure out how to go about this should be interesting

The cheap aftermarket hydraulic replacements use a micro switch mounted underneath.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-Chrome-Brake-Master-Cylinder-Lever-For-Honda-Yamaha-Suzuki-Kawasaki-Harley-/181378141416?fits=Make%3AHonda%7CModel%3ACB350&hash=item2a3afacce8&vxp=mtr

I believe the CB175s used an inline switch in their cable.

Why not use the original switch setup in the perch?

Ah, the perches were broken and replacements are SUPER expensive. I figured this would be a good opportunity to simplify the bike. That perch that was linked says it's for disk brakes, and my bike has drum. Thoughts on any other solutions? I feel like I can't be the first person who has had this issue

If you are not going to use the OEM setup, you will need a throttle assembly, brake perch, and electrical controls.

What about these perches and levers:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HONDA-CB350-CL350-SL350-CB450-CR250M-XR250-XL500-CB77-CL77-CA77-LEVERS-PERCH-/131506300665?hash=item1e9e62e6f9&vxp=mtr

Those look great, but they have the same issue with the wiring of the brake light as the others. I ended up getting these:

http://www.amazon.com/Sunline-09-04-001-Die-Cast-Brake-Perch/dp/B003NMR78K

They seemed like solid construction and were a good price. BUT, there's no solution for getting that brake cable to trigger.

And was considering putting the starter button somewhere on the side of the bike - possibly next to the ignition.

Banjo bolt brake light switch

Whaaaaaaaaaat! You rule. How does eet work?

Just a pressure sensor that makes a connection in the wire.

I.E. You pull the lever and it puts the light on.

It is used in place of a standard banjo bolt on the master cylinder. Just make sure you buy the correct size for your bike.

Also make sure you have a disc front end

That banjo bolt switch only works with hydraulic disc brakes.
The link I posted with the pair of levers and perches, has provisions for the OEM brake switch in the brake perch. It says this at the bottom of the posting.

Add an OEM switch: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Honda-Front-Brake-Light-Stop-Switch-CB100-CB125-CB125S-CB175-CB350-/201319973106?fits=Make%3AHonda%7CModel%3ACB350&hash=item2edf9b00f2&vxp=mtr

Ah, yeah, I have a drum front end.

alzcbz said:

That banjo bolt switch only works with hydraulic disc brakes.
The link I posted with the pair of levers and perches, has provisions for the OEM brake switch in the brake perch. It says this at the bottom of the posting.

Add an OEM switch: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Honda-Front-Brake-Light-Stop-Switch-CB100-CB125-CB125S-CB175-CB350-/201319973106?fits=Make%3AHonda%7CModel%3ACB350&hash=item2edf9b00f2&vxp=mtr

Click to expand...

Oh, sweet! That's exactly the piece I needed. You are amazing.