Do away with the switch and you're bound to eat sh** at some point I reckon.

Mm yup ... I have been slightly embarrassed a few times .. Click into first gear ... Engine dies....  ... Ummm side stand up ... Start bike again .. Ride time! .... Hell of a lot better than wondering why the hell I was suddenly on the ground! 

Man I've done it plenty. Makes you feel like a dork, but not as much as munching the pavement does!

Quote from: adidasguy on September 23, 2013, 02:38:25 PM

Quote from: yamahonkawazuki on September 23, 2013, 12:32:40 PM

Quote from: weedahoe on September 21, 2013, 05:27:01 PM
Surprised no one said to bypass the switch..... LoL

whole liability issue there 

Nothing can compare to riding and making a left turn with the side stand down.

cept a near lowside on the dragon where my fwd controls were tightened too far lol a pegscraper if you will

Quote from: Zookmang on September 25, 2013, 01:48:08 AM
Do away with the switch and you're bound to eat sh** at some point I reckon.

I'm not arguing this point at all, but I do want to share my view. I've never ridden a GS500 (or any other bike with a kickstand / kill switch), but I would think if the switch faults out in the middle of a good sweeper the engine cutting out could lay down the bike as well. Just from the surprise decelerating of the bike in a turn.

My 68 Honda only had a neutral light (not even an oil pressure light). My GS450 doesn't have any kind of kickstand light. And my GR650 had a kickstand warning light only - no kill feature built in. And I've never had an issue with the kickstand. Ok, the time the kickstand fell completely off my Honda while riding, but that's another story.......

In that case maybe I'm just the sort of guy they've invented the kickstand switch for! 

Why not simply cut off the side-stand tang with a hack saw?  My GS500's previous owner did just that, and I have never had a problem putting down the side stand.  The pad of the side stand sticks out enough to serve the same purpose.