Spent the last week fiddling with small electrical projects at home, creating little switch boxes, rigging up a night light, etc. All to get comfortable enough with electrical wiring to start tackling the S90's fifteen year old system.
Since I'd taken the dimmer switch apart once before to clean the gunk out and get the thumb switch operable again, I figured I'd start there. With the switch open and the thumb lever removed, you can easily see the wiring and the actual black switch that moves back and forth to change the connection.
Now I just have to get the little plate off that holds the wiring and black switch in place. It was so covered with gunk that I couldn't really get a good look at it. At first I thought it was a rivet. But looking at the close up photo I took, perhaps it's actually a screw just filled with crud. I'll need to soak everything in carb cleaner and go a few rounds with the bristle brush to see what's actually lurking under there.
The next problem was that the plastic shroud around the wires themselves was so old that it was frozen stiff and would literally crack into pieces with the slightest pressure. No amount of tugging and pulling would get it to pull free from the handlebar. So I first decided to cut the wires right below where they exited from the bottom of the handlebar.
Next, I just pulled the wires themselves out, leaving the shroud behind. I had a little heart attack when I realized that if I couldn't get the carcass of the shroud out of the tube, I'd never get anything else back in. But each time I tried to grab and end with the pliers and yank it through, the plastic would just shred apart.
Finally, though, I was able to use the needle nose and get enough purchase to slowly lever it out, centimeter by centimeter, using the hole itself as a fulcrum for leverage. Going very slowly so as not to tear it, I was able to pull it up and out.
The offending piece of ancient plastic, like something clogging an artery.
Now, I only hope the same thing works when I do the other side!
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