Modern Buddy

I just bought a 2009 Buddy 50 that someone stole, and it was later recovered and returned to the owner. Instead of unscrewing the front panel (buddy calls it the windshield) the thief just took a hammer to the front panel and broke it in half. The thief then forced the steering lock pin bending it, and also broke the pot metal case of the ignition switch at the same time. Then he pulled the back off of the switch and used a screw driver to turn on and off the ignition bypassing the key lock.

Now I am trying to fix the switch to save spending $99 on a new one. I have it all straightened out, and surprisingly back together and working with the key, but I am missing at least one piece. The steering lock rod has a grove machined into it, and that grove must have something to do with pulling the rod back into the switch when you turn the key from lock to off. I think there must be a small metal or plastic piece that slides into the grove in the lock rod, and somehow connects with the part inside the switch that runs between the lock tumbler and the electrical switch at the back of the lock.

Does anyone have a broken or parts ignition switch? I'd really appreciate a photo of what is inside the switch when you unscrew the two rear keeper screws, and separate the electrical switch from the mechanical lock. I think I could make my switch good as new if I could get the part or at least knew what it looks like..

Right now, my switch is working like new, except that I removed the steering lock rod, so I have no way to lock the steering.

On my Buddy 125, there are two screws that attach the electrical switch part of the ignition switch from the mechanical (tumbler) part.

Remove the screws. The electrical part just pulls off. I wouldn't disassemble it though. There are a bunch of fiddly little contacts in there. At least on my Saturn switch, which I took apart just to see what was inside.

My Buddy 125 has a little sort of eccentric that pulls the steering lock pin in and out. Pretty simple. There is a tab that sticks out of the bottom which activates the electrical switch.

Kudos to you for getting the tumbler to work. I have replaced two on my car, they are a pain because you need the key turned to a certain position to remove the tumbler....

Mike,
While that is somewhat helpful, it still doesn't answer my question. To be more specific, when I bought the Buddy, the thief had already removed the two screws that attach the electrical switch part of the ignition switch to the mechanical (tumbler) part and pulled the two apart. He was, apparently, just using a screw driver to turn the electrical switch on and off, and was ignoring the tumbler part.

When you unscrew those two screws, and remove the electrical switch part from the tumbler part, what do you see inside? Specifically, what interacts with the grove in the end of the steering lock rod? On mine, the "mini-crankshaft" that connects the tumbler to the electrical switch clearly is meant to push out the steering lock rod, and then pull it back in, but I don't see how it interacts with the grove in the steering lock rod. That is why I think I am missing a part in there. Or is the "little end" of the mini-crankshaft supposed to interact directly with the grove in the steering lock rod". If the latter is true, mine doesn't line up.

Picture please. I just put my RH50 ignition back together after being destroyed by thieves.

I bought the key set from my dealer and now my ignition, seat lock, and gas cap all works off one key.

My local locksmith rebuilt my ignition switch when the key got JAMMED really, really good for $20. He popped it open and a zillion little springs came out. I was selling the scooter so that was a cost saver for me, because it worked like new when he was done.

Here is the photo I was hoping that someone on the forum would take and post so I could understand how the Buddy steering lock worked. I ended up buying this switch on eBay. The part I needed was the aluminum "clamp" that fits into the grove at the inner end of the steering lock pin and surrounds the "mini crankshaft". Posting the photo here to complete this post for future help for anyone missing the same part.