Side Stand Sensor Bypass for KTM 1190 Adventure R (and 1190 Adventure)

**Note the 1290 has new circuity that requires a pulse to be transmitted and the bypass instructions below will not work**

It is a known issue that the stock KTM side stand switch/sensor frequently fails and when it does leaves you stranded. Well just such a situation came up on a short tuneup tour my friends and I took to Wyoming. The last day after filling up gas one of the bikes would die as soon as it was shifted into gear. Below is the story behind it, but to start here is a fix that will eliminate getting stranded in BFE.

The side stand bypass has a three pin connector that is situated up near the cylinder head. You have two options:
1. Modify your existing switch/sensor to eliminate the magnetic sensor
2. Buy a connector and parts to make a side stand bypass

Parts list for option 2:

Bypass connector resistor assembly

Now back to the story…
After a few days hard riding, including a 22 miles stretch across numerous mountain peaks the previous day over, we pulled up to the gas pump before hitting the trails. So good so far. Not so good, as after filling up Connor’s engine would shut down after shifting into 1st gear. After a couple of attempts he was able to ride over to the air pump to top off his tires. Ten minutes later we see him pushing his bike back towards the group. Uh oh.

We spent some time troubleshooting and ultimately disconnected the side stand sensor from my bike and connected it to his, which allowed us to confirm this was the problem. Now what to do about it. We were in Sheridan, WY on a Saturday, thanks to the internet I quickly found that a 1K resistor could be installed to bypass the side stand sensor. But where do I find one of those? I called a TV repair shop and left a message. We tried auto parts stores, Best Buy, a closed Radio Shack, even the KTM dealer in Gillette without any luck.

Figuring maybe the TV repair shop owner was there we drove over. Nope, closed up tight. Time for plan B, CarQuest auto parts. Walking through the aisles looking for something with a resistor failed to find a solution. The saleswoman was very helpful pulling out blower motor resistors, which did not have enough resistance. An idea I had was to take the resistor out of an illuminate switch. Again helpful staff at CarQuest let me borrow a multi-meter so I could test resistances. I went through three or four switches before finding one that said it had a “LED” printed on it. To figure out the resistance I would need to break the switch to get at the resistor, so I bought one, broke it, and was disappointed to see it was an incandescent light (with no resistor). There was $12 down the drain. Back to scouring the shelves…

I stumbled on to an intermittent windshield wiper circuit board that had a number of surface mount resistors. Score! Purchased, I went about checking each of the resistors and succeeded in finding exactly what I needed. I also had to purchase a soldering iron and solder but at least they had wire cutters I could borrow. Next step was removal of the surface mount resistor which went smoothly and then soldering and securing it to the kickstand sensor. Everything looked good but it was time to give it a try, so back to the gas station we went. Plugged in and a big relief was felt when it fired up and shifted into 1st gear. After some duct tape and zip ties we were off on our adventure, two hours later than planned.