TOPIC:

Anybody seen this damage before, not sure when it happened as tank has not being of for around 12 months and is used regularly, appears to be old damage as no burn smell and does not get warm when ridden.

Appears to be no other damage and all electrics work fine ,may be just a melt down?

Is there a cheaper alternative to genuine which is about $100 AUD, part no. 28019-001.

Anything l should check before plugging a new one in, that's if l can separate, maybe need a new connector as well?

1980 Z1R Mk11.

Thanks in advance.

Despite the deteriorated protective coating, the switch might still be working okay.

If it's the brake-outage warning switch, could test its functionality by seeing whether the red dash indicator blinks as it's supposed to when the rear light bulb is removed or the brake light wire's bullet connector is disconnected (over the rear fender under the seat).

When riding along without any brake application, the red dash indicator is supposed to blink as a warning to the rider that the brake light won't shine for whatever reason the next time braking is applied.

One common reason is a burnt-out brake filament in the rear bulb.

The blinking dash indicator is warning the rider that he is more likely to be rear-ended by a vehicle following behind him due to absence of a brake light.

Good Fortune!

Being under the tank is a stupid place for it and the coils. I've never seen one do that but I have had them burn out.
Old 70's technology.
Steve

If it's the emergency reserve lighting switch, could test its functionality with headlights ON by seeing whether the headlight "bright" beam automatically comes on when voltage to the low beam is interrupted (test by separating the bullet connector on the wire inside the headlight that provides battery positive voltage to the low beam).

When riding along on low beam (such as when facing oncoming traffic), and the low beam unexpectedly goes out for whatever reason (such as filament failure), the emergency reserve lighting switch is supposed to instantly switch the headlight to high beam (at slightly reduced voltage -- so as not to blind oncoming drivers), and thereby prevent the rider from being without any headlight.

Good Fortune!

Looks more like a chemical reaction on the rubber coating, or just a reaction to warm temps, but not actual fire. If it was fire damage, I would expect the vinyl wiring sleeve to show some damage too.

Is the bike an Australian model? If it's a stock part, have you checked the switch to see if it's working?

I didn't see an outage indicator switch in the diagrams for 78 or 80 Z1R. at Partzilla. If it still works, I would remove as much of the old coating as possible & spray it w plasti-dip or something like that. And if necessary, relocate it to the battery case or something. Little brackets can be found on eebbaayy.

Outage indicator switch. On my 81 650, if the brake light bulb is bad, the switch flashes a warning light when the brake is applied. Check the switch by removing the bulb, then see if the warning light flashes. Also, the switch acts as a self-checker when the ignition switch is first turned ON to make sure the warning light is functional.