Just bought a 97 F3. Battery was dead and I hooked the jumper cables up backwards and hit the switch and everything went dead. I thought it might be a breaker so I shut the key off, and now the key won't go back to the on position. I haven't looked at the fuses yet but I'm sure something in there blew, as did maybe a regulator/rectifier.

Anyone know how hard it is to replace a ignition key cylinder? And what's the speculated electrical damage from the cables being reversed?
Thanks

 

You could have just blew your main fuse which is on the left side just under your seat. It's a 30amp fuse. Try there first, but it wouldnt hurt to check all the fuses in the fuse box. As for your ignition switch, it has two bolts under your triple tree, unscrew those and it slides right out. You will need to take the front fairings off because you will have to unhook the wire for the ignition switch. Not hard just a little time consuming.

 

I would think that your key switch should still be fine... try messing with it some more.