Kill the engine!!!!

[MWS]

Key, Kill Switch or other (in gear and put the kick stand down)?. I've done them all, but key is my main tactic, yours?

[Smoky]

With the throttle wide open, and no oil in the bike, that'll do it too!!!!!

[MWS]

Ok, the reason for the question was if you use the kill switch all the time, it won't be there when you need it (mean time failure). So, I've always shut the engine off with the key. Just wanted to find out how you all shut your bike off.

[russell_bynum]

Ok, the reason for the question was if you use the kill switch all the time, it won't be there when you need it (mean time failure). So, I've always shut the engine off with the key. Just wanted to find out how you all shut your bike off.

 

Actually, I believe the kill switch's failure mode is open. Meaning, when it fails, the bike stops (or doesn't start).

 

I'm willing to take that risk and generally use the killswitch to shut the bike down. When I need it, I'll know exactly where it is, instantly, without having to look for it, feel around, etc.

[PeterD]

What Russell said.

 

Further, you can use the kill switch without removing your hand and reaching forward, the way you must to get to the key switch. Some day that will matter. In an emergency we do what we have practiced, hence, to practice using the kill switch is a good idea.

[Catbird]

Simply put, I use the kill switch.

[MWS]

"Actually, I believe the kill switch's failure mode is open. Meaning, when it fails, the bike stops (or doesn't start)."

 

It is open in the fail mode. My wife always uses the kill switch on her bike, and the other day the bike wouldn't start. It was turning over but not firing, and for some reason I thought of turning the switch off then on again, and it fired right up. So that prompted me to post. The dealer told me when I picked my bike up said "Don't use the kill switch, save it for when you need it"

[JohnJC]

I do the other, kickstand down in 1st. That's the way I park the bike, and have been doing it for years.

 

But, like noted above, if I ever needed the kill switch I wouldn't find it. So the kill switch practice would be good.

 

I'll still choose other. I'm not very bright that way

[BobFV1]

Kill switch for me - why fumble with the key while riding when you can just flick your thumb?

[Bob Palin]

Key, if I use the kill switch I'll probably leave the lights on.

With the throttle wide open, and no oil in the bike, that'll do it too!!!!!

BTDT - definitely a fail open mode though...

[imeyers]

I have the r12rt, my dealer told me to get into the habit of using the kill switch to shut the bike off. He also told me in his 25+ years as a dealer he has never had to replace one.

[leikam]

Do you think he'd replace mine for free just to say he had?

[R4ND0M_AX3]

Key, if I use the kill switch I'll probably leave the lights on.

Killing the engine with the sidestand or the engine cut-off switch does leave the lights on.

[flyingreg]

I shut the bike down with the key. My clumsy gloved hand has a tendency to brush the starter button. Something about grinding ring gears turns me off, not the bike.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

OK,

Now you guys have me thinking. Never a good thing at 0 dark 30.

 

When exactly has anyone here ever "had" to use the kill switch while riding. I can understand using it to kill a motor in a crash situation where the bike is lying on its side and still running but then, why not two? They don't always fall down right bar up.

 

With 40 something years of drag racing and literally thousands of passes down the track with the throttle pinned wide open, I have never had a throttle stick on any of my bikes. In any case, the brakes will overcome the throttle every time. The only useful thing is it allows cranking the engine without starting which might come in handy in some maintenance situations.

[Murf]

After my final manuvering I use the sidestand to turn it off. I started that after I first got the bike and did one of those OH $#!* ! dances after thinking I had it down (but didn't). You know the one, where every molecule of every muscle goes into panic mode to save it from going over and the whole incident goes into slooooow mooootionnn.

[David_S]

I figure I have to turn the key off any way so why make two parts wear. Also if I forget to turn the key off the battery goes dead. If I forget to turn the kill switch back on bike won't start. So I use the key switch unless I'm on an incline and need both feet on the ground and have to keep the brakes applied. Like Ed (though I don't race and have only been riding for 23 years) I have never been in a situation where the kill switch was needed. I guess I never thought about killing it with the side stand but then again if I forget to turn the key off the battery goes dead. I guess if the key switch has to be turned off no matter how you kill the engine why not just use it and be done with one motion

[steve.foote]

I rarely use the kill switch. In fact, the only time I can remember using it was when I had my accident.

 

Normally, I use the key, but will use the sidestand in circumstances where I need better control of the bars.

[JohnJC]

OK,

When exactly has anyone here ever "had" to use the kill switch while riding. I can understand using it to kill a motor in a crash situation where the bike is lying on its side and still running but then, why not two?

 

I beleive most bikes come with tip-over sensors that kill the engine, so it shouldn't even be needed in an accident.

 

The Only thing I can think of is a snapped clutch cable or something that causes the bike to run-away, but even then the kill-switch probably isn't the best choice.

 

I'll continue to use the kickstand. It's served me well for many years with many different bikes.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

I beleive most bikes come with tip-over sensors that kill the engine,

 

Not on anything I've ever owned. A Gold Wing maybe. Can you imagine the problems when you hit max lean in a set of turns and the sensor kills the motor?

 

Kill switches are a more or less useless appendage foisted on us by some dumb ass government agency or other back in the dim past. Ditto side stand and clutch interlocks. Like most such things, they are there for our own good. Too dumb to fasten your seat belt? Don't worry, bunky, we'll give you this nice air bag that kills kids and make every body take one and pay for it. Oh, Oh, getting political. I'll stop.

[JohnJC]

Totally agree with the Air-bag rant

 

My CBR 954 has a tip-over sensor, and I thought my Hayabusa did as well. My bad, just thought it was common practice.

 

Hitting max lean isn't an issue. The G's from the turn combine with gravity to make the bike think it's still upright. Hanging off the bike makes the bike think it's leaning slightly oposite the turn. You could safely set the sensor for 45ish degrees and never hit it in any turn, but still be a safety feature.

[Paul Mihalka]

When do I use the kill switch to stop the motor? It happens with a certain frequency. I want to stop and park the bike uphill on lousy ground. I want to leave it in gear when shut off. Bike in first gear, left hand on the clutch, right hand holding the brake, both feet on the ground. Stop the motor with the kill switch and I can let go both hands. Turn the key off.

[subvet]

Key, now that I have a garage and lights. Kill switch when I parked in the backyard shed and needed lights.

[leikam]

When exactly has anyone here ever "had" to use the kill switch while riding. I can understand using it to kill a motor in a crash situation where the bike is lying on its side and still running but then, why not two? They don't always fall down right bar up.

 

Well, Ed, now you've got me thinking too and that can't be good.

 

Say you were riding along and realized that you had an engine condition such that shutting down the engine at once was a very good idea. The distance from kill switch to ignition key isn't likely to make THE difference in saving the engine. However, the kill switch only kills the engine, while the key turns off power to all circuits. Suppose something else important were powered but not linked to the kill switch so that turning off the key while moving was a bad idea. Brake servos perhaps?

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Michael,

 

Pigs could fly too. They only need a hypothetical situation. C'mon, between us there's a lot of miles and I cna't ever recall needing a kill switch. OK, a tether when my old Top Fuel Sportster threw me off in the lights but that's a whole nother situation. Protect the spectators, etc.

[Hermes]

Is there a kill switch?

 

I always use the key and when I park the bike on a grade, I use the key and the Kick stand and first gear.

You need the key anyway if you wanno lock the bike's steering, something highly recommended whenever you turn your back on the bike.

Saves on battery too.

 

Not to hijack, but I have a propensity to lean (heavily) on the starter button when idling and attempting to adjust something up front. The build in and highly audible gear on gear alarm lets me know of the errors of my ways.

You done that? It sucks.

Jurgen

[leikam]

My point isn't that one needs a kill switch; it's that on a bike like BMW that has servo brakes, turning off the key at speed is a worse idea than it is on other bikes.

 

FWIW, neither of my current bikes has a (working) kill switch.

[RonStewart]

So why does the manual say to use the kill switch in an emergency only?

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Define emergency that couldn't be served by pulling in the clutch and/or applying the brakes and I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone else.

 

The original kill switch thing came from a notion that the throttle could stick open and the rider needed some form of protection/reaction to this highly unlikely event. Besides, the Japanese bikes all had them. Till then, the only ones around were on magneto ignition HD sportsters cause short of running out of fuel there was no other way to stop them. Even that was just a momentary button which actually had some utility as you could use it to shift the bike more rapidlly than the clutch.

 

At some point the govt stepped in with some BS rules about all bikes having to shift on the left and the kill switch was one of the add on's. Now, here we are, 30 or more years later and the vestigal thing is still there. I fail to see any need for the thing.

[baggerchris]

side stand.

[Motonut]

Ed,

 

I totally agree that a stuck-open throttle happening to a rider is a LOW number of probability. I have had that happen to me, however.

Seven years ago on a 1985 K100 I experienced a WFO and HUNG throttle.

I was glad to have a kill switch but would have had no trouble at all reaching the key on that bike. Key location would be a big issue on some bikes, but maybe as you said earlier, the brakes would win out if applied hard enough.

 

That K100's throttle grip housing contained a small gear/sprocket that received the "chain end" of the throttle cable. The cable had been changed out on a service before I bought the bike and there was a clearance problem between the moving parts and the cast housing. This bind only occurred at max throttle position. I had ridden the bike a couple of thousand miles by then but had intentionally NOT pegged the throttle as I had just re-entered riding after a 26 year break and it being a liter class bike with a serious amount of Go.

 

In short, it can happen. I disassembled the throttle housing assembly and found no fault except the scrub with the casting. I removed material from the cast housing sufficient to allow clearance and reassembled. I have no idea why the problem arose on a bike with probably 140k miles at that late date... may have been the wrong damn part...don't know.

 

I was lucky by design... I had carefully picked a place to check out what WFO would do on that bike. I wasn't in search of a top speed or other thrill but I did get the thrill part! AS she was going to the top, I simultaneously clutched it as I flicked the kill switch. No over-rev. No problem. Just a few ruffled feathers.

 

I also had a WFO throttle hang-up with an E150 service truck...happened because of a nut-butcher service guy that was never allowed to get near my truck again (or me for that matter).