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A senior moment

3K views 31 replies 15 participants last post by  AZgl1800 
#1 ·
Time ago I posted how my Suzuki refused to start when my friend and I was leaving a state park. I found that the clutch switch was not making contact. After I inserted a paperclip ends in it, the bike started right up.
Without doing anything, that switch worked flawlessly ..... till now.

My wife and I just returned from a Costa Rica trip and decided to visit our New Smyrna Beach . It is very pretty and there is no competition between this and any beaches on west coast of CR.

After enjoyed it for awhile we decided to ride back home. The suzuki wouldn't start again , the first incident since the previous one I've mentioned.

It was dark in the parking lot and luckily I found a keychain flashlight in one of the saddlebags. For about 5 minutes couldn't find any piece of wire then I looked at my keys. I opened one of the rings an bent it to make both ends enter the plug's contacts. I was very happy with my MC Gaiver job. I told my wife "watch this" and pressed the start button. To my embarrassment nothing.
I tried again with no better results. I even moved the kickstand, nothing.

Then I looked at the handle bar and saw the kill switch in off position. Both , my wife and I had a good laugh.

PS I never use the kill switch and it was done accidentally
 
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#5 ·
back in 09 I was coming home on my new 09 Concours, I was hungry so I stopped to get something to eat. When I went to start the bike it wouldn't start. A new bike, only about 20 miles on it and it's dead. Well I hit the kill switch by accident, I think we all had or will havre one of those moments!!
 
#6 ·
I like to give my brother and my nephew those "kill switch moments" when they are not looking- about twice a season is all I dare do so I don't get SOCKED in the arm at the next stop we make!


Dave... It's your turn
 
#11 ·
Yes, getting old SUCKS! But the alternative has it's drawbacks too! 0:)
 
#12 ·
No kidding Dave, have you considered doing this for other riders ( change air filter) Say Ill bring my bike to you along with a filter. Would you do it for $100.00 cash? I changed mine once but it took close to 4 hours
 
#13 ·
My "kill switch moment" happened when I was cruising down the interstate at about 75. Had the cruise set and took my right hand off of the grip to scratch my nose. Apparently brushed the kill switch just enough to activate it. Had a heart-stopping moment until I figured out what I had done!

P.S. - Peter, looks like you and I were at the same place in the road in our pics!
 
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#14 ·
I had one of those kill switch moments last year when my buddy and I had stopped for lunch on our way to the Smoky Mountains. We went back out to the bikes and he got on his first and had already pulled out of the parking lot when I hit the start button and nothing happened. I got off and looked around for what could be wrong and saw that the headlight was going off when I pressed the start button but nothing else happened. I called my buddy and told him I couldn't start my bike and he came back. When he pulled up he took one look at the bike and moved the kill switch back to "run" and said "try it now". I felt really foolish then. I never turn that switch off, at least not intentionally. I told him that was a rookie mistake. I had apparently bumped the switch when either getting off or back on and didn't realize it. I had been riding for over 40 years and that is the first time I have ever had that happen. I have tried to start a bike before with the kill switch off but they always would turn the starter but the engine wouldn't run, then I would notice the kill switch. This 2000 model is one that won't do anything if the kill switch is off. I have heard others talk about how the bike wouldn't start after having just ridden it and I always thought he probably left the kill switch off, but for some reason I didn't think about it when it happened to me. We both got a good laugh out of it, but I think he enjoyed the laugh more than I did. :smile2:
 
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#15 ·
For anyone that has done this before (most of us!!), when the bike doesn't start, the FIRST thing you do regardless, is check the kill switch... Having done this at least a few times in my riding life, it has saved me an expensive tow...

I actually had a friend once that had his bike on the flat bed and called another buddy when the buddy said: "did you check the kill switch"???

Surely a very embaressing (and expensive) moment for my friend as he had somehow hit the kill switch at his last gas stop...

We've all done it, and will probably continue to do so!! Just a fact of riding, we'll all do it sooner or later - kinda like dropping the bike!! :smile2::ROFL:

Les
 
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#21 ·
Took my nephew back in the woods to ride my 4 wheeler. About 1 mile back in the woods I let him ride. after about 10 minutes I found him with the bike shut down.Having only pull start I made sure the key was on and we pulled till we could pull no more. We pushed the bike back to the house(quite the workout). I started to trouble shoot the quad. And I saw the kill switch in the off position. I said no way! Turned on the switch and it started right up.I never shut a bike off with a kill switch but learned the hard way that day.
 
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#22 ·
Used to use the kill switch on the snowmobile all the time, but on the motorcycle, never do. I don't see why they even put them on any more, I don't know of any time someone used one in an emergency, especially with a bike that has the key up on the dash. Older bikes with the key down on the side might be different thing as you could'nt get the key in an emergency.
 
#30 ·
In days of old when motorcycles only had one throttle cable it was not uncommon for the carburetor slide to hang leaving you hanging on for dear life.
That is still possible with the two cable system if the so called push cable breaks or comes unhooked.
 
#25 ·
I use the kill switch when parking on an incline. Pull up in 1st gear. stop with hand brake, flip kill switch with thumb, flip it back to ON, let off the clutch and brake to settle in first gear, put down the side stand and turn off the ignition with the key.

.
 
#26 ·
I'm in the habit of using the kill switch to turn off the motor whenever parking, so I'm less susceptible to this particular Senior Moment. But it does still happen! :cheesygrin:

And to answer BellBoy, I've never had to kill the motor due to an emergency nor do I know any fellow bikers who ever had to.
 
#27 ·
I can see where it could be a convenience at times but I can't think of a scenario where you would need a kill switch in an emergency. My experience is that it is more an annoyance than a convenience or necessity. Probably the DOT or NHTSA has a requirement that they be installed.
 
#29 ·
Hmm, , , When giving a "young adult" family member a "ride" cuz they want to try it, , ,but as soon as you start to take off, they freak out, AND you've previously bypassed the Bank Angle Sensor the bike could go onto its side. It is/was too dam heavy to get it back up straight so it lay down gently but engine idling in gear. HIT THE KILL SWITCH!!!! First time THAT ever happened, , ,oh well, , ,
As John would say, "Don't ask me how I know this!!!"
 
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