On/Off Switch 2020 GT.

vsteel said:

US regulations do require it or at one time they did. It was a DOT regulation that you needed to have a physical disconnect to the ignition, like the old kill switches. For whatever reason Triumph used that switch because they either didn't try and convince DOT their system was good enough or for some reason their system didn't satisfy the regulators.

I don't ever switch it off because it is like turning the bike off and then hitting the kill switch as well. I don't see it as any kind of theft device because if someone is smart enough to bypass the key, they are smart enough to switch it on. I don't know if it is still the case but there was an issue after a while those switches would wear out and that is why they had the service bulletin to stop using them. Keep in mind when they have a manual for a new bike, there is a ton of cut and paste from an old bike and people don't proof read those very well.

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Einar said:

Since at least April 12, 1972, the requirements in the CFR relating to this have not changed at all. It requires only that the supplementary engine stop ("kill switch") be located on the right handlebar, and that the ignition's off position be counterclockwise from other positions. (And no requirement to have a physical disconnect.) Triumph chose to break these functions out into separate controls, when they could have been combined in a single control on the right handlebar (See the Harley-Davidson Pan America).

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vsteel said:

That would make sense though that the right handlebar switch is the supplementary engine stop and the ignition switch is the other one is the "ignition switch" They have amended the document several times since 1972 but I didn't go through all of the amendments to see what all of the changes were.

Makes sense then that it is for regulations. I don't have a HD so I can't comment on them but I can say all of the other bikes I have had used both a kill switch and an ignition switch. Now my Indian just has a push button but I did see where in 2006 the NHTSA commented that they had eased up on the requirements for the ignition switch and said that the only requirement was it operated counterclockwise. I could see with modern bikes with more key-less ignitions, they would maybe even relax that even more. For example, I had a dual sport KTM in 96 which had a plastic tank and the DOT allowed it even though you were supposed to have metal, because it was enclosed in a second layer of plastic. The shrouds came up enough and covered it enough they got a pass. I think they let things slide sometimes without updates to the specification or they come at a much later date.

Triumph has been putting them on bikes for a long time for NA, so that might just be habit at this point in time and it is easier to do it rather try and see if they can get a pass.

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