use of kill switch

[Lester532]

Early this spring a very similar thread was started abut the kill switch thing. After reading the comments by tdragger I had agreed that it probably couldn't hurt any thing.

The next day was a club meeting. I stopped for gas on the way there and I killed the bike with the side stand at the meeting I killed the bike with the side stand and one of the Harley guys asked me how I liked the Triumph and if I had had any problems, so I proudly told him it was a very good bike with no problems at all. After that I made 2 more stops using the kick stand to stop the engine both times. After that my fuel pump burned out.

Coincidence? Maybe but just the same I have quit bragging to Harley guys.

 

[CanberraR3]

Twice my bike has behaved strangely for a short period. The tacho and warning lights stuck ie they either didn't work at all or the indicator and fuel light stayed on even with the key removed. On both occassions it was after the kill switch had been used a couple of times to shut the bike down. Perhaps coincidence but I avoid using the kill switch and it hasn't happened again.

 

[ksquared]

It seems to me that the anecdotal evidence is too significant to completely ignore.

 

[Evil Mitch]

Twice my bike has behaved strangely for a short period. The tacho and warning lights stuck ie they either didn't work at all or the indicator and fuel light stayed on even with the key removed. On both occassions it was after the kill switch had been used a couple of times to shut the bike down. Perhaps coincidence but I avoid using the kill switch and it hasn't happened again.

I am fairly sure also that the owners manual says that it is for emergency only so i just decided to play it safe and i always use the key to shut mine off.

 

[mikemartin88]

No Opinion, But...

For whatever reason, I ALWAYS use the ignition switch to turn off my bikes. It doesn't give me the opportunity to leave the ignition switch on and kill the battery. I picked my bike up from the bike shop where I had my new Avon Cobra installed and couldn't wait to get it out on the road after bragging to the shop's owner about what a great ride it is. After 30 seconds of unsuccessfully trying to start the bike, he recommended turning on the "kill" switch, which his mechanic always turns off in addition to the ignition switch. I was too embarrassed to even say anything, so chose instead to just ride away while he smiled...

 

[scowherd]

I don't know if it is good or bad but I use the sidestand to kill the engine then turn the toggle switch off because the ignition switch is crap.

 

[CWCobra]

There is nothing technically wrong with using the kill switch. The comparison to shutting down a computer is a myth. If you remember, all computers used to be shut down that way. Only in today's more advanced operating systems do they require a shutdown sequence. The Roc's ECU is not running an advanced operating system.

I would offer, however, a difference method of shutdown than the kill switch. My preferred method is to use the sidestand switch for several reasons. 1) You never forget to put the sidestand down and suffer the embarrasment of having the bike fall on top of you, and 2) you leave the bike in gear so that it doesn't roll off the sidestand that you didn't forget to put down in the first place.

Easy sequence: 1) Sidestand down. 2) turn key off and remove.

FWIW, the procedure above is what I use...always have...on all my bikes - except for my KLR. I diasbled the side-stand kill switch on the KLR because of its tendency to malfunction at the worst possible time. Probably due to water, mud, bogs, gravel, and all the other detritus one rides thru on a KLR.

CW