I've been thinking about this like the squid I am...
Do you guys use the key or kill switch to cut your engines?
In my MSF course they taught us to use the switch then key. I always use the key and usually don't touch the kill switch. I feel like that's better cuz the kill switch doesn't look like it's designed to be flicked thousands of times, just for emergencies u know?
So is there a proper way? Does it not matter? Is one way "better" than the other?
If you never use the kill switch corrosion can form on the terminals, causing an short such that when you wreck the bike and need to use the kill switch it might not work and the bike may continue running.
I use my kill switch to kill the engine, then key off.
Good habit to use the kill switch. If you have an emergency, it is second nature to you.
Also lets you turn off the bike without removing your hand from the handlebar.
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Quote from: lynx124 on June 10, 2013, 03:18:04 PM
..................Do you guys use the key or kill switch to cut your engines?................
Neither, I use the kick stand to kill it with the bike in 1st gear. And when you get to 80 I'll bet you do it that way too if your still riding. :thumb:
Up until the couple years ago I always used the key, never the kill switch. Also I never took the MSF course so they never had a chance to confuse me on these choices. :icon_lol:
PS: Just saw last post, Adidas will be doing it my way in about 15 more years.
Most of the time i use the ignition switch cos i'm incredibly slack, but just occasionally i use the kill switch to keep me/it in practice.
Personal preference really mate all ways stop the engine. I use the key or kickstand switch but every now n again ill killswitch it.
OK so its all what you make of it...I was just wondering why in the MSF course they were VERY persistent with the fact that its kill-switch then key. I thought it was bad for the bike to use the key or something. But Adidas ur right, I guess being used to using the kill switch is a + for safety
I tend to park the bike with the clutch in, killswitch off and roll to a stop....MSF would have a field day with me! :nono:
I always used it on any bike I have had as the initial shut off...just habit I picked up.
Kill. Make sure it'll work when you need it to
My days of dualsport riding have given me a hard lesson to always use the key.
If you use they killswitch you may forget to turn the key off. Headlight kills your battery pretty quick when the bike isn't running. Not a big deal in the city, but 30 miles from the nearest road on the side of a mountain and you might wish you had used the key.
i heard from someone that if you use the killswitch then it could cause damage to the battery, then again this same guy is a mechanic who screwed me over many, many times, hence why i do all my own work now. :cool: i prefer to use the key just cause i dont want to accidentally kill the battery when i get home cause ill sometimes leave the key in the ignition. I have it in a locked garage btw so nobody get any ideas :nono:
Key
I use the kill switch, but sometimes forget and use the key. It never seemed to hurt anything. I never thought to use the kickstand before... lol.
dont forget the popular but seldom admitted .. "fingers slipped from the clutch and stalled it" move .. :icon_rolleyes:
i can neither confirm or deny that this may have happened to me yesterday .. :icon_rolleyes: ... smoooooooth?!?
Quote from: Janx101 on June 10, 2013, 09:02:18 PM
dont forget the popular but seldom admitted .. "fingers slipped from the clutch and stalled it" move .. :icon_rolleyes:
i can neither confirm or deny that this may have happened to me yesterday .. :icon_rolleyes: ... smoooooooth?!?
i did this one time while parked in front of a wall. I was starting it up in 1st with the kickstand up and gave it a little gas cause it was a cold night and slipped the clutch while it was at 6 RPM cause i thought it was in neutral (i was very tired, long day at work that day) and i ran it into a wall >:(
Key.
Sometimes i use the kill switch, just to make sure its still working. I have once forgotten to put the kill switch back 'ON', and spend almost half an hr trying to figure out why she wouldnt start.
Quote from: lynx124 on June 10, 2013, 03:18:04 PM
I've been thinking about this like the squid I am...
Do you guys use the key or kill switch to cut your engines?
In my MSF course they taught us to use the switch then key. I always use the key and usually don't touch the kill switch. I feel like that's better cuz the kill switch doesn't look like it's designed to be flicked thousands of times, just for emergencies u know?
So is there a proper way? Does it not matter? Is one way "better" than the other?
I use the kill switch and have "thousands of times" based on the MSF rational that it allows one to keep one's hands on the controls, but then I often "kill and coast to a stop". The kill switch is closed in the run position so if it were to fail your bike simply wouldn't run. The same is true of the key switch.
Kill switch. Force of habit, it's what I've always done. I guess it's because of a story of a friend who bought a bike from a friend of his.
He rode it to work, finished his shift, then went outside to go home. Damn thing wouldn't go. No matter what he did, key in and out, clutch, choke, nothing. No starter. He was pushing it up a small incline in a parking lot to try and bump start it, to no avail. He rings the guy he bought it off, and says "Come have a look at this heap of shaZam!, it won't go." He got told to push the red switch on the handlebar. Sure enough, away it went.
I figured if I use the kill switch all the time, I wouldn't make that same mistake. We still give him shaZam! for it. He pushed that thing around for 30 minutes before he called for help. Best work out of his life!
I thought you Aussies pulled the damn spark plug wires off to stop the engine.
Admit it, You mates been getting soft. :nono:
Quote from: Electrojake on June 11, 2013, 01:44:53 PM
I thought you Aussies pulled the damn spark plug wires off to stop the engine.
Admit it, You mates been getting soft. :nono:
Reminds me of a lawnmower I once had . . .
My answer will always be Key, the only thing I have ever seen the Emergency Kill Switch do is Kill battery's. It's great that MSF instructors include the red switch in the MC shutdown procedure to get novice riders familiar with it's location and what it does, while it also allows them to leave their hands on the controls. Using the red switch to stop the engine is a completely unnecessary and redundant move that just adds another step to what is otherwise a simple one key operation. Granted, using the red switch does not hurt the bike in any way, and if it makes you happy to use it, party on....but your only kidding yourself if you think using it is required to shutdown a MC.
I also realize many here where taught to use it....I had to use it also when I took the MSF course. As I stated above, the only thing I have ever seen it do is kill battery's :dunno_black:
Stevo ... You forgot .... And catch riders out trying to start the bike ... When they don't notice/remember it sometimes :D
I use kill switch, just because it's there. No real..."scientific" reason behind it really. Ultimately it doesn't matter which you use, they do the same thing.
I guess the MSF trained me well; I've always used the Kill switch. No real risk of killing the battery, because when I get off the bike the key goes in my pocket.
Early on I killed the battery a couple times because of how I removed the key (left it in Park) but that hasn't happened for years now. :icon_rolleyes:
Quote from: Bluesmudge on June 10, 2013, 07:45:05 PM
My days of dualsport riding have given me a hard lesson to always use the key.
If you use they killswitch you may forget to turn the key off. Headlight kills your battery pretty quick when the bike isn't running. Not a big deal in the city, but 30 miles from the nearest road on the side of a mountain and you might wish you had used the key.
yep. nothing like returning from a short hike for pictures, only to find the battery is flat.