@&$#%^#$ Kill Switch!!!

[BrianG]

My thumb slipped off the starter button and nothing in the start sequence would work. No fuel pump charge cycle, no noise form the starter, but all the accessories worked.

Only got as far as checking all the fuses and swapping out all the relays before it struck me to look at that obtuse kill switch......

 

That really sucks, in the rain!!

[KiloSjon]

In everybodies motorcycle life it happens at least once....

 

Last week: in the sun, plus 33degrees celcius, in my hot suit:

Start the engine, in gear, it stalls

Start the engine, in gear, it stalls

Sweating like hell

Start the engine, in gear, it stalls

Start the engine, in gear, it stalls

Start the engine, in gear, it stalls

Damn, is that the neutral indicator? What did they say on the forum on this? Oh it's hot in here!

Start the engine, in gear, it stalls

Start the engine, in gear, it stalls

Starting to look at the gear lever, noticing the sidestand, moving it, wondering "was it in or out?"

Starting the engine, in gear, ride away, wave to the people at the terras...

 

[richard100t]

You know that problem can be solved by removing just one wire...

[docc]

I dismantled an entire carburettor once after my Tourist Trophy would not start.

 

If only I had noticed the choke lever was pushed the wrong way!

[BrianG]

Ah yes.......... the wonders of the man-machine interface!!

 

All I can say is that I'm glad it wasn't something like this at 10,500' over the Rocky's in the Comanche!!

[Mr. Bean]

Hmm...maybe there really is something to all those checklists they drill into our heads in flight training!

 

Maybe it's time to come up with some for the Guzzi's

[Dr Gil]

Yep, they're a bitch...but,

 

My crash last July on my beloved Le Mans was caused because my sidestand switch had been disabled by a privious owner and I neglected to put the stand up after a brief stop. First left hand curve and BAM! Down she goes and we're both off the road for 6 months for healing and repair.

 

I too know the kill switch's are a pain, I too dislike stuff being inflicted on us that saves us from ourselves and I too hate bits that hang out and catch all sorts of crap and then fail but...and yet, one of the first things I did after my crash was to re-install my sidestand kill switch.

 

Sure a checklist would be lovely but...that one little mind fart can carry such consequences.

[KiloSjon]

Yep, they're a bitch...but,

 

My crash last July on my beloved Le Mans was caused because my sidestand switch had been disabled by a privious owner and I neglected to put the stand up after a brief stop.  First left hand curve and BAM!  Down she goes and we're both off the road for 6 months for healing and repair. 

 

I too know the kill switch's are a pain, I too dislike stuff being inflicted on us that saves us from ourselves and I too hate bits that hang out and catch all sorts of crap and then fail but...and yet, one of the first things I did after my crash was to re-install my sidestand kill switch.

 

Sure a checklist would be lovely but...that one little mind fart can carry such consequences.

92476[/snapback]

 

Better to look stupid and standing still than to look stupid by crashing your bike...

 

[tomsp]

way to go Dr. Gil :!: I was waiting for your post on that topic-- nice as always! Hey, I bought a Centauro - we'll have to hook up for a ride (by the way, on the troubles with v11's - you think you've got problems?...... centau.....

[waspp]

Just remember these little encounters with our machines will allow us to ride with greater confidence next time....not that it won't happen again but that we can find the problem and fix it!

 

waspp

[felix42o]

Not to mention the way the sidestand mounts to the engine case...I'd hate to see the havoc that could wreak with a good impact.

[motogruvi]

reading through the responses i now have some "tricks" to try but i didn't see any true fixes. i was interested in the one reply about disabling the kill switch. any ideas on this fix and would it cause other problems? just purchased an '03 lemans and would rather be riding it than just watching it as a garage ornament.

[Guest Gary Cheek]

Best way to avoid sidestand mishaps is to remove them. My son always took the sidestands off his bicycles. Of course that introduced a new mis-hap. The old man (me) tripping over hes bicycle while toting something awkward and heavy especially at night.

What the heck better to prop the bike up against a wall, a parked car or some poor Harley than have a sidestand induced mishap or a buggerend SS switch. In a pinch you can always lay the bike down. Laying a motionless bike down is preferrable to laying one down at 58 MPH (or even 100 KPH depending upon geographic locale)

[Beuphonium]

Greetings all:

 

Figured I'd chime in my 2 cents here.. but my old v65 came equipped with one of the nice self-retracting side stands... if there is no pressure on it (i.e. the weight of the bike) it automatically retracts leaving you read to drive off. After parking the bike, in what I will admit was probably not the best of places, an extremely srong gust of wind must have hit the bike in exactly the right spot, as I watched the bike stand up, side stand retract, and promptly fall to the ground. Three weeks later, family member bumps into bike, "clink".... "crunch." Same story. Lesson learned.

 

Since that day, if I put the side stand down, it is only just long enough to dismount, situate myself, and put the bike on the centerstand, and this goes for my cafe sport as well...

 

Speaking of which, can anyone tell me why both tires are still on the ground when parked on the centerstand? that seemed to me to almost defeat the purpose of it...