Engine Stop Switch

[Finchster15]

I have a question for anyone that can offer some help. What are the switch positions on the engine stop switch? Sounds like a stupid question, but I picked up the bike after being parked outside for 15 years, so the labels have sun rotted away to nothing. It feels like a 3 position switch, I'm just not sure what each position is. Any help would be great, a picture would be even better. Thanks everyone.

[DGXSER]

First, and you will hear this over and over and over and over for good reason, get a manual. Catatonic Bug has them on his own web page for free download. OR the Clymers is readily purchased for nto much money.

As to the switch, it is a three position switch. when it is in the middle posiiton perpendicular to the centerline of the bars, it is in run or on position and the bike is able to operate. If it is to either side, the bike will die and not be able to run.

[DiverRay]

The switch is Off, Run, OFF. If the switch is 90 Degrees to the throttle, the bike will run. If it's off even a LITTLE bit, the bike will probably NOT run.

[Finchster15]

Thanks guys. I do have a manual (which I bought before I knew that they were available free here...), But it doesn't actually show a whole lot about that switch. I had assumed that it was an Off, run, off switch by using my meter on it, but just wanted to make sure as that seemed a little unorthodox to me. But I thank you for your input.

[TopCatGr58]

It's an EMERGENCY kill switch, and so it was designed so that a person could either push it or pull it with their thumb to be able to kill it quickly no matter which way you switched it.
T.C.

[DGXSER]

Interesting as every bike i have ever owned had the same setup for the emergency kill in the same spot to.

[Lamric]

Looks like this


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[randy]

Unorthodox? How long you been riding, Finchster? First bike? take an MSF course and take it easy. This is a lot of bike for a nubee.

[Finchster15]

You're right, I am pretty new to riding, but I've ridden 5 different bikes and they all had the engine switch as on or off. 2 position. But I do agree, this is a big ass bike, especially for a newbie such as myself, and I do plan on taking an MSF class. Thanks for your help and suggestions.

[fredintoon]

You're right, I am pretty new to riding, but I've ridden 5 different bikes and they all had the engine switch as on or off. 2 position. But I do agree, this is a big ass bike, especially for a newbie such as myself, and I do plan on taking an MSF class. Thanks for your help and suggestions.

Hi Finchster,
the stock Yamaha ignition switch between the gauges has 4 positions.
11 o'clock is OFF.
12 o'clock is ON. It's the one position the key will not come out of. So long as the lock ain't too worn.
Turn the bars hard left (or perhaps right?) push down on the key & turn CCW to 8 o'clock to LOCK which leaves everything off and locks the steering.
Turn the key further CCW to 7 o'clock to PARK which leaves the steering locked and turns the tail light on.
I just tried this only to find my replacement key is too short in the shank to push the lock far enough down to work the steering lock which shows how little use those last 2 positions are, being not needed since I've owned the bike.
The 3 position (OFF/ON/OFF) switch atop the twistgrip is the EMERGENCY KILL-SWITCH. It's there to turn the bike off if you are trapped underneath the bike and cannot reach the ignition switch. It's main use is for smart-alecs to turn off when the bike is parked so they can watch you panic as the bike don't start.

[CatatonicBug]

The 3 position (OFF/ON/OFF) switch atop the twistgrip is the EMERGENCY KILL-SWITCH. It's there to turn the bike off if you are trapped underneath the bike and cannot reach the ignition switch. It's main use is for smart-alecs to turn off when the bike is parked so they can watch you panic as the bike don't start.

Some people (not me) use that switch EVERY TIME they dismount. They use that switch to kill the bike, THEN turn off the ignition switch. No real harm in doing that AFAIK. My neighbor's SWMBO was riding up the driveway the other day, and hit her killswitch and just kept rolling before finally hitting the brake, just before running into a trash can. I was getting tense until she finally stopped. Then I realized that the ignition on her bike is down under the fuel tank, on the right side of the bike. No other way to kill it than to use the switch, really.

[fredintoon]

Some people (not me) use that switch EVERY TIME they dismount. They use that switch to kill the bike, THEN turn off the ignition switch. No real harm in doing that AFAIK. My neighbor's SWMBO was riding up the driveway the other day, and hit her killswitch and just kept rolling before finally hitting the brake, just before running into a trash can. I was getting tense until she finally stopped. Then I realized that the ignition on her bike is down under the fuel tank, on the right side of the bike. No other way to kill it than to use the switch, really.

Hi 'Bug,
my first 25 years riding was on Britbikes that didn't have kill switches. Before my first Triumph twin they didn't even have ignition switches. So I tend to regard kill switches as a waste of wire.
Your neighbor's SWMBO must ride a Harley? (well, there went the neighborhood, eh?)
Click into neutral, stop on the brakes, put the sidestand down, tilt the bike onto it, reach down & turn the key off. How can that be difficult?

[DGXSER]

Honestly, my kill switch is my shutoff switch, key is last. If you take the MSF course, they teach you "F-I-N-E-C" = Fuel - Ignition - Neutral - Emergency - Choke. Turning the bike off is the reverse.

So MSF teaches to turn that switch off after every use and then back on when you run it.

Fred, admit it, when you first started riding the bike it had REAL Dinosour oil in the crankcase. I bet the wheels were wooden with steel bands right?

[fredintoon]

- - - - MSF teaches to turn that switch off after every use and then back on when you run it.
Fred, admit it, when you first started riding the bike it had REAL Dinosour oil in the crankcase. I bet the wheels were wooden with steel bands right?

Hi DG,
I suppose that having that technique drummed into a student has the advantage of teaching you where the stupid thing is and if I were taking the course I'd certainly not argue the point.
I lost 2 points from my perfect score on my (1974) Canadian motorcycle test for knowing better than the tester.
And no, I started out on pump-up tires and so did my grandpa. He did beat a traffic light ticket by swearing on oath that he ran it because he'd never seen one before and didn't know what it was.
That worked in 1920 but not these days.
I will admit that when I started riding you could still buy 20" tires.

[CatatonicBug]

Your neighbor's SWMBO must ride a Harley? (well, there went the neighborhood, eh?)

Yeah. The neighbor is a hardley dude. Big, bald, tattooed, stereotypical Hardley dude. However, he has GIVEN me a bike lift, a rolling padded stool, and an oil catch pan, just because he admired the guts I showed in tearing into my first motorcycle. So, I can't knock him too much.