Killswitch

[Ebenezer]

What do I need to do to bypass the killswitch on a 81?

[Ebenezer]

I had my brother post that as I was stranded at Flinstone Park in Custer City, SD. We got caught in hail/rain so we had to stop there. The PO had by passed the kill switch and had a bottle cap covering it. We lost that cap somewhere yesterday. Well his by-pass method got wet and blew a fuse. Finally got it figured out between periods of rain and hail. If that's all the trouble we have in nearly 600 miles of driving the past two days I'll take it. Oh, and I lost my right side cover somewhere between Flinstone village and Rapid City. Other than that no problems! PTL!

[natemoen]

Glad you got it figured out!

[Shacknasty]

When ya get home ya might wanna think about the value of a kill switch. I only needed it once so far, but I was really glad that little switch was right there on my bars waiting for a flick of my thumb.

I just wired a kill switch on a bike yesterday that didn't have one, PO took it off to clean up the bars.

[BA80]

Never actually been in a position where I needed it but I got one.

[cywelchjr]

If your tipover switch is working properly the kill switch is redundant, since as soon as the bike exceeds 60 Deg without it being in a turn with centripetal force making it think it's still upright it will stop running. Mine works, when it fell over in the driveway, the engine stopped. For those all worried about it kicking in when in a turn, it's based on gravitational motion, which only kicks in if the bike is not moving or falls down. When you go around a corner, the bike thinks that gravity is still straight down in relation to the frame (or very close to it).

PS, my killswitch works too, but I've never used it, and don't expect to, as the tipover switch will kick in before I could think of reaching over to turn it off.

[DGXSER]

When it comes to safety, your own personal safety for sure, the redundent department of redudency is not your enemy. So I like having both.

[cywelchjr]

When it comes to safety, your own personal safety for sure, the redundent department of redudency is not your enemy. So I like having both.

Notice I did say I had both. And when someone says they are disabling one or the other I lobby against it (for both devices) and lobby for fixing them rather them removing/bypassing them other than temporarily for testing purposes, there are times that both are almost invaluable, as as such I like both. Sometimes I think it would be better if grand prix bikes had tipover switches, we've seen some video recently where I'll bet the riders wish they had one, but what with removing as much weight as possible, I understand why they don't have them. Of course I think they could be much more high tech and reliable these days then they were back when these were built.

[fredintoon]

All my Japanese bikes came with killswitches and although I've never removed one, I've never had the need to use one either.
Except for once when after a half-hour wondering why the bike wasn't starting I finally noticed that some interfering fool had turned it to OFF when the bike was parked.

[Shacknasty]

I always thought it was "The Department of Redundancy Department."

Is the tipover switch a requirement of the soft-as-a-dumpling 80s? Because my hard-as-nails '79 sure doesn't have a pansy little tipover switch. Chew yer leg off, she will...

JK!

[je2wheeler]

it would be better if grand prix bikes had tipover switches, we've seen some video recently where I'll bet the riders wish they had one

Way - way back in my racing days, we adjusted our throttles back to a dead mans setting where we had to keep the engine revved to keep running at idle and of course the engine would die at a get off. During a rider change somebody’s hand had to be on the throttle. Later the tether switch came into being. I did not know Grand Prix does not use either.

[James England]

Years ago, I read that arcing across the ignition switch can cause problems if it is regularly used to tunr off the engine.. It's probably an old wive's tale (?) but since then I've always used my kill switch to turn the engine off, before turning off at the key. That's about 30 years of doing that.... old habits die hard.

[natemoen]

I always thought it was "The Department of Redundancy Department."

Is the tipover switch a requirement of the soft-as-a-dumpling 80s? Because my hard-as-nails '79 sure doesn't have a pansy little tipover switch. Chew yer leg off, she will...

JK!

There should be one unless someone pulled it off. My '78 has one, should be on the back side of the cross bar right above the igy coils under the tank. Headlight relay is sitting in front of it.

[CatatonicBug]

I use my killswitch every single time I stop the bike. That's how I turn off the engine. If you take the MSF course, that's how they teach it. Use the kill switch, THEN turn off the power with the key. Definitely a good idea to use it on a regular basis, so you thumb is familiar with it's position. That way, in an emergency, your thumb does the work without your brain having to step in.

Tipover switch has saved me a couple times too. I'm definitely glad I have that little item on there!

[Mr.Bill]

Speaking of the tip over switch, I removed mine while debugging, and the rubber holder kinda destructed removing it from the holder, Can the switch be held in place to the bracket with electrical tape. (no laughing ) Or go for a search for that rubber mount.