Kill Button

worntorn said:

Lack of a kill button killed my 650ss back in the 90s when it still lived in Ontario.
The story is that the new owner stored it over winter in a damp area. Corrosion in the throttle cable caused the slides to stick wide open on starting. While the owner was fumbling for the key switch the revs went to the moon causing a connecting rod to break , the jagged end exiting thru a crankcase half.
The bike became an insurance write off, went to a Breaker's yard and was spotted by none other than Herb Becker.
Herb bought the wreck and donated it to the Ontario Vintage group for a resto project. Eventually it was completed then raffled off to an non riding winner. He kept it for a few years then sold it to me.
So in this case, it worked out well for me that the bike did not have a kill switch, although it does have one now!

Glen

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I once bought a Norton atlas that has suffered the same fete
While the owner was trying to shut it down the motor blew !!!
The only thing that didn't get damaged was the cylinder head surprisingly

In 2000 late one-night heading for the beach in my BMW 535 (car) I didn't notice my speed increasing. I had returned from living in German for 7 years so 150mph was a normal feeling. Anyway, at about 100mph I realized that I was going way too fast for an upcoming corner and tapped the brake to shutoff the cruise control. I just kept accelerating. At about 120 I tried the brakes - no way they were going to handle it. Stuck it in neutral and the engine redlined - back in gear. Now what? I'm at about 145, can't stop accelerating and know no cop will believe it and knowing that I cannot make the curve coming. So, one-click, just turn the ignition one-click. Two and you probably die with the steering locked. One-click - engine off. Finally stop in the middle of the curve off on the shoulder. Start the car, redline, off! Time to investigate - cruise control mechanically stuck full on. Disconnected it and off I went.

Only case in my life where I needed a kill button!

My thread is now officially a horror story thread - don't worry about how it started!

At coffee stops, one of my friends liked to randomly switch the kill switch on his mates' bikes. This joke no longer works, as the kill switch doubles as the starter button on most modern bikes. His new trick is a peanut inside any riding gloves we leave unguarded. Oh, what fun!