Moment of genius

[Sentox]

So I rode to Lower Hutt on friday. Had just come over the Paekakariki Hill (brilliantly fun piece of road), on which I met a police car who certainly didn't look like he was sticking to the speed limit

Anyway, I reach the intersection to turn onto Western Hutt Road, and while I'm waiting at the lights, the bike suddenly dies. Thumb the starter, nothing. Lights go green to make things even better. I had to jump off, and run the bike across the road (in between two lanes of turning traffic) until I got it onto the shoulder.

The display is giving me some error code (which I should have recognised, because I've seen it before, but we'll get to that). Turn it off and back on, no joy. Turned it off again, waited a while, still no joy. At this point I'm beginning to weigh my options and realise they're all expensive, given I'm essentially stranded on the side of a motorway. I'm also figuring there's something wrong with the ECU, and since the bike's out of warranty, more expenses, etc.

About five minutes into this panic, I reach down, thumb the killswitch, start the bike, and ride off :slap:

[hellokitty]

of course, no one has done that before - knocked the kill switch and then panicked wondering why the bike won't start!

(i have only done it at home though, so you win!!)

[DMNTD:Me]

Awesome! Thanks, I needed a laugh!

[NZsarge]

Thanks for sharing dude, we all have blonde muppet moments...

[Sentox]

Thanks for sharing dude, we all have blonde muppet moments...

Unfortunately, karma decided I needed a second helping of humiliation on the return trip. Riding through a small town, two lane intersection with red lights. Split to the front, past a group of cruisers who were waiting in queue. Feeling quite satisfied with myself, light goes green, I gun it for my quick getaway... *clunk*. Still in second gear

[MsKABC]

It's more confusing and befuddling when your 2 year flicks the kill switch and you have no idea why the bike won't start the next time you get on it. Not such a problem now I have such a modern bike because it tells you on the display there's something wrong, but terribly frustrating on my 89 Bros!

[Shadowjack]

About to leave the ferry in Wellington - the other half dozen or so bikes fire up and move off ahead of the campervan traffic - I'm left panicking about the descent of my long-planned trip in to chaos - damn kill switches...

[John_H]

These bikes are also notorious for having dodgy side stand switches which has caught me out a couple of times.

[Cayman911]

Ive had something similar...was freaking because my bike wouldnt start at home and i had a full tank. took about 5 mins to realise the fuel tank was set to OFF

[Techno]

Yeah I've done that a couple of times

I'm in the habit of leaving the kill switch set to off when I walk away from the bike whether it's at the petrol station or at home in the garage, which has caused a couple of panic moments that were quickly followed by doh moments.

[st00ji]

i had cause to use mine once, and then it shorted and wouldnt turn back on! so now its disabled

have even had it at the bike shop once, left it there for a wof and wouldnt start when i picked it up. asked the foreman what was going on, he fiddled away for a few minutes and then said something like 'fucking brad and the kill switch!'

i laughed.

[R-Soul]

when I first got my bike, newly delivered by teh last owner, he drove off, and I was feeling very cool, while teh wife admired from a distance. I then spent the next 1 minutes fioddling until she approached me and asked why I was not going for a ride. After I admitted I could not start it, she eventually spotted the klill switch. Eish!

[george formby]

I'm still doing that! I have learned to check before panicking though.
A mate rode up from Tauranga recently & complained of an intermittent cut out while riding, the bike would die then miraculously start again. Very frustrating for said mate. We scratched our heads, had a poke around, made some meaningful manly grunts & discussed electrickery things. Next day a happy mate turns up with an elastic band holding his sidestand in place. Problem solved. The stand was rattling around enough to operate the kill switch every time he hit a bump...

[wysper]

A mate rode up from Tauranga recently & complained of an intermittent cut out while riding, the bike would die then miraculously start again. ...snip... Problem solved. The stand was rattling around enough to operate the kill switch every time he hit a bump...

Did he not have to use the starter switch again each time because the bike effectively bump started itself?

[Goblin]

Mate of mine was having problems starting his bike at a poker run. Tried the killswitch and it started. Next stop same thing. Had to flick it back and forth and it would start again. Got home, pulled it to bits and there was a dead spider between the contact bits. :slap: