bicyclist
Guest
I would argue that it, like an appendix, is a useless holdover. Back in the day, when magneto ignitions were used, motorcycles didn't have an ignition switch. You'd get on the thing, prime it and kick it over and it would start. When you wanted to stop the engine, you'd hold down the kill switch, grounding out the magneto, until it quit, so an engine stop switch had a function. Nowadays, when you turn the ignition key to off, it serves the same function, so there's no need for a separate engine stop switch. I'm fully aware that the MSF teaches students to use the engine stop switch to kill the engine rather than the ignition key. When you ask why, they say that it's to teach people to use it in an emergency. Um, you can't flip the ignition key in an emergency? Do cars have an engine stop switch? Of course not, so why do motorcycles?
I would further argue that engine stop switches cause way more trouble than they're worth. How much time has been wasted figuring out why the thing wouldn't start when the kill switch got accidentally bumped. How many times has the engine quit while going down the road because the switch got bumped by a rider fumbling with a glove or some such. How many times have riders run down their batteries because they stopped the engine with the kill switch and forgot to turn off the ignition?
QUIT USING THE KILL SWITCH!
I would further argue that engine stop switches cause way more trouble than they're worth. How much time has been wasted figuring out why the thing wouldn't start when the kill switch got accidentally bumped. How many times has the engine quit while going down the road because the switch got bumped by a rider fumbling with a glove or some such. How many times have riders run down their batteries because they stopped the engine with the kill switch and forgot to turn off the ignition?
QUIT USING THE KILL SWITCH!