Shutdown procedure?
Tourer
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 313
Likes: 83
From: Central KY
Interesting thread. Personally, I don't think it makes any difference which switch you use to shut the bike down.
However, technically the switch you guys are calling a "kill switch" is not a "kill switch." On most bikes (I own ten), the kill switch is just that. It stays on all of the time except in emergency and merely serves to shut everything down quickly. The Harley handlebar switch is different. It is also the switch for the fuel pump as well as the ignition. I've always suspected that Harley did it this way so that you can turn the main switch on to use various accessories without running the fuel pump and energizing the ignition. When I turn a key on my other bikes, everything's on and I can start them.
I like the segregation of fuel pump/ignition from the main electrical system but the Harley is the only bike I own that's wired like this. It's a Harley oddity but a good one.
However, technically the switch you guys are calling a "kill switch" is not a "kill switch." On most bikes (I own ten), the kill switch is just that. It stays on all of the time except in emergency and merely serves to shut everything down quickly. The Harley handlebar switch is different. It is also the switch for the fuel pump as well as the ignition. I've always suspected that Harley did it this way so that you can turn the main switch on to use various accessories without running the fuel pump and energizing the ignition. When I turn a key on my other bikes, everything's on and I can start them.
I like the segregation of fuel pump/ignition from the main electrical system but the Harley is the only bike I own that's wired like this. It's a Harley oddity but a good one.
Last edited by SteveMKentucky; Apr 23, 2014 at 07:24 PM.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 2,976
Likes: 49
From: Northern California
My turn off procedure...
Ride the bike to where I am going, at about 30 feet, hit the kill switch and coast to a stop.
Leave they ignition on and radio playing, take your helmet off and then dismount. Never get off your bike while your helmet is still on (just like they do in SOA).
Take off your gloves and bandana and put them away in your saddlebag along with your riding glasses. Rummage around in your saddlebag for your normal sunglasses. Lock everything up and then and only then.... Turn the radio down and turn off the ignition and lock it.
Startup process is just the reverse of this.
Ride the bike to where I am going, at about 30 feet, hit the kill switch and coast to a stop.
Leave they ignition on and radio playing, take your helmet off and then dismount. Never get off your bike while your helmet is still on (just like they do in SOA).
Take off your gloves and bandana and put them away in your saddlebag along with your riding glasses. Rummage around in your saddlebag for your normal sunglasses. Lock everything up and then and only then.... Turn the radio down and turn off the ignition and lock it.
Startup process is just the reverse of this.
The best one yet !!!!
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 4,999
Likes: 55
From: Bay Area
I remember a story from someone I know. He NEVER NEVER used his kill switch, it was the way he learned. One day while riding in the rain he came upon a toll both, he reached in for his toll and bent over to see what he was doing, thats when he hit the kill switch with his helmet and couldnt figure why it died and he couldnt for the life of him get it to start. He ended up towing the bike home and found out then what had happened. I guess he was so used to not using it, he forgot it was there.
I guess theres a moral to this story maybe...
I guess theres a moral to this story maybe...
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 4,229
Likes: 10
From: Oklahoma
If someone did that to me, I would never ride with them again.
Road Warrior
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,290
Likes: 20
From: Salem, Or
I pull up to where I'm going to park. Put the bike in neutral then turn it off using the on/off switch. If I'm parking on a hill I keep it in gear with the brakes on and turn it off with the kill switch. I am sure someone will say I do it all wrong but I have never had an issue with any of the bikes I have owned doing it this way.
Tourer
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 469
Likes: 3
From: Arizona
I have a routine. I pull into the garage or anywhere else I'm stopping, hit the kill switch, put the jiffy stand down, turn off ignition switch, and hop off the bike. It's habit. The one time I deviated from that routine I forgot to put the jiffy stand down....
Cruiser
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 208
Likes: 6
From: Renton, WA
Kill switch first, listen to the radio while I find neutral, set the bike on centerstand, remove helmet and gloves, dismount and turn off the main switch and lock the bike. I wish the kill switch would shut off at least the headlight and spots.