Motorcycle / Engine Cut-Off Switch Question?

Question

I have two related motorcycle questions.

1) When riding, what would happen if you accidentally hit the engine cut-off switch? Intiutively, it would seem as if the bike would seize and throw you (since you can't move the bike in gear when turned off). But, that just seems too dangerous on the highway at 55mph.

2) When riding and you run out of gas, do you need to pull in the clutch while switching to reserve on the fly? It would seem that the bike would seize, as stated above, but the petcock is on the left side of my bike, so I can't really do both while riding.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

1. the engine would die but keep spinning if the bike is moving, not seize. if you had alot of compression and going very slowly, you might stop pretty abruptly though.

2. same issue, the engine would die but keep spinning if you were moving, except at very slow speeds.

would be very similar to using engine braking ...

with 1. above, if you were to blip your throttle while the kill switch was off, you will probably get a major back fire thru the exhaust upon flipping the switch back to the on position (since you filled the compression chamber(s) with excessive unburned fuel)...

Answer 2

1) When the ignition stops, the engine will continue to spin, slowing down rapidly but in a perfectly orderly fashion. You can't move the bike in +first+ gear when it's turned off, but try it in, say, fourth gear sometime, and you'll notice that while it is hard to move, it is indeed moveable.

2) The bike won't seize unless you've done something like having it run out of oil or overheat, which you won't. In general, you get a bit of a warning when you're running out of gas, but in any case it's not necessary to disengage the clutch. The forward motion of the bike will restart the engine, and when things are going the way they should you won't lose much speed.

Answer 3

If you hit the cut off switch, the bike would still roll. you CAN move the bike when it is off and in gear, it just takes a lot of effort since you're manually pumping the piston up and down. It's hard to do if you're pushing the bike but it happens very naturally you've got some momentum (in fact, that technique of getting the bike rolling then putting it in gear can be used to start a bike with a dead battery). If you turn the kill switch back to RUN fast enough, the bike will keep going without missing a beat.

If you know you are running out of gas and you're in motion, you can switch to the reserve on the fly. Mechanically, nothing is happening that woudl require you to pull your clutch in...you're just giving your fuel line access to the last bit of fuel in your tank.

Answer 4

I have accidently 'killed the engine' whilst going along. I wasn't thrown off as the engine does not seize (it simply doesn't do any good). Have the presence of mind to pull in the clutch lever and coast the bike to a halt,..or simply pull in the clutch and press the starter again and you should be able to carry on where you left off.

Regards to switching to reserve on the move, normally you will feel/hear the engine faltering and be able to switch to res before it cuts out completely. If it has died then pull over safely (coasting gently as described above by pulling in the clutch lever and applying the brakes) and deal with it from there.

Bear in mind though that if you have fuel injection allowing the carbs to run dry can cause you a bucketload of problems.

Ride Safe x

Answer 5

1. You don't accidentally hit the engine cut-off switch while riding. Does not happen. No way. Uh-uh. Okay, I did it once in 130,000 miles of riding.

At 55 mph in top gear, your engine would die, but the wheels would keep turning the engine. You'd slow down, but not seize up.

At a slower speed, e.g. 25 mph in second gear, your engine would stop, and your rear wheel would skid. You'd recognize what was happening, grab the clutch to disengage the engine, pull over and brake.

> 2) When riding and you run out of gas, do you need to pull in the clutch while switching to reserve on the fly? It would seem that the bike would seize, as stated above, but the petcock is on the left side of my bike, so I can't really do both while riding.

I hope you were in top gear when you need to switch! In that case, no, you don't pull the clutch. You switch over the petc-ck. Your motorcycle doesn't die all at once when you start running out of gas.

If you weren't in top gear, you pull the clutch, pull over, brake, and switch over the petc-ck when you're stopped. Then you have to hope that your engine starts before you drain your battery cranking the durned thing.

Answer 6

No problems, there. The engine would not seize just because you ran out of gas. You wouldn't have any power, but the engine would continue to turn, providing there were ample oil in the cranckcase, and the engine isn't broken.

If you were to run out of gas, and switch to reserve, same deal. The engine would lose power, until the gas reaches the carbs, or injectors, then the engine would come back to life and continute to run untill you use up the reserve gas too. You would not need to pull the cluth in, just turn it to reserve, and keep going.

Stevo.

Answer 7

1. the cut off switch merely turns the ignition power off, the bike would have no power but would still coast and not lock up.

2. No. Again it would coast, not seize up, just switch to the reserve and when fuel finally gets there, it will start running again. Don't forget to stop and fill up.

And yes, you can move the bike in gear if you pull hard enough to turn the engine over.

Answer 8

I agree with the others on question #1 not much will happen and you'd pull the clucth handle in pritty quickly on reflex anyway.

Number #2 has happened to me many times on my old bike you'd feel the engine start to sputter as it runs of of gas in the main tank. It becomes second nature to reach down and switch to reserve. Also on long trips you keep an eye on the odometer and after you gave gone so far switch to reserve automaticly. My bike now has a gas gage and will switch to reserve automaticly

Answer 9

actually, no, it won't seize. It just slows dramatically if you hit the kill switch, Just release the switch and it should restart, if not, pull in the clutch and "pop" it back out quickly to restart the motor. On the fuel, no, leave the clutch out, reach down and turn the fuel petcock to reserve and as the gas flows back thru the carb(s) it will restart.

Answer 10

no it will not seize,just the engine would shut of,you would roll to a stop,
the second question is simple to answar,do not let the gas get that low to begin with,but if it does run out the engine would do the same as above,just shut off,you would roll to a stop