How's the Kill Switch Work?

Silly question, I know, but hear me out.

I just bought a bike from a guy who couldn't get it to run. It won't spark. He replaced the CDI, and still no joy. I just brought it home last night.

I went out for about 45 minutes this morning and started prepping the bike for work to be done... It's gonna be a long project. Anyway, one thing I noticed is that this bike cranks regardless of what position the kill switch is in. Every other bike I've experienced (basically my '02 YZF600R, my '97 YZF1000R, and the bike I took my MSF course on), the bike won't crank with the kill switch off. It inhibits both the starter and the spark.

My first thought was that the kill switch was just shorted. But that didn't make sense to me, why would someone short the kill switch? That's a pretty big safety issue. Then a lightbulb went off: What if the kill switch on this bike works differently? What if, instead of inhibiting both the starter and the spark, it inhibits ONLY the spark? If that's the case, if the switch is bad (or disconnected), it would still allow the bike to crank, but you won't get it to light.

It seems like a long shot to me, but I have no experience with these bikes so I might as well ask. Could the no-spark condition potentially be caused by a faulty kill switch?

 

kill switch inhibits spark, starter will still turn

 

Awesome! Hopefully I've found the issue.

 

Yeah, mine does the same thing, and I though the ECU/ICM was fried due to the fact that I had the switch in the incorrect position. Still having fueling/ignition issues though.

 

Every Honda I've had will crank with the kill switch off. It just doesn't send power for the ecu/coils.

 

That's something that I'm not used to, and it really had me scratching my head there for quite awhile...

 

Hopefully it's just a loose wire somewhere. The wiring on this bike is a mess, so it wouldn't surprise me. I'm also not used to the bike cranking like that, I just figured that the PO shorted the wire or something. I'll have to take closer look at what's actually going on in there.

 

The earlier gens, like your 3rd gen, will crank, but 4th gen and on should not crank with the kill switch in the off position. *

* Unless you have a bike that is not from NA. Then all rules are thrown out the door.

:crazy:

 

My 06 will definately not crank with the kill switch thrown.

 

it doesn't crank when you throw it on the ground either....

 

Its a nice feature that the bike cranks but does'nt start, mainly for oil changes as me pre-fills the earl filter and after everything is buttoned up, me cranks the engine with the kill switch in the OFF position. Then, me flips it on the RUN position and fires dah bitch up, at that point, me gets zero oil light flicker (even though the light is not an actual pressure switch-just a oil warning light)

My Kawasaki does not have a kill switch where the motor will still turn over with it in the OFF position. Its kinda moot since me pre-fills all my earl filters after an earl change. ANywHOoOOOoOOOOOOOOo....Cheers :drinkers:

 

Mine never gets thrown to the ground. Has been known to get dumped a few times though.

 

The kill switch can go bad (one of my 86's is dead at the moment to a failed switch), and I could see someone shorting over it on an old rat-bike or the like (since you can still turn it off with the key). I'm looking for a start/stop switch (or rh assembly), btw, if anyone has one.