Ducati Monster Forum

Folks, I'm curious.. Is it just Ducati envy that encourages people to flick your killswitch when it's parked in and around town?

Or is it bikes in general?

For me 80% of the time I park around Carlton/Collingwood I get 'the flick', and occasionally in the city.

What's the deal?

I mean, at least they're not keying the bike, but c'mon..
To quote Pulp Fiction-- "You don't mess with another man's vehicle!"

Maybe it's a mexican thing, but it's never happened to me north of the border. Ever. I would however be gutted if I came back to my bike and new that someone else had been... touching... it.

mate, never happened to me once....

could be the fact that you have that little habib of yelling "F_ck All Y'all" when you take your helmet off....and possibly the highway speeds too  ;)

So are they flicking the killswitch to off when you'd left it on, or the reverse? Either way it seems like a very odd thing to do.

When I used to park my bike out the back of the building at my old job, The Warehouse staff used to go over and fiddle with the switches,  move it, lean against it and have a smoke.
I would tell them to piss off and not touch it, but that seemed to only make it worse!

Final straw came when one of the Retards decided to jam a piece of cardboard in the throttle cam, jamming it wide open! luckily when the day ended I went out to the bike (I wondered why the warehouse guys were all standing around near the back door, looking as I went towards my bike) I bumped the throttle, it moved with no resistance, WTF?!? looked around the bike thinking the cable had snapped, found the piece of cardboard wedged in the cables/cam.
I looked back at them and they were all pissing themselves with laughter.

Next day I moved it to the front of the building so I could keep an eye on it.
I got payback the next day while they had there lunch break, I stole the keys to the Forklift and the WAVE (Work assist vehicle, a mini people lift) and threw them down the storm drain at the back of the building, it took them 3 days to get new keys made! they all stood around pregnant doging at each other that they lost the keys! I was never a suspect.
make the beast with two backs with me or my stuff, and will make the beast with two backs with you back, but much Worse!!

New job, I purchased a Bike cover, and even if I'm only in there for a a short shift I make sure the cover is on and locked.

So far so good, my bike get's left alone, the other guys bikes get fiddled with, sat on and played with, so far my bike has remained untouched.

But I hate it when people have no respect for other peoples stuff!!!

Scorpio alarm with peimeter sensor  [thumbsup]

Great story CD,  [laugh] [laugh] [laugh] my head off.
My bike has never been messed with, but then I never really park it may places either.

Seriously? nobody else is afflicted with this?

I was expecting the response yeah, i get it all the time! kill 'em all i say! but nada? wow.

Maybe I should get me a monster again.. Maybe the HM screams too loudly "make the beast with two backs the Establishment".

 probably someone you work with.either way disconnect it from the other end.honestly ive never used it.if you ever have to use it say
 to crank bike over then just connect the wire again.its a bit of a redundant switch.if ever something goes wrong with engine first thing
 i do is pull in clutch.then assess situation.by then ive pulled over to side of road.

Why don't people actually use their kill switches?

I use mine every time I want to shut down the engine. Then when I start up, I turn the key, switch on the kill switch, listen for the fuel pump to kick in, then crank her over.

Is there anything wrong with this?
Will Bazz chase me down the street wielding his favorite tyre iron? [cheeky]
Will Jukie run me down, lift her shirt and show me her scar? [laugh]
Or am I fine to continue with my ingrained, well rehearsed start up procedure? :)

Interesting point of view YM ... I have seen people religously stop their bike with the kill switch. I only ever use it by accident.

One time it almost brought me unstuck was when I was picking Jukie's bike up after a roadworthy inspection. All was well until I tried to start it to take home ... and nothing. I was so caught up with the embarrassment of having the bike just passed and now it not starting in the workshop to think clearly. Once the mechanic had finished the inspection he used the killswitch to turn the bike off ... embarrassment had by then moved to another level but I got there in the end.

 
 Hey YM


 I can't see any reason not to use the kill switch every time to stop the engine.  :-\ other than you like to turn more switches than necessary or as not to forget were it is in case of an emergency [laugh]

 But to quote the owners manual. which can be a good read  [coffee]

 Warning this switch is mainly intended for use in emergency cases when you need to stop the engine quickly.

Owners Manual?  What...is this Owners Manual of which you speak?

I was told by the shop, turn key + push start button + twist throttle = Big cheesy grins all round!

Nothing wrong with your system YellowMeanie.
I swap and change between, but either way the seems to turn off and on each time.

Learners in Vic are taught a startup/shutdown system called FINE/FINK. ;D

Startup is Fuel, Ignition, Neutral, Kill/Engine stop in Run position and reverse it to shutdown. (Notice you dont have to let go of anything to kill the engine?? And how easy it was to find neutral with the engine stopped?? Funny 'bout that! [roll] )

Anybody that has flown an aircraft knows why things are "SYSTEMATIC".

1. Nothing gets forgot!
2. In an emergency you are more likely to react with a trained response, even when yer freckle is doing the 50c-20c pucker.

Its there for a reason, and I cant understand why some manufacturers (Triumph as well  :o ) tell the owners not to use it. :o

Yeah all great philosophy about the pros/cons uses, why nots off a kill switch.

The rider asked if anyone gets there bike tampered with.

I have recently sat and had a coffee and watched (from a distance) my bike parked in a supermarket car park. I was amazed at how many shit heads totally disregard what they are walking past, parking next to and finding a place to fire their shopping trolley away from their precious car. They smash past and hit your mirrors or bump into your bike as if it is just a piece of crap. The average idiot sees a bike, that bike could be a $100 clunker to something worth a little bit more, they just see a bike (I recently had some fool walk past my bike and broke a mirror). Yet they could see an expensive car easily.

So I have recently installed a Scorpio Alarm and if they come anywhere near my bike the alarm scares the make the beast with two backs out of them, so now watching my bike from a distance (having a coffee) is fun to watch. Scaring idiots as they try to smash trollies into other peoples property is a scream, especially when they try to screw with my transport.

Now I know there will be replies to this post about never parking your bike in these areas. That would be great for people who only ride their bikes when they want, under special controlled weather conditions. But some people don't have the choice as their bike is their chosen means of transport, so good on them, ride your bike to work, go shopping or do what ever shit you want on your bike. Your bike should never be touched as no one should ever touch anyones car. No one should go near your bike just like they should no go near your car and fold out the windscreen wipers.

Installed an alarm, chain something mean to your bike, hang bells off it, put up a fence but no one should ever be allowed to mess with your bike..................so spend a few hundred bucks and scare the make the beast with two backs out of them.

Cheers [beer]

What we used to do in classes (And with mates.  [thumbsup] ) Was flick the Kill out switch OFF and watch the performance of someone trying to work out why the "F#@@ing thing" wont start, "the bloody shitbox!!" " Useless bucket of bolts" etc, etc, etc. [roll]

And then walking over and pointing at the switch, (Amid much sniggering and chuckling as mates do?? ??? ;D [evil] )

Or even waiting until said "Dope" has the tank off, plugs out, battery out trying to work out why it wont go.  [laugh]


I mean , what are mates for??  [thumbsup] [beer]

Nothing like drinking beer (etc) and watching someone make a cock of themselves. [thumbsup] [cheeky]

Someone flicking your kill switch to off while it's parked is much better than someone flicking it to off while you're riding along. ;D [thumbsup] [moto]

Now who does things like that  [roll] [roll]

 [roll] ;D

Surely not!! [evil] [evil]

There is an ugly rumour that it used to happen at Club Racing days. Barrelling into a corner, braking and lining up the path into and some bastard flicks yer red switch!! [roll]

Hey Ita ??  [thumbsup]

Did it to myself once on the freeway at about 120kph.  Scared the crap outta me!  I got a really good look at the front guard about half a second later. :o

Did this on my old VTR 250, reached over with the left hand to hold the throttle while I scratched an itch on my right leg, left hand bumps the kill switch.. WTF?!?!
Put right hand back on the throttle, took a couple of seconds to realize what I had done.
Flicked kill switch back to on position, in the mean time I had wound the throttle wide open (and didn't realize it) The bike surged forward (as much as a 250 can do) it let fly with a big backfire, my left hand was flapping about, my feet had come off the pegs and they were also flapping about. (I really hoped no one saw this whole carry on)
I regained my composure and glanced in the rear view mirror to see a truck driver following, pissing himself with laughter!
So in my Embarrassment, I wound the throttle to the stops in a rush to get out of there.
Meaning: we (me and the bike) coughed, wheezed and farted our way to 140KPH, not bad considering it had to haul my heavy ass around