Because I had more than a few rider ask me "what is that" @ Autobahn (today/yesterday) about the tethered kill switch that I installed on my bike, I thought I'd share this. Y'all spend hundreds of dollars on frame sliders, case covers and the like, but what about the internals of your engine when you have a spill and your engine is still running? Maybe at full throttle when it lands on its right side! A normally open switch can be had for as little as $4 on eBay and a normally closed is about $17. Don't know why it's that much more expensive because it's the same damn thing with an opposite switch but that's another story. The point is that this is cheap insurance to protect something that will cost you way more than a side case in the event that your still running engine starves for oil and wipes out your crank or connecting rod bearings. It's also very easy to install, only two solder/shrink wrap connections....
Almost all (maybe all) motorcycles have a "tilt" sensor on them when they are made. This would, to me, do the exact same thing. Once the sensor detects that the motorcycle is not upright, it kills the engine.
neat idea for sure.. and glad it works for you.. maybe there are some older bikes that need this. though all of my bikes have a "tip over sensor" and I have tested said feature more than I care too
Just curious......is the Duc. a carb bike or is it fuel injected? I can see where maybe a carbed bike wouldn't have one. Maybe the previous owner (if you aren't the original owner) took it off for some reason.
That's why. Older bikes didn't have them, but modern ones do. I crashed my 1198 twice and both times the engine shut off by itself right away. I've only seen 2 other people use those switches and they both ride 848's. Not sure why, because the 848's should have the tilt sensor. But yeah, for most modern bikes it's not a problem. At the place where I teach MSF classes, we use ninja 300s and they get dropped all the time and I've never had a single time where a bike kept running.
It's fuel injected and all the wiring was in stock trim when I put her down @ Barber. She was laying on her left side and idling until I hit the kill switch. Maybe it has a tilt switch that is defective? Fairly new to sport bikes and didn't know they had built in tilt switches so I went for the tether kill like I had when I raced ATV's.
Gotcha. Well, I would say do whatever works for you. You might be able to do some research (service manual, call to a Duc dealer, online parts fiche, etc.) and find out if it does or does not have a tilt sensor, and if it does, maybe try to get it in working order......if you are interested. I guess I was under the assumption that the bike had a tilt sensor and you just added the tether on also. Sounds like you've got it under control.
Sometimes the older versions of tilt sensors were very slow to react or they don't actually engage the tilt mechanism. Not sure what a modern one looks like but the older ones are rings that slide on a u shaped piece of metal. If the ring was in the middle of the U it runs but if it slides to either side the biek cuts off. The ring does not always slide smoothly.