Engine Died

[postoak]

And I'm sitting in a store waiting for the tow truck to arrive.   Anybody else have their 1800 just die like this?

[Kidd]

turns over ?
Lights ?
What does work ?
Completely dead ?  Everything ?

[idcrewdawg]

Bet it's the kill switch.

[postoak]

It *was* the kill switch.  What's up with that?  I noticed after I flipped it off and back on that just the slightlest pressure on it would kill the bike.

[Robert]

Switches on these bikes are terrible, I disconnected my kill switch the others I keep them lubed. Mine did the same thing as yours, I would touch it and the bike would die. I didnt want to have that kind of thing happen at the wrong time and its not really needed. kill switch for kick stand, kill switch for falling over on its side, and the key right in front of you should be enough.

[postoak]

Note that I didn't even touch mine.  Both times I accidentally activated it I was in the process of stopping.  I'm guessing the inertia of my body put pressure on my arms and hands and that alone was enough to activate the switch.

I'll look later and see how big a deal it is to take the switch apart and see if I can make it less sensitive.

[Valkpilot]

It *was* the kill switch.  What's up with that?  I noticed after I flipped it off and back on that just the slightlest pressure on it would kill the bike.

Known problem on the GL1800s.  My understanding that it happened more often with earlier models.

Lots of info at www.gl1800riders.com  Search for "kill switch"

[turboyoshi]

Known problem on the GL1800s.  My understanding that it happened more often with earlier models.

Lots of info at www.gl1800riders.com  Search for "kill switch"

Yeah I knew this was a problem with the older valks. I haven't had an issue yet but I spray some wd40 around my switch every month or so to chase away water and hopefully keep it from corroding any.

[postoak]

Thanks, Valkpilot -- there's good info over there.  One poster said "use it or lose it" and recommends clicking it off and on once a day.  I'm going to try that.

[sleepngbear]

For those of us who never use the kill switch, would it help to flip it on and off every now and then just to help keep corrosion out?

[Robert]

keep on using it once a day might help but its still corrosion that is the problem, so you may wipe the corrosion off but it really needs to be lubed with something like CRC corrosion inhibitor, Fluid Film, WD40. I started with the one I found to be the best as far as longest lasting.

[postoak]

Don't corrosion inhibitor and contact cleaner do the opposite thing?  One leaves the metal with a protective coat on it and the other removes all oils and anything that might prevent current from running through the contact point of two pieces of metal?

Robert, how does this switch work?  Is current constantly flowing through it when in the run position or is it just the opposite and current only runs when in the kill position?

[Robert]

 Cleaners do clean and some do leave a very light coating, It really depends on the product and the application. But the inhibitor will clean to an extent and leave a film on the contact that will protect it. Technically I guess you could use one then the other but generally a cleaner/inhibitor such as wD40, Fluid Film, or CRC will do both and leave the surface with a residue that does not stop making contact yet stops corrosion.

If you put oil on your fingers, run them in dirt then water the oil will stay on your fingers and they will rinse off the dirt with the water, so the oil makes your finger self cleaning, the same as the cleaner/inhibitors. The oil on your finger actually acts as a glove protecting your skin. Not to mention the type of corrosion that is on low power copper contacts usually falls away with most oils as long as it isn't to bad. By not taking care of this situation quickly you risk the chance of melting the plastic that the contacts are mounted into since the power drawn across a bad contact gives off heat. As for the not making contact with inhibitors yes it could happen depending on the type you use, but for the most part the ones listed will NOT stop proper operation of the switch. Just like oil on your fingers will not stop skin to skin contact.

Dirty battery terminals are a similar situation, clean them with water the corrosion falls off as long as you have enough metal left run a wire brush through them and assemble then put a inhibitor on it. 

Generally our bikes are not the fine contacts of most electronic equipment and have to live with wet conditions, fine electronic relays and switches dont have to contend  with the same conditions as much. Our bikes also dont have big power going through them with special contact materials even like points on older cars. So the products listed above do a nice job since we are only talking 12v maybe 5v going through simple copper contacts.

Sorry a bit long, have some extra time on my hands.

As for the switch and what it does it takes 12v off fuse #7 its the same circuit that supplies the bank angle sensor, and a few others on the bike it controls power to the fuel injection relay and the starter switch. Its a constant on because in the off you found out what happens. There is not much power going through it and the wires look like 18 or 20 gauge, really small.

Just as a side thought our bikes dont pull that much power through any switch. The high current draw items are the fans, starter,ABS if you have it, and thats about it. Not like the 1500 or other bikes that the headlight alone can pull 10 to 15 amps constantly through a switch. Our bikes are all led which gave way to some pretty cheap switches and wiring.

[goldstar903]

CAIG DeoxIT is great! I use it in all my stereo components. This thread reminded me to use on the Valk. 

[turboyoshi]

For those of us who never use the kill switch, would it help to flip it on and off every now and then just to help keep corrosion out?

I don't know if it matters but just to add another data point, I always shut my bike off with the kill switch. We were taught this way in the MSF class and I never saw a reason not to do it, so, it's a habit now. And since I ride every day, maybe that's why I haven't had this issue yet. I just hope I'm not jinxing myself now...

[svsteve]

I'm with turboyoshi on this also. As an MSF Ridercoach the last 16 years, we've always taught to use the engine cutoff switch (we don't say kill switch) to shut off our bikes. Allows you to turn your bike off without removing your hands from the bars. The proper shut down procedure is shut down using engine cut off switch. Then when ready, turn your key off. Then shut your fuel valve off. THUMB ,KEY, VALVE. This is what we teach all new riders. Though the valve part is slowly going away with fuel injection. It becomes second nature after doing it a while.

[postoak]

Don't apologize for the long write-up, Robert.  It was informative and useful.

So you've got two contacts through which current is running all the time when the switch is in the run position and so if corrosion builds up between the two halves, the engine dies?  It does seem as if moving the switch to the off position and then back to the on position might help keep corrosion between the two contacts down.  OTOH, I can also see how using the switch regularly would wear the metal off the contacts eventually and ruin the switch.

As for always using the kill switch, I forget which Honda owner's manual I was reading but it specifically said *not* to do that -- so I haven't been since I read that.  But I am going to switch back to doing it.

[hubcapsc]

My kill switch is just a button for Hal to push when I'm not
looking...

-Mike

[Valkpilot]

The GL1800 Wing is full of switches that get flaky, usually sticking on or off at the worst possible times.

The 1500 Valk (Standard and Tourer) really just has three to worry about: the turn signal switch, the start switch, and the kill switch.  The IS has more, similar to the Wing.

Corrosion is one problem, especially if rarely operated.  Age-hardened grease applied at factory assembly is another.

Regularly exercising the switches helps, as does regular cleaning. Lots of the Wing folks clean and exercise their switches as part of their oil change routine.

I use a plastics-safe electronic contact cleaner, followed with DuPont Teflon spray.  (Note that the Teflon spray comes in two varieties, one dry and the other with a wax component.  You want the dry type.)