Brain Fart.. You ain't gonna believe this..

[Patrick]

Parked the bike in front of the diner and went in to sit with the 'coffee clutch' like every other morning.. Watched the normal commotion going on around the bike.. Came out, climbed on, no start.. Lights worked, wouldn't turn over, lights wouldn't dim, nothing.. Screwed around with shift lever, clutch lever, kick stand, still nothing.. Tried push starting it 3 times,, I'm too old and fat to be pushing a Valk,,  nothing .. So, I start pushing it to a friends truck repair shop around the corner.. Pushing a Valk a 1/2 mile around the corner is about a 1/2 mile too far to be pushing a Valk so I stop just short of a massive coronary and sit next to the curb trying to catch my breath without sounding like an old steam engine when another friend with an auto repair shop that I happen to be sitting in front of sees me and helps push it into his shop.. So we stand there while he talks, I still can't, and I turn around to look back at the rear of the bike and a little glimpse of orange catches my eye.. There is about 1/16" of orange showing along the end of that funny little switch in the switch/throttle housing.. I give a little nudge to get that switch end flush with the housing, hit the starter button, and away it goes !! I've never accidentally hit that switch before and I didn't notice it when I should have or I'd have saved myself a lot of needless physical exertion.. It took a few extra beers during the mid-morning snack to get over that one..

[Black Dog]

   It's a big club!  Welcome 

Black Dog

[roboto65]

Got that T-SHIRT 

[Cliff]

Yea, I've got teeth mark scars from that one too.

[R J]

I've had people when looking at the bike push that button to see what it does & leave it...........

[roboto65]

I've had people when looking at the bike push that button to see what it does & leave it

And so called Friends as a PRANK!!   

[hubcapsc]

I am the KING.

I only thought about that stupid button that I never use on the way home in the tow truck...

-Mike "now I think about it night and day  "

[Larry]

When I first stated riding someone would push the switch for me from time to time. I think it was some sort of new rider initiation. At times I used to use it to turn off the bike when I stop and would forget to switch it back, DUHHH! Ya, where can a person get one of those tee shirts! At least with yours it was just barely off and obviously not obvious. 

[bassman]

I might be a "contender" here.....while cruising along a freeway on our way to Paducah for an Inzane, I was futzing with my new CamLok throttle lock.  Well, for some reason I went to flip it off and "accidently" hit the kill switch at the same time without realizing it.  Bike stopped running and I came to a cruising stop along the Ohio freeway.   To make a long stroy shorter, after checking fuel, several wiring connections to include any latest additions to the bike, pulling side covers to check there for anything, tried starting in gear, out of gear, kickstand up, kickstand down and checked ALL kinds of things EXCEPT the kill switch.  Even one of Ohio's finest pulled up behind me and offered assistance.  Then for some odd reason I glanced over at the Kill Switch and thought "Uh-oh!!!  Flipped it in the other direction and she fired right up......needless to say this has been a wonderful story that my riding companions that day are never shy of reminding me of - AND I DESERVED IT !!  LOL ! It's always good for laugh or giggle.....welcome to "my world".....

[Doc809]

This thread is great!!! I thought I was the only one.

[Skinhead]

Happened to me on the Misguided's Lumberman's Monument ride about 3 weeks ago.  I NEVER use that switch, I think a "friend" helped me out.  I had 2 people pushing me to try and start in gear.  I'll bet next time it'll be the 10th or 20th thing I check,

[Motorider]

Happened to me a few months ago, my wife hung her helmet on the mirror when we stopped for lunch. After we ate, we put on our helmets, and got on the Valk. I hit the starter and there was nothing. Two hundred miles from home in the middle of almost nowhere. I have been riding for 42 years and the kill switch was my first thought. Sure enough that was the problem.

[sandy]

Just like a Georgia school girl on prom night. "I ain't never done this before". Just about all of us can relate.

[DavRed]

Going through some twisties one day and I reached out to wave at another rider coming the other way. When I entered the next corner I realized I might need 2 hands on the bars for a little more control. You guessed it. Hit that switch and ended up going through a couple more corners downhill trying to get the thing to fired up. Was almost at a stop when I checked that switch. Fired right up. Been there done that...

[Willow]

I'm there.  I won't tell you it's happened at least three times. 

I didn't push it a half mile, though.  You may be special with that.  Well, except for Mike in the tow truck.   

[Rocketman]

For those of us who prefer to accidentally hit it while rolling down the freeway:
Be ready when you switch it back.  If you didn't pull the clutch in first, that bang you heard was not a New Yorker expressing his displeasure at you slowing down.  If you did pull the clutch in, well, duck.

[hubcapsc]

I'm there.  I won't tell you it's happened at least three times. 

I didn't push it a half mile, though.  You may be special with that.  Well, except for Mike in the tow truck.   

I swear, something must have knocked it while I was doing maintenance before the ride... 

It was rocked to the middle, half on, half off... I was just driving down the road and the bike turned off!!
I can't even get it to stay halfway now if I try...

Maybe I can edit my way out of this... your bike is dirty and you have wide chicken strips!!!

-Mike

[Printer Mike]

I hate it when that happens!
OO

[Puffs Daddy]

A variant on the thread. Went out to ride the Valk for the first time in a month a couple of months ago. Wouldn't start. Figured my habitual battery neglect had caught up with me. Put the charger on and waited a couple of hours for the little light to turn green. Still no luck. Obviously she was trying to turn over but couldn't quite make it. My garage is at the base of my 45 degree uphill driveway. I was NOT looking forward to pushing her up that driveway. Gathered a couple of neighbors and we finally got her to to the street where a bump start was possible.

It was then that I noticed I had a 130 miles on the trip meter. Hmmm... flipped to reserve. Vroom....

[sugerbear]

well..............along THAT path, mine sat on the carport for over a month while i looked at everything i could think of. i worked noon till 800pm so didn't have a lot of time to spend each day.
finally checked, yep outa gas. switch to reserve and fired right off.
riding buddy still ask if i have gas before every trip!!

OH, and i've NEVER forgotten the kill switch..

[vanagon40]

I received an S65 for my13th birthday.  I had to split the engine in half at least twice to replace transmission gears.  I had two additional bikes I had purchased for spare parts.

In any event, when I was 18 or 19, did some engine work and the bike would not start.  No spark.  I rolled the bike over the hill and pushed it back up the hill more times than I could count (the battery had been dead for years, and the kick starter had been removed for better footpegs).  Replaced all the electrical components I could find with replacements from the parts bikes, with no success.  Finally, in exasperation, I took the bike to a repair shop.

A couple of days later while at work, I happened to look at the key ring in my pocket and noticed a motorcycle key.  I had been trying to start the bike for a week with no key in the ignition.  Stopped at the shop on the way home (the shop had not had a chance to look at the bike yet) and it started right up.

DOH!

[Duey]

http://www.rattlebars.com/valkfaq/circuits.html


With a clutch lever switch and a kickstand switch why have the silly kill switch anyway??????
Besides, the more lights the better seen!!!!!! Boys won't ride in front of me at night cause they claim it's like the sun is directly behind them!!    Which means I usually lead... And try to avoid the bambies!!!!!

[FLAVALK]

Welcome to the club! I almost killed myself trying to pull start an outboard motor once before I realized the tether was missing from the kill switch 

[John Schmidt]

Welcome to the club! I almost killed myself trying to pull start an outboard motor once before I realized the tether was missing from the kill switch 

Yup, did the same thing with my chain saw. Until I noticed the little lever that connects the ignition had somehow moved about halfway back toward "off." I yanked on that rope for a good 45 min. before I caught it. So far I haven't been able to find a dress shirt with a 33" sleeve on the left and a 35" on the right. 

As for the kill switch episode, that is probably the largest bike club in the world, crossing all makes and models....and I also am a member going back many years. Still catch it about once a year, usually from just bumping it because I never use it.

[fudgie]

This morning I went to fire up the Valk to go home. I noticed I left my non vac pingel on. So I just taped the starter. It let out a back fire pop and I about died!  I thought it was a hydrolock! Whew!