BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

This weekend I was riding and got caught in a rain storm.  Switched from Road to Rain mode just to be safe, while moving, and realized how close my fat thumb was to the kill switch, especially with my winter gloves on.  If I were to hit the switch, I'm wondering if the rear wheel actually locks up, or does the bike only dramatically slow down due to engine braking?  Ever done it?

Never done it. Shouldn't it just feel like a (suddenly) shut throttle ?
Any test pilots willing to experiment ?

Had this happen on a few occasions. Nothing dramatic to report. It's the same effect as running out of fuel as in when your fuel level gizmo fails, fooling you into thinking you still have half a tank left. Or the other well known case like when the Fuel Pump Controller quits and the engine just stops. My latest experience was last October when, after leaving home in the dark early hours on my way to Provence I was fumbling to find the seat heat button (can't see the switch cluster in the dark and my still half asleep brain was giving me a mental picture of the flick up and down switch as on our previous Hexhead !!) I inadvertently operated the Kill Switch. (like Timminator says, Fat Thumb, Winter Gloves Syndrome). To put it more simply it's just like snapping the throttle shut.
R1200RT Twincam

Thanks gents.  The riders manual makes it sound a bit more dire than perhaps it really is:


"Operation of the emergency ON/OFF switch when riding. Danger of falling due to blocking of rear wheel. Do not operate the emergency ON/OFF switch when riding."

I don't intend to test it anytime soon, but it doesn't make sense that the wheel would lock due to the engine losing power.  I suppose you could always pull the clutch too, if you have time to react.

Just to add a bit more detail of my own experience of inadvertently operating the Kill Switch whilst riding. Although I was riding in the dark ( out of town, no street lighting) I was on a straight stretch of a road I do know very well at about 70 mph. When the switch was flicked "everything" including lights is switched "off" so there I was, clutch pulled in wondering just what had happened, trying to see the road and a safe place to pull in. When I did eventually come to a stop the first thing I thought was Fuel Pump Controller failure as the symptoms where the same as on a previous occasion. However, then I remembered that everything was fine until I fumbled in the dark for the seat heat switch. (Illuminated switches BMW ?, although no, we do have enough switch failures as it is !!). It was only when I found my torch and was checking around the bike I noticed that the Kill Switch was in the "kill" position. The design of the Hexhead switch is better IMO and would not have been so easy to inadvertently operate.

By the way ..if I read this right...with BMW's hopper clutch design this will eliminate any rear wheel lock up.

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Our Gee wrote: Just to add a bit more detail of my own experience of inadvertently operating the Kill Switch whilst riding. Although I was riding in the dark ( out of town, no street lighting) I was on a straight stretch of a road I do know very well at about 70 mph. When the switch was flicked "everything" including lights is switched "off" so there I was, clutch pulled in wondering just what had happened, trying to see the road and a safe place to pull in. When I did eventually come to a stop the first thing I thought was Fuel Pump Controller failure as the symptoms where the same as on a previous occasion. However, then I remembered that everything was fine until I fumbled in the dark for the seat heat switch. (Illuminated switches BMW ?, although no, we do have enough switch failures as it is !!). It was only when I found my torch and was checking around the bike I noticed that the Kill Switch was in the "kill" position. The design of the Hexhead switch is better IMO and would not have been so easy to inadvertently operate.

That sounds like a very unpleasant experience!  From what I read, if you do kill it you should simply pull the clutch, flip the switch back on, and release the clutch while still in gear, the engine should fire right back up.  I think I would probably just come to a full stop on the shoulder and then restart the engine normally.  No chance of being in the wrong gear when you pop the clutch and have the bike lurch on you.

Blueboy wrote: By the way ..if I read this right...with BMW's hopper clutch design this will eliminate any rear wheel lock up.

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More reason for me to question why the riders manual warns of wheel blocking.  I think a lot would depend on your speed and what gear you are in whilst you hit the switch.

If the ignition was still 'on' would the ABS take care of it?  Or would that be off too?

Sprintgull wrote: If the ignition was still 'on' would the ABS take care of it?  Or would that be off too?

Don't think do.  I have known people try to bump start RTs.  Ignition on , in second, good old push.  Result back wheel just stopped dead when you drop the clutch.

I'm a bit confused (not an unusual event :-[)
I can just about see why a slipper clutch might help if the engine dies suddenly while tramping down the road (but surely only if you're at high revs / in a low gear ?). But why would ABS come in to play ? Surely that would only be an issue if your reaction to the engine dying was to jump on the brakes, and then the issue would be "does the ABS still function ?" - I wasn't aware the lights would die if the kill switch was operated, so can we get confirmation that the ABS will still work if the brakes are applied ?
I'm also struggling with the relevance of bump starting the bike - the RT is a large capacity, high compression twin and will therefore be more difficult to start than a smaller capacity, lower compression four cylinder bike. It will also give more effective engine braking on the move, but it won't lock the back wheel at 70mph in top gear no matter how quickly you shut the throttle, so my greatest concern from this thread is the revelation that the lights go out (and maybe the ABS too ?) if the kill switch is operated. If my engine died in the outside lane of a motorway, my instinct might be to switch on the hazard warning lights - do they still work ?
There probably are circumstances where there is a "danger of blocking (sic) the rear wheel", but if systems such as lighting or ABS are to disappear then that would be more worthy of a warning in the rider's handbook - in my humble opinion.

I think I owe everyone an apology. Been thinking a lot about just what did happen when I inadvertently hit the Kill Switch on that early morning last October. So this morning I simulated the event by switching the switch with the engine running and guess what, the lights stayed on. When it did happen for real in the dark I was convinced that everything had shut down, but as this morning's experiment shows, maybe it didn't and it was the unexpected shock of the engine stopping and the near panic of getting pulled into a safe place led me to believe all had shut down. Sorry if any alarm has been caused !!.

Our Gee wrote: I think I owe everyone an apology. Been thinking a lot about just what did happen when I inadvertently hit the Kill Switch on that early morning last October. So this morning I simulated the event by switching the switch with the engine running and guess what, the lights stayed on. When it did happen for real in the dark I was convinced that everything had shut down, but as this morning's experiment shows, maybe it didn't and it was the unexpected shock of the engine stopping and the near panic of getting pulled into a safe place led me to believe led me to believe all had shut down. Sorry if any alarm has been caused !!.

Thanks for the update.  I'm sure you were in panic mode at the time!

Our Gee wrote: I think I owe everyone an apology. Been thinking a lot about just what did happen when I inadvertently hit the Kill Switch on that early morning last October. So this morning I simulated the event by switching the switch with the engine running and guess what, the lights stayed on. When it did happen for real in the dark I was convinced that everything had shut down, but as this morning's experiment shows, maybe it didn't and it was the unexpected shock of the engine stopping and the near panic of getting pulled into a safe place led me to believe led me to believe all had shut down. Sorry if any alarm has been caused !!.

No harm done, but thanks for the clarification !
I didn't get around to plucking up the courage to try a "live" experiment, but I did start the bike in the garage then hit the kill switch - the lights stayed on on my 2017MY, so I was wondering how you managed to lose lights.
Thanks again for the update.

Haven't you heard the Repsol Honda replica type racers make their machines backfire using the kill switch?


Don't know what it does to the engines but it certainly doesn't hurt the riders judging by how often they do it!


:))