Hi

I heard my first run away yesterday and I think any biker would cringe hearing a 2t reving its t!ts off. I was surprised how long it ran for at WOT without the conrod poking its head out to say hello (probably close to 10 seconds).

I spoke to the guy afterwards and he said the throttle cable sleeve got hung up. He came off and the bike was in gear and did a dance arround before he was able to yank the throttle cable out of the throttle housing.

Im not sure but I dont think many noobs know about this throttle design which allows this to happen. I think it should be one of the first things taught to new trials riders to prevent the big bang theory from happening.

Its simple: if your throttle gets jammed/stuck and you cant for some reason hit the kill switch......grab the throttle cable close to the twist grip and yank it upwards hard. This wont work if your slide is stuck. Then other means are necessary.

Ive read about the gloved hand over the pipe but how effective is it? My evo starts with a cork in the pipe when I forget to take it out so just curious to know what else works......if the slide jams up and you cant get to the kill switch or the engine is already dieseling and the kill switch wont work.

Any experiences or tips/tricks? Yes I know about magnetic kill switches but some dont have them or choose not to use them.

Thanks guys.

Stand on the rear brake without pulling the clutch in.

That sounds like a good one but if its on its side with the rear spinning at full rpm will you get enough force on the rear brake to stall it?

No guarantees for any solution but it has worked in the past if the bike is more vertical.

Always pays to have more than one option at your disposal.

Many years ago I saw Sam Conner have a nasty accident and his bike was pinging from one rock to another due a stuck throttle. It took quite a while for the people around to get control of the bike, it was was quite frightening really, as much worse could of happened.

So although I do use a lanyard kill switch now, this thread is great, as it's educating all those that don't know the techniques to deal with a runaway engine. Thanks Mokwepa, for bring the subject up.

Edited May 19, 201412 yr by shedracer

Pleasure.

I just want to know what to do if it happens to me.

How about a nylon strap onto the plug lead as a backup to a kill switch? A strap you could grab and yank the plug lead of? (Still wouldnt stop a dieseling engine though).

Ya you want to be carefull around a plug cap when you are pulling it off

It's gonna really want to find ground and you don't want to be it

Felt that first hand and its not fun at all.

if you can manage it, turning the bike upside down stops the motor instantly. I have saved two motors this way

Also I suggest you try out the exhaust blocking technique with a runaway engine, rather that testing it out by seeing if your motor can start from cold with a bung in. It actually works very well in real life. I have also saved motors this way and you don't actually need a glove or a rag. If you can seal off the exhaust fully with your bare hand it is not unbearably hot to perform, unless the bike has been ridden at high speed just prior to the incident.

If nothing else is possible/safe, turn the fuel off (this is not very quick acting, but it may stop before seizing)

Something that did not work for me in one incident was using the use the rear brake (it just overheated the brake disc)

I've had so many of those episodes (stopping peoples runaway trials engines), that I have become an advocate for using lanyard switches

Would turning the fuel off not make the bike run weak as the fuel ran low, and therefore increase the risk of seizeing a racing engine... that would definately stop it.

After this thread one would think the stocks of lanyard kill switches would be running low, Hmmmm probably not, there's folks that still drink and drive after getting pinged

Cheers Taff

Would turning the fuel off not make the bike run weak as the fuel ran low, and therefore increase the risk of seizeing a racing engine... that would definately stop it.

correct, it will make it run lean (even hotter) before stopping. That's why I said it doesn't always stop the motor in time to prevent it seizing - but if you do nothing it will definitely seize

lanyard it is then.

This method works as a 315R ran full tilt n just slipped clutch in gear with brake on, kill button did nothing so in vain pulled spark plug cap off ouch! still ran on.

Firstly pull on throttle cable n hope it frees off, failing that lay the bike on its side n put the choke on this floods n cool the motor n slows it down and turn fuel off and it will stop. As said dont turn fuel off whilst running full tilt big risk to seizing.

Edited May 20, 201412 yr by smalley250

I had a problem with a 315R reving uncontrolably, cure was to fit a longer throttle cable from a sherco if I recall...