KDXRIDER.NET

This is not a knock on the Dyna-ring. Yesterday at a Hare Scramble race my throttle on my bike stuck wide open. It scared the s**t out of me. I came out of a turn in 3rd gear shifted into 4th and just as the bike came on the pipe the throttle stuck. The bike took off like a rocket, I just missed a tree. As my mind raced, I pulled in the clutch lever but because of the high RPM's it wouldn't disengage. As I was hurdling towards a turn and some more trees, at what felt like warp speed, I thought about jumping off. As a last resort I clamped down as hard as I could on both brakes, luckily the bike slowed, but not the engine. It was stlll running WFO. The clutch was now slipping, trying to adjust for the lack of speed. When I took my hand off the front brake to hit the kill switch, the bike surged forward. On the second try the kill switch worked. I don't know if the throttle cable got hooked on the bar clamps, or what caused it. It took me a minute or two to regain my compsure and continue. If it ever happens to anyone else, I would suggest shifting into the highest gear as quickly as you can and grabbibg the brakes. If your lucky the clutch will slip and as you slow down the clutch will slip more and more, Then you can kill it. If it happens in sixth gear, your "ass is grass" Just something to think about for all you Dyna-Ring advocates.

Why not just hold the kill switch from the get go?

i had that happen to me on my old '89 running through some sand dunes, It scared the poop out of me too. I did just mash the kill switch and the old girl bogged right down

a buddy of mine had his slide break, lodging the slide wot. we was on a trail, so he did a little logging with his bike because his kill swith wasnt hooked up. i didnt know what in the heak he was doing. all i know was, we was riding, and he did a wheelie.............keep doing a wheelie........right down into the pine trees .............and the bad thing is.....i just turned my gopro off about 2min before this happend!

I know a guy that had that happen once and he ended up breaking his shoulder so he went so far as to install one of those jet-ski type kill buttons that also have the tether you can attach that will kill it if you bail.

Slick_Nick wrote:I know a guy that had that happen once and he ended up breaking his shoulder so he went so far as to install one of those jet-ski type kill buttons that also have the tether you can attach that will kill it if you bail.

That's a hell of an idea! My neighbor put on detent style kill switch on his son's honda, I liked that as if you had a issue like that you just have to hit it once and hold on as normal as the bike dies.

It all happened so fast! My entire ordeal lasted about a total of three seconds. You try hitting the kill switch while trying to navigate though trees while holding on for dear life in a near wheelie. I couldn't take my hands off of the handlebars, and I couldn't look down to find the kill switch. I wasn't even sure hitting the kill swich would work, Have you ever seen a run away 2 stroke? It will continue running full speed even with the spark plug wire removed. My last resort was jumping, I almost did, but was certain I would be injured. I flew off my bike last year in a Hare Scramble, and hit a small tree, and broke a rib. I was hoping not to have a repeat

Your kill switch should be positioned where you can hit it with your thumb and still hold on to the bars. It should be totally natural to reach it. Runaway 2T's. That is normally due to a lean condition causing the plug to get so hot that you get pre-ignition and it keeps firing the mix even with the kill switch engaged. That wasn't your problem so the kill switch would have worked. Grabbing the clutch lever should have overridden the DynaRing. It sounds like your needs to be adjusted.

I know it easy to sit here and armchair quarterback but I have been through it myself before. The slide on my KDX would stick frequently before I worked on it. You just got to not panic and do what you know to do, grab the clutch, hit the brakes, and hold that kill switch.

agreed, it must be scary when it happens

My kill switch is about 2 inches from my grip. I'm going to move it. I'm also going to check my throttle cable routing. I might just get a new cable also.

Don't forget to adjust that DynaRing!