Kill Switch in motorbikes

Kill switch is a safety device found in most of the modern day motorbikes. It is also known as 'Engine cut-off switch'. The purpose of a kill switch is to simply switch off the engine by cutting off the engine ignition. When you insert the key in the ignition switch, the current from the ignition switch is fed to the kill switch and then passed to the fuel pump relays and engine control relay.The engine's ignition will be turned ON only when the circuit is complete.



Kill switch was mainly introduced for emergency situations such as sudden accidents when the biker cannot reach for the ignition key to turn off the engine. It is of prime importance to turn OFF engines in such emergency situations to prevent any bigger danger such as fire accidents.

Kill switch can also be used when a bike is stationary. It is always recommended to turn ON the kill switch when a vehicle is parked. However, turning ON the kill switch won't turn off the electric supply to other electrical equipments such as horns, headlights, turn indicators, etc. Therefore, it has to be ensured that the ignition switch is also switched OFF after turning OFF the engine to prevent the battery from draining.