.
The Most
Dangerous
Situation I've Ever
Seen.
[Note: this article applied to 2000-2002
era motorcycles. There may be problems with later models,
but you should
check into it first before attempting this fix.]
.
The switch is mounted on the front left side of the battery box in this
horizontal position. It's easy to remove, and it can be opened up by
removing the 4 Phillips screws on the cover.
With the cover removed, it's easy to see how it works. The metal ring rides on the
"U" shaped rail... the ring is
insulated on the white plastic. This pic shows the "go"
position. If the bike is crashed the ring makes contact with either of the
side poles and shuts off the fuel injection to prevent a possible fire or
engine damage from overrev.
So what's the problem ???
The GSXR 750 Tip -
Over Switch
.
No Trick Photography...
I just gave it a little horizontal flick of the wrist just as I
took this shot.
Notice the pic isn't even blurry... it's so easy to trigger these
things !!
It's obvious that the curve of the "U" should be steeper.
Have you ever gotten into a "
headshake "
as a rear tire slide hooked up again ???
(Even if you're not a racer, it can happen on the
street too.)
That's all it takes to shut off the bike....
... and cause the riders behind to crash into the stalled bike and rider
at full throttle !!
This horrifying accident happened at
the exit of Daytona's turn 1
during the 2000 CCS Race of Champions when Scott "The Big Worm" Hermersmann's 2000 GSXR
unexpectedly shut
off after a near vertical rear tire slide / headshake.
The pack of riders behind took evasive action, but not everyone made it
past.
Scott Harwell and Brandon Bashore were transported to the hospital
with serious injuries.
Somehow, Hermersmann didn't crash, but needless to say he didn't want to
ride the bike
until we could figure out why it happened...
I went around the pits and asked 5 other GSXR
racers if they've ever had this problem. The quick survey revealed that 2
riders had the same thing happen to them on the '00 model,
while 2 others had it happen on '97 & '99's !!
(Some carbureted engines use this switch too)
2 of these 4 riders
said they never knew why
their bike shut off !
