[CZroe]

Originally Posted by sombo

You do realize that part of the MSF way of turning off the bike INCLUDES taking the key out right? They say to use the kill switch AND THEN turn the key off and take it out. Don't blame the MSF for your mistake. Leaving your key in the bike is just as bad as leaving the key in your car and with the same results. You didn't notice that all your lights were still glowing on the bike when you walked away? Be glad that only your battery went dead instead of it being stolen.

Of course I noticed, but you're assuming that it was undesirable in the situation. One of the times I simply left the key in while I was working on the bike (adding a 12v power socket) and it ran dead while I was busy crimping cables and routing through the fairings. Another time I was at work early and let the previous shift go to the bathroom even though I wasn't ready to go on-duty. I was going to go right back out to move it (reason why I left the key in) but an employee from the previous shift begged me to man the desk for a moment and let them run to the restroom. They forgot to come back and let me go move it/retrieve the key, so I couldn't leave the security desk for over 4.5 hours. At least I had a camera pointed right at it and could call another guard if needed. The time it ran completely dead it was in my garage/accessory building... I warmed it up then remembered something I needed to bring with me to my brother's apartment. I needed a few minutes to find it so I shut the bike off and stepped into the accessory building. I discovered that it was too much trouble to bring on my bike, so I took the car instead. The bike was in the back of the building, thus, out of sight, out of mind and t Oops. The lights were normal/expected when I walked away but by the time I was ready to go I assumed that I had the keys and the lights could not be seen by anyone (I have a different set for the car that has a detachable spare bike key).

Yes, I'll admit, I have left the key in the bike in public a couple times but I always realized that early... usually before I've reached the sidewalk and still within eye/earshot (no farther than you might wander during warm-up)!

Anyway, I'm not blaming the MSF BRC procedure... I'm just saying that Kawi says to use the ignition key for shut-down for that very reason and the MSF says to use the kill-switch for another reason. Yes, I literally asked why the Kawi manual says to use the ignition and the course says to use the switch and this was the only answer that anyone could come up with: To habitually remove the key during shut-down vs. the MSF's priorities of having you accustomed to the kill-switch for an emergency. I'm plenty accustomed to it by now, so I'll switch for the sake of "best practices." I am pretty absent-minded when it comes to those things, though, luckily, I've never done it in a place where my bike was at risk without catching it early. Coming close as often as I have is enough to convince me to switch practices.

OH! And, FWIW, at no point in the H-D R'sE MSF BRC I took were we allowed to remove the key. The "I" in FINE-C and EIC meant to turn it on or off with the ignition key and that was it, though strictly following it in the real-world would mean taking it out during EIC. The difference is that if you always remove it in the same step when turning the bike off it's almost impossible to walk away without your key (the bike will be running). With the kill-switch, you might get caught up with something else... like repositioning the bike, removing your helmet, gloves, gadgets, etc. and think that you have completed EIC because the bike's engine is already shut off.