farmerj Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 Well, today I was glad to get my '01 txt 321 running again after an electrical problem. It was an easy fix - the plug had gone bad. As the bike was idling, I was working on plugging the kill switch wires back together, which I had taken apart during troubleshooting. I must have inadvertently put pressure on the throttle cable in the process, because all of a sudden the bike raced to Wide Open Throttle - and stuck there . There it sat - the engine spinning at whatever maximum rpms it's torquey little self could muster. I couldn't use the kill switch to stop it - the switch was still disconnected. I thought about putting it in gear and popping the clutch - as if popping the clutch at WOT would do anything but send the bike straight up into the air and down onto my head - while my two year old son stood watching 5 feet away. As I feverishly worked on getting the kill switch connection made - the bike just DIED . It had been running at WOT for about 10 seconds. What happened? 1. Did I seize the engine? 2. Did my fooling with kill switch wires somehow stop the thing (I never had pressed the switch). 3. An act of God? I let the bike cool for 5 minutes and went to kick the engine over. I expected the piston to be frozen in position. It was not . The bike started on the second kick, and I rode it for 1/2 hour, with no seeming ill effect. What harm did I do? Will the bike's performance suffer? Do I need to pull off the top end for inspection? Thanks, Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfoot Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 10 seconds at WOT shouldn't have done any harm. If you have the head off for any other reason have a look at he barrel for signs of a nip up such as scoring or feelable (not a real word I'm sure) markings. I don't know why it stopped but you're luck it did after only 10 seconds. Your feverish work on the kill switch was useless BTW as you can't kill an engine on WOT with the kill switch it just doesn't work. If it were to happen again I'd shut off the fuel pull on the choke (this uses up the fuel quicker and richens the engine at the same time) and if possible try and stall it with a high gear and lots of rear brake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toofasttim Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 (edited) or turn the bike upsde down. I wouldn't recommend this. Turning the bike upside down leads to fuel starvation which at WFO might lead to a blown big-end. Edited June 3, 2005 by TooFastTim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjwhite Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 i'm not sure about what experiences you guys have had with bikes flat out for 10 secs but i have seen a piston come through the barrel after less that five secs full throttle. if i were you farmerj then i would get it apart before next riding it just to make sure, there is no point in taking chances with however many hundreds of pounds it would be to fix should it all go horribly wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmerj Posted June 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 Great tips and input, guys. I am appreciative! Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
125 crew ! Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 When my bike get's stuck on full blow i just put it in top gear put my foot on the back brake and stall it out.Or turn the petrol off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toofasttim Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 When my bike get's stuck on full blow i just put it in top gear put my foot on the back brake and stall it out.Or turn the petrol off. Top gear, foot on rear brake - OK, turn off fuel not OK. See previous post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luke Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 Just take plug cap off, if u have gloves on theres no prob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ossagripper250 Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 good point luke, i was wondering why noone had asked why the plug cap wasnt just pulled off.failing that, i agree with the stalling, and what was said about fuel starvation.i got a throttle jam at max revs on an ossa gripper 350 the other week, but luckily it sorted its self out after i rolled the throttle a few times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toofasttim Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 Not neccessarily a good idea. Electronic ignitions don't like that much. Besides without gloves it hurts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kehin Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 I'd quickly undo the side plate & stop the engine with my bare hands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pandelboy Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 Not everyone has got big mits like you though Mick!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtt Posted June 4, 2005 Report Share Posted June 4, 2005 Not neccessarily a good idea. Electronic ignitions don't like that much. Besides without gloves it hurts! Even with gloves, if they are slightly wet you can give yourself a dangerous jolt, let alone risking serious damage to the ignition. Besides in some of these "runaway" cases, the bike is dieseling anyways (plug tip so hot it's autoigniting) and removing the cap won't stop it anyways, same as when the kill button won't work. If you were real fast you could remove the plug itselt As HondaRS said, the Domino throttle have a release feature that if you pull the cable straight up, and off it goes slack without breaking anything. If that doesn't work, I'll usually jam a rag or gloved hand over the exhaust...that kills it everytime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toofasttim Posted June 4, 2005 Report Share Posted June 4, 2005 I once read an article by Kevin Cameron, formally of Cycle now of Cycle Guide who described 2S runaways and he said that it's neither dieselling nor a hot spark plug tip that causes it but the presence of free-radicals in the charge. Basically these free-radicals are chemically so re-active that they ignite everything in sight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtt Posted June 4, 2005 Report Share Posted June 4, 2005 Tim, interesting stuff . KC is always interesting reading and always enlightening for sure. Bottom line about these runaways is "it don't require the ignition" so kill switches, plug wires, plug caps and such are not gonna kill that engine. You might just as well try kehin's method Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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