Kick stand pilot light

by Ron Goldwyn
(Milford CT USA)

I have a tendency to take off on my scooter with the kick stand still in the down position. At times this can be dangerous, so I rigged up a simple LED 12v Pilot light near my starter button and a mercury switch attached with a hose clamp around the leg of the kick stand.

With the key switch in the on position and the scooter with the kick stand down the pilot light is lit, but when I kick the stand up to its normal horizontal position the mercury in the switch moves to the other end of the vial and the contact is broken then the LED goes out.

I have not had one instance since I installed this modification of taking off with the stand down. All parts can be obtained at your nearby Radio Shack.

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Kick stand pilot light

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Oct 08, 2009

Kill
by: Ron Goldwyn

Bob,I never use the kill switch either, because I'm in the habit of removing my keys from the ignition switch be it in a car or scooter (I have a trike electric scooter also)
I sent Kathi quite a few photos of all my projects so it may take time to mate my photos with the project.
Since my scooter says no passengers,my next project is to build a backrest for the driver that can swing out of the way to gain access to the underseat storage area.

Oct 07, 2009

Kick stand pilot light
by: Bob

Hi Ron, When I bought my scooter the store owner suggested that I should never use the kill switch, but use the key for shut down. I'm glad that he did. It is too easy to kill the engine out of habit. I do sometimes use the kickstand to shut down. When I want to keep it running I put it on the center stand. I also bought a battery trickle charger. Haven't used it yet. Store qwner has a 10 yr old battery that he keeps charged this way. Looking fwd to seeing your set-up.

Oct 03, 2009

Responding to Bob
by: Ron Goldwyn

Dear Bob,
I sent Kathi pictures of my installation including one of the kick-sand and one of the LED. In the LED photo I show the starter switch below the LED and the manual kill switch above the LED. My scooter is a TOMOS Nitro 50 but there is also a similar looking Nitro 150 as the only difference is the engine powering it.
The idea of an auto kill switch has a mixed blessing because there are times when i leave the scooter running so that I don't drain the battery since all the lights are on as soon as the ignition switch is in the on position. I sometimes panic when the scooter doesn't start and I finally realize that the kill switch was accidentially thrown. But every pilot light added to the scooter adds to its cost, so they don't add them

Oct 02, 2009

Kickstand Pilot Light
by: Artist Bob

Hi,
I find this very interesting. Putting the side kickstand into the down position on my scooter and on my previously owned motorcycle triggers an engine kill switch, shutting off the engine. The scooter and motorcycle could not be started with the kickstand in the down position. I'm curious about which scooter you own and why it is different from what I believed to be the norm.
I'm a little envious of your mechanical abilities. The warning light is a great idea. I could use something like that to remind me that my wheel lock is still on. I just have an SF Giants Travel bag tag over my starter button. Thanks for the tip.

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Kick stand pilot light