# Help-Old Motobecane Moped Won't Shut Off!

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-old-motobecane-moped-wont-shut-off/580863
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [May 5, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-old-motobecane-moped-wont-shut-off/580863 "2011-05-05T18:41:14Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-old-motobecane-moped-wont-shut-off/580863/1 "2011-05-05T18:41:14Z")

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Is there anyway I can rig a “kill switch” to sht the damn thing off? Its a magneto type ignition system, so no primary circuit. Any idea how to do this?

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### Author: ![RalfCoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@RalfCoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RalfCoder)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-old-motobecane-moped-wont-shut-off/580863/2 "2011-05-05T18:51:26Z")

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Can you stall it out by leaving it in gear and braking to a stop?

If you can cover the carburetor air intake with your hand, you can starve it for air and stop it. You might end up with an interesting hickey on your hand, though.

If you have a choke, you can essentially do the same thing - just pull or push the control until you have full choke on. That usually stops most engines.

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### Author: ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-old-motobecane-moped-wont-shut-off/580863/3 "2011-05-05T18:53:44Z")

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You can kill it by grounding the spark plug wire; that way there’s no spark across the spark plug. I’ve seen old lawn mowers that did that, with a mechanical flip-lever that made contact between the top end of the spark plug and the engine block.

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### Author: ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)
#### Post date: [May 7, 2011, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-old-motobecane-moped-wont-shut-off/580863/4 "2011-05-07T04:18:00Z")

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> [@Machine\_Elf](#):
>
> You can kill it by grounding the spark plug wire; that way there’s no spark across the spark plug. I’ve seen old lawn mowers that did that, with a mechanical flip-lever that made contact between the top end of the spark plug and the engine block.

Seconded. A million ways to accomplish this.