Not sure what happened yet just quit at 110kmph

[Big Red]

Hello Everyone,

I haven't had a chance to check anything on the bike yet as i went on vacation the next day this happened.

So here it is.

got up and headed to work (normally 30-40 minute ride on the highway) bike had been sitting for 4 days. started up normally. warmed it up a bit. jumped on and took off taking it easy to start (warming up) takes 5 min to the highway. everything normal to this point. start pushing it to speed. (normal) hit cruise speed. (normal) 5km (2Miles) start losing power drop a gear to try and get the rpms back up nothing still dropping get down to 3rd clutch and it dies. slow down a bit more into 2nd pop the clutch out to jump start it. starts up but no power pull the clutch back in and it dies. coast to a stop and park. let it sit then try and nothing just continues to crank but nothing else.

Get it towed home and take car to work.

Get home that night straight to the bike check plugs all look good no black or anything on them. try the bike and get some pops like it is at least getting some firing. then it starts but only going to 2000rpm with choke (normal 3000) after 30 sec #2, 3 and 4 are heating up nothing on #1. then i see some smoke near #1 exhaust outlet. shut it down right away. and walked away. also the drain from the air-box had a little fuel dripping out.

I am just looking for places to start looking for troubles rather then just starting to rip stuff off?

I was thinking about checking valves (stuck open?)
Carbs (but not sure why they would have just stopped but worth the check-need to check float heights anyways)
by the smoke on #1 i think it is leaking oil in the cylinder which scares me.

I did notice the oil looked a little low also but no oil leaks under the bike.

IDEAS?

[Guest]

Hello Everyone,

I haven't had a chance to check anything on the bike yet as i went on vacation the next day this happened.

So here it is.

got up and headed to work (normally 30-40 minute ride on the highway) bike had been sitting for 4 days. started up normally. warmed it up a bit. jumped on and took off taking it easy to start (warming up) takes 5 min to the highway. everything normal to this point. start pushing it to speed. (normal) hit cruise speed. (normal) 5km (2Miles) start losing power drop a gear to try and get the rpms back up nothing still dropping get down to 3rd clutch and it dies. slow down a bit more into 2nd pop the clutch out to jump start it. starts up but no power pull the clutch back in and it dies. coast to a stop and park. let it sit then try and nothing just continues to crank but nothing else.

Get it towed home and take car to work.

Get home that night straight to the bike check plugs all look good no black or anything on them. try the bike and get some pops like it is at least getting some firing. then it starts but only going to 2000rpm with choke (normal 3000) after 30 sec #2, 3 and 4 are heating up nothing on #1. then i see some smoke near #1 exhaust outlet. shut it down right away. and walked away. also the drain from the air-box had a little fuel dripping out.

I am just looking for places to start looking for troubles rather then just starting to rip stuff off?

I was thinking about checking valves (stuck open?)
Carbs (but not sure why they would have just stopped but worth the check-need to check float heights anyways)
by the smoke on #1 i think it is leaking oil in the cylinder which scares me.

I did notice the oil looked a little low also but no oil leaks under the bike.

IDEAS?

Check the voltage at the battery
Make sure the spark plug boot to wire has a good connection
petcock?

[Big Red]

Quick check on it when I got home.

Started up normal ran for 30-40 sec then started to die. Then just before dying smoke out of #1. So I hit the kill switch.

So we have good spark
And fuel is flowing I can see it through the fuel filter. When it was running

[earlfor]

Sounds like a dead battery that has finally given up the ghost and shorted out internally.

[Big Red]

Ok so I had some time tonight started it again would not rev up. I found that oil is leaking out from 1&2 from the exhaust spark plugs are wet and black also noticed oil coming from the valve cover seal. So seems like something serious I hope to get the valve cover off tomorrow to see what us going on under there. Any advice 3&4 have no issues at plugs clean and no oil at all.

[Guest]

Ok so I had some time tonight started it again would not rev up. I found that oil is leaking out from 1&2 from the exhaust spark plugs are wet and black also noticed oil coming from the valve cover seal. So seems like something serious I hope to get the valve cover off tomorrow to see what us going on under there. Any advice 3&4 have no issues at plugs clean and no oil at all.

Its not oil, the petcock is leaking gas down the vacuum tap on the petcock and its washing out all the black stuff from the pipes. Had the same issue with my sons 850 and we were ready for full top end job. Change the petcock, change the oil because it now has gas in it, ride on

[Guest]

Its not oil, the petcock is leaking gas down the vacuum tap on the petcock and its washing out all the black stuff from the pipes. Had the same issue with my sons 850 and we were ready for full top end job. Change the petcock, change the oil because it now has gas in it, ride on

Bingo...............

[Big Red]

Ok that makes sense. the one thing i am concerned about is that if the oil was to have fuel in it would it not be showing at a higher level rather then a lower level. i went and checked before work this morning and found that the glass was not showing oil at all when on the centre stand. normally it shows full. and the the oil i see coming out is right at the cylinder where it connects with the exhaust so the oil is on the actual engine explaining the smoke when it gets heated up. I really hope it is just the petcock i will test tonight. thanks guys.

[Guest]

Are you sure the crankcase isn't completely full? That happened to a bike I bought, looked like no oil, but was full of gas oil mix. Ray

[Guest]

Are you sure the crankcase isn't completely full? That happened to a bike I bought, looked like no oil, but was full of gas oil mix. Ray

Ya what he said

[Big Red]

Ok so here is the really weird thing. I take the tank off test the petcock(works fine) nothing out ofte vacuum hose. Hmmmmm. So I try the bike. Fires up. And runs normal. A bit of smoke out of the pipes. But not much. So I shut it down before it runs out of gas. Hook the tank back up with king lines to where it is On The work bench. Runs normal no issues. Took for a short ride no issues lots of getup and go. Oil does not smell of gas. I have no clue what the issue was but plugs look good.

Vapor lock? To much built up vacuum?

[Guest]

Evil spirits
You scared them off

[Guest]

Ok so here is the really weird thing. I take the tank off test the petcock(works fine) nothing out ofte vacuum hose. Hmmmmm. So I try the bike. Fires up. And runs normal. A bit of smoke out of the pipes. But not much. So I shut it down before it runs out of gas. Hook the tank back up with king lines to where it is On The work bench. Runs normal no issues. Took for a short ride no issues lots of getup and go. Oil does not smell of gas. I have no clue what the issue was but plugs look good.

Vapor lock? To much built up vacuum?

The petcock won't be leaking until its on the bike and its pulling the petcock valve open with engine vacuum and thereby exposing the leak in the diaphragm of the petcock. This could be an intermittent problem with the petcock, suspect it could get worse. Either that or a plugged fuel filter somewhere...

What coming out of the tailpipe now? Any black oily type fluid or did that cease as well?

[Big Red]

I did test the petcock off the bike (hook up hoses and sucked OnThe vacuum hose) as for the oil leaking. It stopped as far as I can tell.

[Guest]

Sounds like the petcock snapped out of it. I would still replace it too make sure