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First ride problems

  • Thread starter Thread starter maddoggmike
  • Start date Start date
M

maddoggmike

Guest
okay so yesterday was kinda nice enough to take the bike out but i starteed having problems. In the middle of the ride the bike stalled, i thought the clutch cable might need placing so no big deal. Then it wouldnt start. So here is what i did maybe some vets can help me i am a noob

Over the winter i been working on the bike so i need gas so i went to the gas startion with a 1 gallon gas tank filled the bike up started it and let it run for a bit no problem. I went around the blocks for a bit then it stalled. It took a minute but it finally started again.. went for about ten minutes stalled again.. took a little longer but finnaly started. Then about 15 minutes later done. but after sitting for few minutes started no problem


the engine just seems like it wont stay above stalling level
 
I has a similar problem last fall. Battery was too week to keep it going. I charged the battery overnight and it ran fine. Good luck.
PS I plan on replacing my battery this spring.
 
Along with having a decently charged battery, fuel has to make it to carbs consistently. Check that petcock is working as designed- I check mine first time out, in case it didn't like winter.
 
Soooooo, you've cleaned and rebuilt the carbs, adjusted your valve clearances, sealed any intake leaks at the airbox and carb boots, and checked your petcock for proper function and are still having issues?
 
TheCafeKid said:
Soooooo, you've cleaned and rebuilt the carbs, adjusted your valve clearances, sealed any intake leaks at the airbox and carb boots, and checked your petcock for proper function and are still having issues?
Click to expand...

Are you insinuating that the poster has hit all the listed Newbie mistakes?

I would suggest that you're running out of gas. Are you on Reserve?
 
I'm gonna throw a monkey wrench in here because I am in a mood.
I suspect an electric/electronic heat issue. The first thing I would examine is the igniter. I think one of the power transistors is overheating. It will be fine when cool, but when it gets at a certain temp, OOPS.
I reserve the right to be incorrect, but I have seen this before.
 
koolaid_kid said:
I'm gonna throw a monkey wrench in here because I am in a mood.
I suspect an electric/electronic heat issue. The first thing I would examine is the igniter. I think one of the power transistors is overheating. It will be fine when cool, but when it gets at a certain temp, OOPS
Click to expand...
No way, not on first brief ride- that comes later after the carb cleaning ordeal is over and he's confident enough for along ride to Saranac Lake.
 
no i havent gone threw the whole thing yet. I was hoping to start the season but guess not :-k I am going to check the igniter because threw the winter i was tinkering with it and ran it a couple of times and it would ideal fine for a decent amount of time. This is the first ride and frist problem. But since I have to take the gas tank off to look at the carbs I am going to re-do everything, Spark plugs, gas lines, Air filter and box and re build the carbs and hope that it works. ( not that it would hurt anyway ) then gonna do a sync with my new tool and fire up. Gotta love projects but gotta love my friend Shaggy for being supportive about breaking down. He was just like I am opps back to the draiwing board.

I dont wanna try and add more trouble but if I may inquire a new question..


I have never seen a gas tank mounted behind the seat, is it possible and what could be some potential problems?

Might sound like a dumb idea and it probally is but I wanna have a mess bike like me so that people are like WTF is that . :D please be gentle on critizing remember first bike and lots of dreams:oops::oops::oops::oops::oops:
 
I'm with Kool_Aid on this one.

Electrical is Much easier to check. The worst thing you can do, is to start ripping mechanical **** apart and merely "guessing" the problem! lol

Check your running voltage first, within spec or no?
Also test the Coils and Caps.

I had an overheating/stalling problem, and it turned out to be a fried Stator, R/R, caps and wires were junk as well.
 
Here's an idea - carry around a couple extra plugs with you and check for spark the next time it stalls. Also, have you tried opening the gas cap? Sometimes the vents get clogged and a vacuum builds, preventing fuel from flowing properly to the carbs.

My ignitor would overheat and go out after a while. It would be very sudden: no warning or slowing down, just complete loss of power. Pull over and wait a few minutes and ride again. If you're slowly running down on power it's more likely to me to be a fuel issue. You'll start running leaner as the bowls empty.
 
well i deff try the electrical first then yeah it would stall after a descent ride when i stop the rpms would progressively decline till a stall and then would have trouble starting, till finally it wouldnt start at all. but after a few moments it started again. So i am thinking maybe you are correct about the over heating. Hopefully Its something simple and can get it fixed before bike season really gets going. I need to start to learn to ride more/ get more conformable
 
mike_of_bbg said:
Here's an idea - carry around a couple extra plugs with you and check for spark the next time it stalls. Also, have you tried opening the gas cap? Sometimes the vents get clogged and a vacuum builds, preventing fuel from flowing properly to the carbs.

My ignitor would overheat and go out after a while. It would be very sudden: no warning or slowing down, just complete loss of power. Pull over and wait a few minutes and ride again. If you're slowly running down on power it's more likely to me to be a fuel issue. You'll start running leaner as the bowls empty.
Click to expand...

When you mean power you mean the engine being on or electrical?
 
Big T said:
Are you insinuating that the poster has hit all the listed Newbie mistakes?

I would suggest that you're running out of gas. Are you on Reserve?
Click to expand...


no i have gas i tried with res and prim both with the same effect also tried to add choke and nothing. after that point the bike just wouldnt go it would crank.

Also i had no seat and felt a click against my right leg so maybe it is something with the eletrical. I am hoping to redo it slowly in the next year. Once i get aquanted with this iron horse and finish tamming her.
 
Now that I think about it, I had a similar problem with my very first GS (and yes I was full on newbie and had done NONE of the newbie checklist either)
But, amazingly, it wasn't any of the newb issues, it was a plugged up fuel tank vent. Was fine while the bike was cold, fuel was cold. After some miles it started doing just as yours did. The engine being hot heating the fuel in the tank and it expanded and had a clogged vent, no air could get in to take the place of the fuel leaving, so it was pretty much like vapor lock.

But, that was just the start of my problems. Eventually I learned that ALL of that stuff I mentioned needed to be done. Air leaks behind the boots and around the airbox caused it to run lean and hot, and crappy. Somewhat dirty carbs wasn't helping and valves that were way out of adjustment piled on to the problem...

We aren't here to bust your balls about cleaning your carbs and sealing your intake leaks and adjusting your valves...we only harp on it because this stuff NEeDS to be done because it probably hasn't been in 20 years. It's bad news for your motor mate. And you can't begin to really sort out the rest of the problems until you start with the basics, and short cuts literally become long cuts and money and time and worse, riding season, wasted...
 
TheCafeKid said:
Now that I think about it, I had a similar problem with my very first GS (and yes I was full on newbie and had done NONE of the newbie checklist either)
But, amazingly, it wasn't any of the newb issues, it was a plugged up fuel tank vent. Was fine while the bike was cold, fuel was cold. After some miles it started doing just as yours did. The engine being hot heating the fuel in the tank and it expanded and had a clogged vent, no air could get in to take the place of the fuel leaving, so it was pretty much like vapor lock.

But, that was just the start of my problems. Eventually I learned that ALL of that stuff I mentioned needed to be done. Air leaks behind the boots and around the airbox caused it to run lean and hot, and crappy. Somewhat dirty carbs wasn't helping and valves that were way out of adjustment piled on to the problem...

We aren't here to bust your balls about cleaning your carbs and sealing your intake leaks and adjusting your valves...we only harp on it because this stuff NEeDS to be done because it probably hasn't been in 20 years. It's bad news for your motor mate. And you can't begin to really sort out the rest of the problems until you start with the basics, and short cuts literally become long cuts and money and time and worse, riding season, wasted...
Click to expand...

I know that we are a big disfucntional family here but i just wanted to make sure people knew that im a complete newby with bikes and mechnics and that even with cymers books i still and skeptical in my own ablities and consult the " experts" of this site
 
gas tank mounted behind the seat? Got a picture of that?

It's is hard to resist the urge to take those short rides when the weather gets nice. Had my fair share of stalls, no-starts and such. Pushing the bike is no fun! :)

Got to the point of paranoia that even when I knew the charging system was working properly just had to bust out the voltmeter and double check before leaving the garage. So T-CLOCKS + battery.

It's early spring so plenty of time to get her sorted out for the peak riding months and maybe some commuting if gas gets too $$$
 
jbs80106 said:
gas tank mounted behind the seat? Got a picture of that?

It's is hard to resist the urge to take those short rides when the weather gets nice. Had my fair share of stalls, no-starts and such. Pushing the bike is no fun! :)

Got to the point of paranoia that even when I knew the charging system was working properly just had to bust out the voltmeter and double check before leaving the garage. So T-CLOCKS + battery.

It's early spring so plenty of time to get her sorted out for the peak riding months and maybe some commuting if gas gets too $$$
Click to expand...

It's serf has nothing to do with the battery it sounds like it's a fuel problem I'm having maybe a over heating as mentions above by kool aid as for the gas tank I haven't done it ye yet but I thought I'd ask if anyone us seen it done and potential hazards or concerns
 
I think I mentioned that earlier, bad venting on the tank. Like I said, run it until it dies again. Step 1 - pop the gas cap, put the bike on prime for 15-20 secs and see if it starts right back up. If not, step 2 is to check for spark on the plugs. That's easier if you have extra plugs: just unplug the caps (one at a time) from the plugs, plug in your spare, lay against the head to ground, put in neutral, crank, and see if you have spark. Since you're admittedly inexperienced, you might want to practice this first before you stall so you know what a healthy spark looks like.

On the igniter dying with heat: the rest of the bike electrical equipment would work fine. The igniter only handles the firing of the plugs. All lights, etc., would work normally.
 
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