bike strands me after 10 minutes of riding

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I don't know about the 10 minutes deal, but I know my bike will run a good few minutes with the petcock off. If it's getting low volume of fuel, it will run longer, but still quit. Thing is it's very easy to check before jumping into the ignition or even battery, but a Volt meter will take care of the battery. That would be my second thing, or maybe even first, but both are very easy to check. Remember KISS.

Dave
69S
 
I had a similar problem and it turned out to be a combination of the fuel vent being clogged up with tank sealer (Thank you previous owner) and CHEAPO petcocks. The rubber in the cheap one's swelled up and was starving the carbs. I could see "air in the lines" because the bike was sucking up the gas faster than it could be delivered. I installed factory british made petcocks and haven't had a problem since.
 
I opened both petcocks today with no lines attached. Both sides flowed well IMO. I filled a silo cup in just a few seconds. When u was having the issue on the road I also opened both petcocks to be sure
 
Well, that was simple. Now on to the voltmeter? Something will turn up. I was just suggesting not jumping into the ignition which can be long and involved, but maybe not? It's your bike, you have a better feel for what's going on than I do.

I guess I better get mine out tomorrow, it's supposed to be 84. It just seems like there's all this extra stuff to do when it warms up in the spring (finally). Then I'll have to deal with the grabby clutch unless I can burn it in.

Dave
69S
 
DogT said:
Well, that was simple. Now on to the voltmeter? Something will turn up. I was just suggesting not jumping into the ignition which can be long and involved, but maybe not? It's your bike, you have a better feel for what's going on than I do.

I guess I better get mine out tomorrow, it's supposed to be 84. It just seems like there's all this extra stuff to do when it warms up in the spring (finally). Then I'll have to deal with the grabby clutch unless I can burn it in.

Dave
69S
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I hear ya. I had 12 trees come down on my property in hurricane sandy. Busted fence and railing and all but somehow the bike becomes more important. Wife loves it! I feel like the flow is ok, but I'm no expert. Just seems like because it takes ten minutes to show up and then goes away after a rest it's not fuel. I bought the battery directly from an interstate warehouse so ill take it there tomorrow and have them test it
 
well, it seems from the battery load test that you battery is going flat fast

then when the EI is starved for juice after some 10 minutes it shuts off and "rests" an resurrects enough to get you home

two possibilities: your battery is shot, get a new one

or, your battery is fine because you charge it and then it depletes because it is not being charged while riding

to verify this get the voltmeter and note the resting voltage then start the bike and keep the meter connected while raising the rpms to say 3000, you should see a definite increase in voltage, say to maybe 13, do you?
 
kevbo82 said:
one other thing i also noticed, a lot of air bubbles in the fuel lines. They seem to be traveling up towards the petcocks. But while sitting around for a half hour if i tapped on the fuel lines i got a lot of little bubbles and a few big ones too. don't know how normal that is.
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I don't think it's normal to have all that air trapped in the carbs. Amals don't have the vent hoses that Mikunis have but they must have vents of some kind. Does the tickler serve that purpose? Are the fuel lines set up in the stock configuration? Have you tried running it with both petcocks open, then check for bubbles?
 
1up3down said:
well, it seems from the battery load test that you battery is going flat fast

then when the EI is starved for juice after some 10 minutes it shuts off and "rests" an resurrects enough to get you home

two possibilities: your battery is shot, get a new one

or, your battery is fine because you charge it and then it depletes because it is not being charged while riding

to verify this get the voltmeter and note the resting voltage then start the bike and keep the meter connected while raising the rpms to say 3000, you should see a definite increase in voltage, say to maybe 13, do you?
Click to expand...
I plugged my battery into the charger and said battery was around 40% so gonna let it charge all night test the bat and charging system tomorrow.
 
rpatton said:
kevbo82 said:
one other thing i also noticed, a lot of air bubbles in the fuel lines. They seem to be traveling up towards the petcocks. But while sitting around for a half hour if i tapped on the fuel lines i got a lot of little bubbles and a few big ones too. don't know how normal that is.
Click to expand...
I don't think it's normal to have all that air trapped in the carbs. Amals don't have the vent hoses that Mikunis have but they must have vents of some kind. Does the tickler serve that purpose? Are the fuel lines set up in the stock configuration? Have you tried running it with both petcocks open, then check for bubbles?
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Yes stock H setup. I had both petcocks open and tried to use the ticklers to get rid if the bubbles but still saw them. I could tap on the lines and bubbles would rise up to the petcocks.
 
checked the charging system this morning and that seems just fine. getting over 13V while running and it goes up with the revs. strangely the head light doesn't seem to work this morning, the flasher button works but thats all. I'll start by checking the switch on that one. But just putting the ignition on the full charge battery for a few minutes, and using the turn signals a bit to put a little load on it, the battery dropped quickly. Gonna take it back to interstate and see if they can load test it and replace it.
 
I've watched the fuel in the lines too, and it's hard to tell what's going on. I seem to have big air spaces in mine sometimes, but then it's really hard to tell what the float valve is doing. I don't have bubbles though. I went to the newer style with the 180 degree banjos on the float bowls.

It does sound like the battery may take a charge, but if it drops off fast, that's not good. I think mine (8AH AGM) holds the headlamp on for a few minutes on it's own. Bad batteries can act real strange in a charging circuit. My Pazon will run off the charging circuit alone, but not at idle and then it starts acting funny.

Ugh, don't talk about Sandy. We had a very large oak tree through the roof right in the beginning of the storm. 5 days without power, although I have a generator, all the neighbors were coming over to take showers. Now the yard is all torn up from the equipment and it's planting grass time again. Looks like today is the day to put the seed down, the wind has died down for a few minutes. I may get some time later today to get the bike out of the garage.

Dave
69S
 
The head light is routed through the ign switch.
So it may just be a bad ignition switch contact.
Begin by bypassing the ign switch and see how that goes.
All the best.
 
I have a Snap-On battery load tester (125A) if you need it. (Bought it on Craigslist to test the XR's battery but would have been cheaper to just buy a new battery...duh.)

Re: Choke lever - Didn't mean to imply any stupidity - Just have seen this one before and it is at the top of the checklist...

Russ
 
In your initial post, you indicated that it was backfiring when the throttle was off idle. If the backfiring is in the exhaust (after firing or as the Brits would say banging in the exhaust) it is an indication of ignition, not carburation. I would put the strobe light on your ignition lead and see if there is an indication of misfire.

Electronic components can fail when warm or hot. Then once cooled they can work fine again. As a matter of fact, electronic trouble shooters typically have a can of spray refrigerant to test individual components with that kind of problem.
 
okay update for today, we MAY have fixed it, i'll wait and see. Went to test the charging system this morning and noticed the headlight wasn't working. Went to look at the ignition switch and it basically fell apart in my hands. Went out and bought a new genuine lucas one and installed it, also went to interstate and they load tested the battery and said it was fine and gave me some acid to top it up with. Got home and put everything together, took a ride for maybe 15 minutes and no problem. Didn't want to go too far for fear it would leave me again, but it seemed like a long enough ride that it would have happened again based on the last two. i'll keep pushing it and see.
 
"Didn't want to go too far for fear it would leave me again"

Surely a genuine Lucas part wouldn't do that! :)



Seriously, hope that was the problem - seems likely enough.
 
batrider said:
I have a Snap-On battery load tester (125A) if you need it. (Bought it on Craigslist to test the XR's battery but would have been cheaper to just buy a new battery...duh.)

Re: Choke lever - Didn't mean to imply any stupidity - Just have seen this one before and it is at the top of the checklist...

Russ
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don't worry Russ, takes a lot to offend me :wink: i'll take ya up on the battery tester if the problem comes back.
 
well no luck. took it out again tonight and it did the same old thing. waited 20 mins, a little hard to start, but it started, then rode home pretty much OK but with some backfiring. As soon as i got home i checked the battery, it was at 12.7V, turned the headlight on for a few minutes and checked again and it was at 12.3 maybe i'll just put a for sale sign on it and only let people take it for test rides less than 10 minutes :x
 
concours said:
kevbo82 said:
concours said:
Screens in your fuel taps clogged with crap?
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They had a little bit on them, nothing crazy. When I get home I'll post a pic of the banjo filter which was about the same level of crap on it. If it was a fuel delivery why would the problem go away when I let it cool down?
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What do the plugs look like? Black and sooty? Clean and near white?
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And did I miss a spark plug report?
 
concours said:
What do the plugs look like? Black and sooty? Clean and near white?
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And did I miss a spark plug report?[/quote]

your right i failed to respond! Had a hard time getting a decent shot. Pictures worth a few hundred words at least...

bike strands me after 10 minutes of riding

bike strands me after 10 minutes of riding

bike strands me after 10 minutes of riding
 
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