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Strange loss of power

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
  • Start date Start date
mopolopo said:
Monday night I so nearly set my bike on fire when the vaccum hose wouldn't quit pouring gas all over my exhaust pipe. I called 911 but fortunately, the thing never caught fire. The gas boiled off the pipe, though. Sooooo close.
Click to expand...

Twice a couple of weeks ago when filling up with gas the pump didn't shut off like it should and at least a quart of gas spilled all over my hot engine and exhaust. I just stood back as the fuel vaporized. Luckily it didn't light up.
 
Could the blue smoke be related to incomplete combustion due to poor spark/ignition? This might answer both the loss of power and the smoke.


Ummm, I missed the whole second page of responses, pardon the gaffe

Catnthehat
 
Power Loss

Power Loss

Tyler,

sounds like a familiar story ... one which almost had me selling the old GS (oh and cussing a lot).

Question: How's your battery? Make sure it has a full charge ... if it does that'll get ya about 60 -120 mi even if your stator is dead.

As the battery starts to die (because it's not charging) you'll start getting weak spark and eventually the plugs will fuel foul. Usually one the ones on the weakest coil will go first. When that happens (your now running on 2 or 3 cylinders, and the bike will run, at speed, smoothly just low power) the non-firing cylinder remains cold (relativity) the oil control ring doesn't expand and small amounts of oil will leak into the cylinder and blow past the exhaust valve into the still hot pipes and burn off (a little blue smoke).
After the bike sits a bit the battery charge will come up some ... maybe enough to get you further down the road. Let it sit over night and you'll swear that you've fixed it and it's good to go ... until you get down the road about 20 miles and it craps out on you again.

My 2 cents ... check your battery ... if its weak or dead ... check your charging circuit.

Kurt
 
Kurt,

I don't think it's a problem with the battery or stator, although it could be something elsewhere in the electrical system that is causing the symptoms you describe.

I usually ride far enough to encounter this problem when driving back and forth to school, so I don't get to test it much. I just had the problem again as I came home though.

The battery is strong, and able to crank the engine many a time even in the cold without any noticable decrease in power. Also, when I encounter the mentioned problem, the battery is still able to crank the engine considerably, but the engine just doesn't want to catch (unless I let it sit for about 15 minutes). That kind of leads me to believe it's not something with the battery or stator (I believe I have the original stator on there, but don't know for certain).

Also, this past time that it happened, it was near freezing, and I only went about ten miles before it happened. I was going up a slight hill, and just started to feel it die. Similar situation to before...start to downshift...keeps losing power...eventually stalls out and I drift off the road.

--Tyler
 
Tyler, to narrow it down to electrical or fuel related, try this.
The next time it does it, pull the plugs. If any plug is wet, then you know that cylinder is not sparking or has a very weak spark.
If all the plugs are dry, then you know it's not electrical. Take a plug wrench and also a piece of 5/16 or 3/8'' tubing. When the plug is loose you can put the tubing over the plug and remove/install without getting burned.
Let us know what happens and we'll go from there.
 
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