Dead at 60

[crazyrnus]

Had the old girl (my bike) tuned up in June by someone supposedly experienced with Suzukis. Valves set, carbs cleaned and balanced and new plugs. I haven't ridden it much since then because it has just been too damn hot.

I had ridden it on surface streets but had not done any highway. Last Sunday I wanted to go on the highway so hit the interstate on ramp. Everything was fine until 60 or about 4k rpm. The old girl started running out of steam. She was surging and just had no power. I couldn't get out of anybodys way so took the next off ramp and came home.

She runs and idles fine, but once you get to about 4k rpm, she is done. I did find out she will go 70 down hill, but no power to pull a hill, or pass. Does anyone have any ideas before I take her back to the supposedly Suzuki mechanic? I'd like some information before he starts feeding me bs!!

Thanks in advance.

[gearhead13]

Wow, could be a LOT of things. Is it stock? Pods? pipe?
Did it ever go over 60?
Timing advancer? fuel cap not venting? Plugged filters, bad petcock?
I would think a decent mechanic would test ride the bike to make sure its running properly before giving it back to the customer

[Steve]

Sounds like it's running out of air, fuel or electricity. The trick is to find out which one.

This "someone" that tuned your bike, what all did he do? Did the bike work well before that?

"Carbs cleaned" is rather ambiguous. Spraying off the outsides will qualify for that description.

Will it go over 4000 RPM in any gear?

Do you have an inline fuel filter?

How about your air filter? Stock? Clean?

Does it run smoothly up to 60mph/4000RPM? Are the plug wires on the correct plugs?

As you can see, there are LOTS of possibilities, you just need to check them so you can eliminate them.

.

[Dogma]

You really need to do your own work. Truly qualified mechanics for hire are nearly nonexistent. You can learn here what needs done (and you can do it), but first there will need to be some more diagnosing.

Like gearhead was basically asking, is it stock, or what? What was wrong that made you take it to the mechanic? Can it not rev past 4K at all? Does the loss of power come on gradually?

[robertbarr]

... or for that matter, when did it last run acceptably well?

And what has happened since?

[1_v8_merc]

Mechanics are like salesman, literally. No punch line needed.

[nejeff]

My vote is it's not getting enough gas. Take the petcock off and have a look.

[rapidray]

What you are describing will happen if someone forgot to tighten the main jet's & they are all laying in the bowls.
Ray.

[Datsa Noydb]

Good one, Ray. Maybe someone thought that those were the jets that are installed "two turns from lightly seated."

[crazyrnus]

The carbs have been disassembled twice. The first time by a member from this sight. Never ran right after that. This time taken all apart, again and recleaned and assembled.

I checked the fuel petcock, it is fine, it is new. The plugs are the correct numbers. It has no modifications other than a new K&N air filter. I checked all that and it is sealedf tightly.

Before the first carb overhaul, it ran great except for an uneaven idle. I had ridden it several times @ 70 plus so no problem there, before. It still runs great until you get on it and try to get over the 4k rpm mark. It just won't do it!

Yea, wouldn't it be great if we all had the time and knowledge to do our own work. I have tried that in the past and ended up paying more to correct my mistakes than I should have. At 70 and working two jobs, finding the time to work on it rather than ride it is a pain. I will say this, my Harley is a hell of a lot less work even though it is 19 years old and has 70k on it!

It's a nice bike, I have owned it for years I just haven't ridden it that much since it only has 12k on the speedo. Maybe I should sell it now and eliminate my frustrations!!

[Toasty]

Did the carbs get synced after being taken apart? Just doing a bench sync won't cut it.

[crazyrnus]

Oh, I did forget to mention he did put a filter in the fuel line. I questioned him about that and he said it would catch anything that might be floating around in the tank. The tank was and is clean, so is the filter.

The carbs were synced on the bike.

[Toasty]

Is it a high flow filter? Even if it is high flow it could still be clogged and starving the bike.

[chuck hahn]

Have you read all the threads that suggest an inline filter is of no need if then tank is clean and the FILTER IN THE TANK thats part of the petcock is clean and not torn? First thing I would do is dump that inline filter. My opinion is they are just another obstruction thats slows / blocks adequate fuel flow. Inline filters are fine with bikes with pressurised fuel pump systems, but these gravity fed bikes cant "push" the fuel thru those inline paper filters. Secondly, I would open the bottom ends and see if the needle jets, the pilots, and the pilot jet plugs are all there and secure. Then set the mixture screw at 2 thurn out from lightly seated. Sync the carbs with guages and then see what she is doing.