Going, Going, Barely....Help Plz

[TheCafeKid]

I have found the baffling in most of these tanks prevents that last 1/4-1/2 gallon from being available before the petcock is sucking air.
Just my experience.

You mentioned that you tried cranking it over a few times and it killed the battery...is it possible you have charging issues and the battery wasn't providing enough juice to fire the coils anymore??

[Steel Toed Tank]

the bike lost all power. I was able to turn and keep it running long enough to get home (only if the RPM's were way up). I got home

Sounds like fuel starvation to me.

Without a working gas gauge or speedometer, this is something i encountered several times early on in the season.

[tom203]

Ssanderson1 said....."I can see about an inch of gas in the tank"

Yeah , looking at right side of tank but petcock can't find it! Similar to BigD83 , I had problems with original petcock running down hills, bike would cut out and need to be pointed uphill for restart. New petcock actually allows bike to run in RES at 1/4 gauge mark in hilly terrain.

put gas in- your plugs look ugly, have you been adding much oil ?

[TheCafeKid]

Sounds like fuel starvation to me.

Without a working gas gauge or speedometer, this is something i encountered several times early on in the season.

I agree that it sounds like a possibility, but having been stranded on the side of the road a couple of times by my GSes faulty charging system, I can also say that this sounds like charging issues as well. If the reg/rec croaks, and isn't passing charge to the battery, or if a leg of the stator is dead, and the battery isn't getting enough voltage, the bike is running solely on what the battery has left in the tank. No pun intended. Eventually the battery just doesn't have enough left to fire the coils anymore and the bike stalls out.

The Stator papers will show you how to test the components to see if you're getting any/adequate charging. Keep in mind that even if the battery shows a good charge while sitting, putting a load on it may reveal that it's crapping out with the load on it.

[koolaid_kid]

It would not be the first time there were multiple issues with a GS. Fortunately, putting more fuel in the tank is a quick fix. The stator papers take a bit longer.

[tkent02]

The stator papers take a bit longer.

Especially if it won't run.

[ssanderson1]

put gas in- your plugs look ugly, have you been adding much oil ?

Not really. I've added a little once since I last changed the oil 400 mi ago. Didn't even really need it and I'm not sure that the oil level had actually dropped.

Still haven't gotten gas. I won't be able to until tomorrow. I'll keep yall updated though.

[ssanderson1]

What a bitter-sweet moment. I absolutely hate to be the victim of stupidity...but alas, here I stand....humbled and humiliated.

I put a gallon of gas in it and she fired right up, lol. I guess the thought of her being starved for gas didn't occur to me since I could see gas in the tank. I'm familiar with how the petcock filter looks/works. I had the petcock set at "pre" the whole time. I tilted the bike as far the left as I could to make sure gas was getting into the carbs. The float bowls had gas in them when I pulled the carbs. I guess she just wanted more!

Glad that's over with. I'll never make that mistake again! Haha. Now on to more serious issues.... Should I worry about my plugs being so oily??

Thanks for the help/suggestions btw. Yall are the best.

[BassCliff]

Hi Steve,

Oops.

Sure, run the bike a bit and check the plugs again. Maybe you'll want to do a "plug chop" to really see what your plugs look like at different throttle openings. Let's have a look.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[koolaid_kid]

I put a gallon of gas in it and she fired right up, lol.

Hehe. I love it when a plan comes together.
Look at it this way, ssanderson; why do you think it immediately came to me when I saw your post about the level of fuel in the tank?
Been there, done that. Welcome to the real world. And congrats on such an easy fix.

[greg78gs750]

lol. happened to me taking a buddies bike around the block. had to have a stranger stop and turn it to reserve. first thing you'll check next time, i bet.

[koolaid_kid]

Should I worry about my plugs being so oily??

Yes, although worry is not the word I would use. I would use curious. What you need to do is clean the plugs or install your spare set (you have a spare set, right?) and go for a spin. Then check them and report what you observe. Since you were having other issues, I would not use that plug check as a baseline.