Complete loss of power

[crag antler]

Hello all, I got my bike back after 4 months at the shop :x .

Question #1 Yesterday while riding to work, I reached 80 mph and lost all power. Electrical and motor. Here is the sequence. Hit 80,lights on dash went off,engine died. I was able to get off the road. After pulling off, I made sure that I hadn't hit the kill switch ,etc. I turned the key off,then back on and voila, she started.No more problems like that.

Question #2 My mechanic told me that at sometime,someone had installed bigger jets in the carbs. This causing the bike to run rich.I have put hotter plugs in and noticed the plug wires were cracked. I have NO idea of the history of it,so I thought it would be a good idea to replace the coils at the same time. I did do the search on coils,but wanted to see if there was any new input? :P

She also spits on acceleration :x ,but I don't know if this was from running too rich, dirty carbs(my thought) or faulty plug wires. This is on my 1983 GS1100E.Stock engine(as far as I can tell so far),New Electrex reg/rect.,new battery,hotter plugs. Also when my mechanic installed the reg/rect. he did add an additional ground from the reg/rect.

I am coming to believe that the bike at one time had sat for awhile so I might have to look forward to that as my winter project :x ,getting her back. As if my GT250 project can wait :x
Thanks for the help, Doug

[Jethro]

Doug,

Sounds like maybe the dreaded electrical short is haunting you. At 80 the bike might see some vibration- I know mine does- which could cause a short. Also, the elec system sees more load at higher RPM's. Just speculation really, good luck.

[Anonymous]

Good luck with the stalling problem. As to any performance problems you're having, I don't think you should bother diagnosing any other potential problems until you replace those leaky plug wires!

[redliner1973]

I had the very problem in my GS but at 60mph. I turned out to be the ground wire on the battery was loose. Seemed it was tightened with a screwdriver (it had the slotted/hex head bolts) and seemed tight, but when a ten millimeter wrench was put on it I got another turn, and the problen went away and has never returned. try this and see what happens..

[Don Lobacz]

Since the lights and power all went out, I would concentrate on the ignition switch and the fuses. Turn the ignition on and start wiggling things. Move the key around, move the wires coming out of the ignition switch, move all the wires up around the steering neck, and then each fuse. Eventually you should get the lights to go out and then narrow down the focus with more specific wiggling (sorry this is so technical).

If you do replace the coils, get the aftermarket Dyna coils and wires. They are better and cheaper than stock.

Did your mechanic have the carbs off? How does he know the jets are bigger? If he had them off, why didn't he clean them? How big are the jets? (a couple of sizes up won't make that much of a difference).

What did the shop do for 4 months with your bike?

[crag antler]

Thanks for the tips. As soon as I can drag myself to the cold and dark :x barn,I intend to check out these fixes. 8)
Don, the shop had it for 4 months doing . Its just that my mechanic is good but takes on a little too much work at times. I'm planning to do as much preventive maintenance as possible myself over the winter (the next 6 months or so).
Thanks again, Doug