Float Valves and my bike wont stay on

[jbayreaux]

For some reason, my bike keeps dying after a 5 min ride. For the life of me I cannot figure out why. It has spark (hot or cold), compression (hot or cold), clean tank, carbs have been cleaned, and no loose connections. I WANT MY BIKE TO RUN [-o<

It is so weird. When it begins to die, it feels like it is bogging down. I can have the throttle all the way open (at a dead stop in neutral) and the engine is *just barely* running. I mean it is down to apologetic sputter. Sometimes *SOMETIMES* it just roars back to life again during this "sputtering fit." When I walk it back home and let it sit for a while, it will kick right back over again after about 10 - 15 mins. ](*,) I JUST DONT GET IT!!!! No local mechanics will work on her due to her age. I am so SOL, but love this bike as she looks so dog on cool!!!

Now, the only remaining thing I can think that is wrong are the float valves. When I had the carbs torn down, I held them up, filled the fuel line with carb cleaner while my bro held the floats shut. I could not find a leak, he released the floats and the carb cleaner flowed out. But I am still thinking that since the gas is gravity fed, this might be enough pressure to push the gas around the seal into the float chambers causing them to flood.

Could a float valve issue cause the symptoms I wrote above? Please help 8-[

[chiphead]

I'm pulling this out of my behind, but it smacks greatly of an electrical probelm. As electronics heat up, they can be prone to failure. This could be why it takes a bit to initiate the failure. And why after it and the elctronics cool, it comes back to life. What's failing? Got me. Black box, coils, trigger coil etc. I personally would take the tank and seat off and manually diassemble every ground point, clean it and retighten. Can you duplicate the problem running an auxiallary tank with the bike on the center stand. If you can do this, then you can ohm out the elctronics at the time of failure. Maybe put an inductive timing light on it too and see where the timing is at the point of failure. Just some ideas. Good luck.
And I'm doubtful a float probelm would cause this.

[jbayreaux]

yeah, I thought of that. I priced replaceing the whole electirical system. :shock: I dont know about that. It comes out to way more than the bike is worth. Now, if I knew which component was jacked up (R/R, Ignitor, Coils, Pickups) then I would shell out for which ever.

[steve-lloyd]

This could also be fuel starvation due to the petcock not delivering sufficient fuel. Try riding the bike with the petcock in the "Prime" position. If this cures the problem then the vacuum operated "on" and "reserve" positions are suspect, either faulty or not receiving proper vacuum suction, maybe a leaking or kinked vacuum pipe. Good luck!

[chiphead]

This could also be fuel starvation due to the petcock not delivering sufficient fuel. Try riding the bike with the petcock in the "Prime" position. If this cures the problem then the vacuum operated "on" and "reserve" positions are suspect, either faulty or not receiving proper vacuum suction, maybe a leaking or kinked vacuum pipe. Good luck!

Good point.

[chiphead]

yeah, I thought of that. I priced replaceing the whole electirical system. :shock: I dont know about that. It comes out to way more than the bike is worth. Now, if I knew which component was jacked up (R/R, Ignitor, Coils, Pickups) then I would shell out for which ever.

If you can duplciate the probelm when without ridng it with an auxillary tank and everything exposed for IMMEDIATE ohm testing when the issue occurs, you may be able to pinpoint it. If, that is, it is electrical.

[jbayreaux]

I tore the diaphram out. Using a fuel cut off valve now. Looks like that ohm testing is my next step. Thing is, I dont know how to do it :-D
Oh well, Ill try to figure it out by searching here. I am sure there is a thread covering that.

[ruddy]

Sounds like it could be a plugged vent in your gas cap. After running a little while, a vacuum is created that stops the fuel from flowing enough to keep up with the engine. Try running with the cap open or loose to see if that's the problem. If it is, clean the cap.