Break down?!?!? Need help.

[Anonymous]

I was riding my bike (1982 GS650E) and i have been having troubles keeping an idle. So around mile 15 of my ride, i'm running about 3k rpm at 50 mph, and the speed begins to drop sloooowly. I cant accelerate and are loosing power quickly so i pull over and hope that its just overheated. After about 15 minutes of cooling down it starts back up and im on the road.

Can anyone help me figure out what this may have been/how to fix it?

[Billy Ricks]

Dirty carbs.

[SqDancerLynn1]

Check the petcock make sure it is working properly, try running the bike on prime. Check the vent in the GAS cap, check the tank for rust

[Anonymous]

I drained the gas tank and removed the petcock. I dont know what i'm looking for. It appears to be clean, no debris that i can see, the petcock is a little reddish, do i have to take it apart or something? I'm going to check my lines for holes and buildup today.

[Billy Ricks]

Years ago I had the exact same symptoms. Turned out to be dirty carbs. You can try some Sea-Foam or other injector cleaner in the fuel. If that doesn't clear up the problem you'll need to disassemble and clean them up the proper way.

[Anonymous]

ok, i have the tank off so I might as well check in the carbs, thanks for the help

[Anonymous]

How'd it die? A quick "jerk to a stop" or a normal shutdown (hard to explain, looking to see if it siezed).
Did you try and start it up again right away? Was it pinging at all before it quit?

I'd look at the gas cap for possible blockage, or maybe the vacuum line for the petcock has cracked and is not pulling the valve open.

[crag antler]

Andy am I wrong or haven't we've seen you for a while????
Especially with that avitar????

[Anonymous]

I've been on and off for about 8 months. I'm not on nearly as often as I used to be.

Here' the "active" version of my avatar...

[Planecrazy]

Before you do all that work try riding the bike with the gas cap loose, or as an alternative ride the bike until it dies (stay local, of course) and then take the cap off ... if you hear a big "whoosh," the problem is a clogged fuel vent in your cap, which is starving the engine of fuel when the vacuum in the tank prevents the engine from pulling gas through the line.

After you hear the "whoosh," (assuming you do hear it), try starting the bike ... if it starts right up you've found your problem. I had what sounds like the exact same problem with my old bike, and after a week of hearing people make the same diagnosis I just gave you I still haven't had a chance to verify it ... but it sounds like the most likely problem in my case. I'll bet it's yours too.

Good Luck,
Steve 8)

[Billy Ricks]

Lack of fuel tank venting is the most obvious, but in my case it ended up being dirty carbs. The bike wouldn't die completely but it would bog to the point of nearly coming to a stop before making power again and taking off. Don't rule out dirty carbs.