Battery died or is it something else?

[dsgs500f]

Last night I was ride my 2004 gs500f home doing about 60mph in 5th gear and the bike started spittering and sputtering, then died. Now, for recent activity. I just installed a jardine full exhaust system, was doing the jets this weekend. So, back to the the issue. I pulled over and tried to get the bike started and nothing. My friend came in his Rhino and jumped me. The bike started and I rode off for about a mile, then it died again same thing. So, I had to jump the bike again, it started and rode off to my sisters house about 1 mile down the rode the bike died. Jumped bike again, rode to my sisters house. The bike stayed running as long as I stayed under 5500rpms and 30 mph. I bought a new battery last night, but I had to work this morning so, I haven't seen if this will fix th problem, if not what could it be? Weird, but I've never had a battery make a motorcycle act like this.

[beRto]

Last night I was ride my 2004 gs500f home doing about 60mph in 5th gear and the bike started spittering and sputtering, then died. Now, for recent activity. I just installed a jardine full exhaust system, was doing the jets this weekend. So, back to the the issue. I pulled over and tried to get the bike started and nothing. My friend came in his Rhino and jumped me. The bike started and I rode off for about a mile, then it died again same thing. So, I had to jump the bike again, it started and rode off to my sisters house about 1 mile down the rode the bike died. Jumped bike again, rode to my sisters house. The bike stayed running as long as I stayed under 5500rpms and 30 mph. I bought a new battery last night, but I had to work this morning so, I haven't seen if this will fix th problem, if not what could it be? Weird, but I've never had a battery make a motorcycle act like this.

This sounds like the classic fuel starvation problem. If this happens again, try switching the petcock to PRI and waiting a few seconds. This will allow fuel to flow to the carbs without the need for engine vacuum. If the bike starts again, the fault lies in the vacuum-operated petcock.

I had the fuel starvation problem and fixed this on my '95 by replacing the frame-mounted petcock with another OEM one. There are other solutions also.

Good luck!

[lewismug]

Berto, I don't think it's a starvation issue.  He said he had to boost it off several times.  When I first purchased my bike, the battery was dead.  I couldn't wait to fire it up, so I just boosted it off and let it idle.  Tried to ride it around the yard and guess what.......same symptoms you are describing happened to me.  As long as it's close to idle, it would run, but as soon as I tried giving it very much gas at all, it would sputter and die just as you have described.  A new battery fixed my problem and I think it will fix yours as well.

[beRto]

Berto, I don't think it's a starvation issue.  He said he had to boost it off several times.  When I first purchased my bike, the battery was dead.  I couldn't wait to fire it up, so I just boosted it off and let it idle.  Tried to ride it around the yard and guess what.......same symptoms you are describing happened to me.  As long as it's close to idle, it would run, but as soon as I tried giving it very much gas at all, it would sputter and die just as you have described.  A new battery fixed my problem and I think it will fix yours as well.

Well, it could end up being the battery, but I think the syptoms point to fuel starvation:

Last night I was ride my 2004 gs500f home doing about 60mph in 5th gear and the bike started spittering and sputtering, then died.

The problem occurred when running at full speed for an extended period of time.

The bike stayed running as long as I stayed under 5500rpms and 30 mph.

After dying out, the bike could still start up and run at speeds higher than idle.

I pulled over and tried to get the bike started and nothing. My friend came in his Rhino and jumped me. The bike started and I rode off for about a mile, then it died again same thing. So, I had to jump the bike again, it started and rode off to my sisters house about 1 mile down the rode the bike died. Jumped bike again, rode to my sisters house.

Pulling over and boosting probably gave the bike some time to recover. But not much, because it would promptly die again once it got running.

In fact, this may also suggest that the pressure valve on the bike is clogged and pulling over/waiting helped to let pressure back in the fuel tank. You should also try opening the fuel lid and listening for intake of air. If this is the problem, ben2go posted a good tutorial explaining how to clean/service this valve.

Just my thoughts... I won't be too embarrassed if/when I'm proven wrong 

[lewismug]

The reason I say it's the battery is:  Why would he need to boost it off if it was fuel starvation?  Fuel starvation has nothing to do with the battery being strong enough to turn the engine over.  I dunno.  Hell, I'm prolly wrong!     You people from Canadia are a lot smarter than most of us Americans think!    I hope that doesn't offend you (Canadia), but I have a buddy that lives in Canada and I'm always giving him a hard time about being from "Canadia".....It's all in fun!  And yes, I know it's spelled incorrectly.   

[beRto]

The reason I say it's the battery is:  Why would he need to boost it off if it was fuel starvation?  Fuel starvation has nothing to do with the battery being strong enough to turn the engine over.  I dunno.  Hell, I'm prolly wrong!     You people from Canadia are a lot smarter than most of us Americans think!    I hope that doesn't offend you (Canadia), but I have a buddy that lives in Canada and I'm always giving him a hard time about being from "Canadia".....It's all in fun!  And yes, I know it's spelled incorrectly.   

No offense taken!

My best guess is that boosting the bike was useful only because it gave the bike a few minutes to "rest"; allowing pressure to stabilize in the tank, or fuel to dribble slowly into the float bowls.

I hope the original poster comes back to share the solution!

[dsgs500f]

So, New battery fired right up and ran like a champ, 60mph no problem, then thats when it hit, spitting and sputtering, died. Switched to PRM and cranked it back up ran like a champ. How long can I ride with it on prime? If I forget to turn it back to on will the carbs overflow?  The battery was dead and couldn't be revived. IS this all caused by my jaedine exhaust and not jetting it yet?

[ben2go]

I wouldn't ride on PRI long the petcock internal orifice is very small and will lead to a lean condition.Lean running damages the valves and in worst cases can blow a hole in the top of the piston.There is a thread simular to this one http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=19363.0 but for the 01+ petcock.I can't seem to find it.Maybe the link I posted will help.

[ben2go]

This may help. http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=37366.0

[beRto]

So, New battery fired right up and ran like a champ, 60mph no problem, then thats when it hit, spitting and sputtering, died. Switched to PRM and cranked it back up ran like a champ. How long can I ride with it on prime? If I forget to turn it back to on will the carbs overflow?  The battery was dead and couldn't be revived. IS this all caused by my jaedine exhaust and not jetting it yet?

Fuel starvation... I win! 

As I said, I fixed this by simply buying another OEM petcock. It was kind of expensive ~$60, so you may elect to "fix" your existing petcock instead (ben2go posted useful links for this).

[lewismug]

Did the new battery die as well?  Yeah Berto, you were right!    Like I said before, you folks from Canadia can surprise us Americans with your knowledge....sometimes.   dsgs500f, this is a common problem and an easy fix.  Either you can modify the petcock or just get a new one.  Once mine starts acting up, I'm going to modify mine.