Broken down on the highway! help!

[Nebersold]

My 99 gs500e lost power in 6th gear and seemed it just seemed to be slowing down so I pulled over and it picked back up so I jumped back into my lane and a few minutes later it did it again but this time it just shut off and now I'm stuck on the side of the highway with no tools or anything! What did I do?!

[mr72]

I think I'd call a friend with a trailer.

This could be a dozen different things, most of which you can't fix on the side of the road.

[sledge]

I will tell you what I would do.

Check there is fuel in the tank!!

[J_Walker]

sounds like maybe a lean condition. IE: carbs being starved of fuel.

[The Buddha]

Tank vent ? carb vent ? if there is fuel in the tank of course.
Cool.
Buddha.

[Nebersold]

I hope it's not the carb i just had it rebuilt and got it back yesterday! But anyway I sat there about 10 minutes or so and eventually got it running again and was able to get home. I'll be checking all my vents though for sure. And I had a full tank of gas almost.

[Watcher]

Every time that's happened to me it's been fuel filter related.

[mr72]

If you just had the carbs rebuilt then that's the source of the problem. Vacuum leak, float level low, etc.

[user11235813]

It's not unheard of for carbs to be worked on by idiots even in a proper workshop. Case in point after being unable to solve me recent carb problem that kept spluttering and dying, I finally limped to a huge suzuki dealership who work on tons of bike in a large workshop. I couldn't diagnose the carb it seemed fine but apparently they discovered the press fit bit that guides the slide has come loose. They punched it back in but said it will probably come loose in time and they wanted to sell me a s/h carb I said I'd think about it.

It was immediately idling at 2300 when I picked it up, when I got it home the fuel hoses were routed wrong and jammed into the frame, they has just thrown my fuel overflow hose away, and the breather hose was not routed properly and the airbox drain hose was off.

So after getting it back I immediately has to spend an hour or so pulling everything off an resetting the carbs which ran better, then I found a set with only 3000kms on them. Point is that mechanics can sometime screw your bike up, I don't think they care enough about an old iron horse like the GS they probably get the garage sweeper to do the work.

[Endopotential]

I agree that the carbs would likely be the culprit, if someone just fooled around with them.

The floats being stuck too low seem reasonable - you drain the bowl going up to 6th gear.  Slow down and some more gas trickles in, enough to limp along a tiny bit longer.

Look up the float level check on the forum here.  It's a pretty easy fix of bending a tang on the float, but it does require removal of the carbs.  I'd recommend rigging up a temp fuel supply so that you can bench test the carb in your garage, before you go to all the trouble of bolting the carbs back on only to find out you need further adjustment.

[sledge]

I wouldn't rule out the vacuum operated fuel tap.

If it's faulty or if the pipe between it and the carbs is damaged, kinked or not properly fitted it will lead to similar symptoms