no, I did not fall :laugh: BUT
she left me stranded :flipoff:
So after taking the damn plastics off last night, I was all excited about riding, so I decided to ride from city A to City B, where I just moved and was going to be storing the bike at.
Also, this was the first longer ride after I shelled $800 in parts and labor. I was supposed to ride about 90 minutes to reach my destination.
WELL LO and BEHOLD... 30 minutes into the ride, I am moving at around 65mph and I feel some stuttering. Then it dies. I pull the clutch and coast to a small exit.
I am like between point A & B, there's plenty of gas, battery is fine (headlights are on, both low and high beam).
I sit there a minute pondering about insects and nature, then decide to give it a try once again. It runs.. for a few seconds and dies off. mmm, try again, same results, try again, same.
(sorry about the amazing mono sound)
http://www.vimeo.com/399983
http://www.vimeo.com/399997
http://www.vimeo.com/400003
Then I say to myself "wait a freaking minute! I've read about this in the forums..." so I switch to PRI. Run it. Oh MY GOSH!!! it works. Just because I am curious, and since i'm not moving yet, I switch back to ON.. a few seconds later it dies. I am like WTF is this puzzle!
At this point I have 2 options:
A) Put in PRI, ride back to city A (where the shop that screwed my bike is.. which btw it was closed) and leave my bike :-(
or
B) PRI and keep going to where I my new home, store the bike and ask the experts at the forum. So here I am :icon_mrgreen:
Only things I can think of that the mechanic messed around with (directly related to the engine), are the valves (I wanted valves adjustment), battery and oil.
I know that if I call him next week and explain what happened, he will say something like "bring it over so I can check" which I don't want to do.. I completely lost confidence in that guy.
Suggestions?
the petcock being in prime does one thing...it constantly feeds fuel to the carbs, now when you put in in either on or res. it switches to a vacuum style fuel pump which only works when the bike is running or is being cranked on, so that being said and with your description of it running in the prime position tells us 1 of 3 things possible
1) your vacuum fuel pump went bad (these bikes are knowed for it) and you need to replace it
2) you are low on fuel and need to switch to res.
3) unlikely but easy check to make sure the vacuum lines did not came off, usually you will hear a vacuum leak.
don't go blaming the mech, for something that failled on your bike, you said he did adj. of valves, oil, and battery
if he didn't put oil in it it would seize and end up not running at all or smoke bad if it did run....so its not that, battery that bike wouldn't even crank... so not that, and finally adj of valves, If the bike was hard to start or didn't start at all, even in prime, it would be tight valves, but the fact that it does start in prime just tells me that the carbs need fuel.
if that was all your mech did then he didn't touch your fuel pump, you just need a new one, takes about 15min if that to install, gas will spill.
and if you have to, ride it in prime just make sure you turn the valve to on when parked
even though you turn the valve to on it is actually off since the valve can't work unless there is an engine pulse(vacuum) on the diaphragm, most likely the diaphragm developed a tear or hole in it and thats all it takes to not pump fuel, if your bike is older(pre-2002 or even over 5,000) consider this.
Quote from: calamari on November 23, 2007, 10:07:52 PM[...] there's plenty of gas[...]
Quote from: 04gs on November 23, 2007, 10:46:08 PM[...] most likely the diaphragm developed a tear or hole in it [...]
You can test both of these suppositions at the same time by trying Suggestion #2 by
04gs:
Quote from: 04gs on November 23, 2007, 10:46:08 PM2) you are low on fuel and need to switch to res.
Have you ever had to switch to REServe on the road before? It may be that you have simply discovered the ON-to-RES fuel level for the first time. There's nothing unusual about it
looking like there's lots of fuel in the tank at the point that you have to switch to REServe ... it can be deceiving.
I'm a big proponent of actively
trying to get down to the REServe level once in a while. Knowing how far you can ride in the ON position can be useful information. And if you're planning any LONG rides, it can also be helpful to know how far you can go on REServe before the bike dies again. At that point, you'd better either have a can of fuel strapped to the back, or hope that using the PRI position will net you a few extra miles (as it has done a couple of times on my '99) ... or have a long tube and a riding buddy with a bigger tank! :laugh:
The bike is an '05 with 8300 miles on it.
thanks for the read 04gs & Kerry. Also, I forgot to add, that once I got the bike running on PRI, I went on riding to my destination for another hour and 20 minutes (another 60 or so miles, since traffic was slow).
Only in a few ocassions I have had to switch to RES, and is only when I fell the bike starts to lose power, then I switch on the fly and get to the nearest gas station. But I am aware when this switch has to happen, because I keep a close eye on the amount of miles I get for every tank (I always reset the counter), so I pretty much know on what ride I will be switchign to RES and I am ready for it when it happens.
Previous to this time, I only switched to PRI when I was living in nevada and I wanted to start the bike after heavy snow during cold weather. But after it was running and warm and switched back to ON, I could ride forever.
Finally, I DID switched to ON once I reached my destination and turned the bike off. I read somewhere around here that if I leave it on PRI, it will flood the carbs and spill gas or something like that/.
Yeah, that would have been me who flooded the engine with the PRI position. Was an easy fix but still annoying. I'm glad someone learned from my mistakes.
Here's the link to convert to no vacuume.
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=19363.0
Well, my bike's a '95 and I had the same problem. I replaced the OEM petcock on the frame and problem-solved! That being said, on a 2005 I wouldn't expect your petcock to be a problem already.
Shortly after I replaced my petcock I thought the problem had come back; the bike was stalling out even though it looked like I had plenty of fuel in the tank. It turns out the fuel level was less than I thought - your first step should be to fill the tank right up.
To do a valve job, the fuel tank needs to be removed. My guess is that the mechanic did not fully open the tank-mounted petcock when he reinstalled the tank. As I understand it, this can also lead to fuel starvation problems. For your reference, I know Kerry has posted a great photo of the valve in question, I just can't seem to find it right now (Kerry...?). My second step would be to lift up the gas tank and verify that the valve is full opened.
p.s. kudos on reading the forum thoroughly and applying your knowledge when required; seems to me like that salvaged a trip that would otherwise have been ruined for you.
Quote from: beRto on November 24, 2007, 11:25:05 AMFor your reference, I know Kerry has posted a great photo of the valve in question, I just can't seem to find it right now (Kerry...?).
Since
calamari has over 1,000 posts I imagine he's seen this photo before ... but I'll toss it out.
From the right side of the bike, peeking under the frame
(http://bbburma.net/MiscFotos/100_1485_TankPetcockInONPosition.jpg)
And just for kicks, here's a view from the front:
(http://bbburma.net/MiscFotos/100_1300_TankPetcock_REServeTubeLabeledWithRaisedR.jpg)
Quote from: ben2go on November 24, 2007, 11:12:32 AM
Here's the link to convert to no vacuume.
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=19363.0
isnt that for the older petcock :dunno_white:
Here's how to convert the new ones, since i believe he has an 05?
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=37366.0 (http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=37366.0)
Quote from: CndnMax on November 24, 2007, 03:43:22 PM
Quote from: ben2go on November 24, 2007, 11:12:32 AM
Here's the link to convert to no vacuume.
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=19363.0
isnt that for the older petcock :dunno_white:
Here's how to convert the new ones, since i believe he has an 05?
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=37366.0 (http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=37366.0)
Thanks for posting that.I missed the year of his bike.
ok guys...
I am an IDIOT
it was the most basic of the basics... GAS :oops: :laugh:
The only variable I did not think was: The mechanic must have run the engine for a while without actually spinning the wheels... :thumb:
Here's the thing: A long while ago, I filled the tank and reseted the mileage counter right before taking the bike into the shop.
A very long time after the bike was done, I picked up and saw that it only had like 10 miles on the counter, so I assumed (incorrectly) that I still had a full tank of gas.
Well this has been both educational and embarrasing :nono:
At least I think after the reading from Kerry, 04gs, beRto and everyone else who posted... I may be ready for the REAL thing when it happens.
DUDE! I still can't believe I fell for such a cheap trick. My 2 1/2 years of riding down the drain :icon_mrgreen:
Congrats! Happens to us all. :)