went to santa barbara from santa monica via pch on sunday. For the return trip we took the 101 back. Going up the mountain, in between camarillo and thousand oaks, my bike dies. I started noticing my revs going down so I lowered the gear for more power. that worked for a bit then I noticed it again. The needle started going all the way down so I lower the gear again. this time The bike over revs and then starts to die. The bike died on me a couple times ago going up hill on the 405 to L.A. I have been able to avoid this problem by moving the petcock to prime when I go on the freeway. This time that didn't work. I towed the bike home. Now it won't start. I hear this clicking sound but no connection or engine noise at all. Any suggestions as to what to do or fix to get it to start again?
Sounds like a typical failing of the vacuum petcock. Check the fuel lines and vacuum lines to the petcock. If you search on this site, there are several threads on how to fix it and what other options you have.
As far as the clicking, that sounds like a dead battery. Either charge it or replace it.
domokun!
If your bike does not turn over at all. Sounds to me that you have a frozen engine.
OK my money is on fuel flow. Prime might help, but if you had less fuel in the tank, or a bad vent in the tank or somehow even prime isn't working... there is your problem.
Cool.
Srinath.
I have another idea here. Check your airfilter, are you running stock filter or pods? If you have overfilled your oil the oil can come out of the breather hose and clog the filters, especially going uphill. This has happened to me. However I was always able to get the bike up and running after a few minutes. Still, probably worth a quick look.
just an idea but is there any possible way the gas could freeze in your carbs? I don't know how cold it gets over there but a little grime could possibly freeze in cold weather.
The bike was on prime when it died so switching it to prime isn't an option. I run stock air filters so I'll take a look at that...my fuel hose...I'll take a look at that too. My friend said to check for fuses under my battery, I don't even know if I have fuses under the battery. As for it being too cold? No way. It's California man. January is still beach weather.
I don't have work on Monday so I can fiddle with the bike then. So if gas or oil or the air filter is the main problem, the bike will start again when I replace or fix the part? Right now I turn on the key and the headlight goes on but trying to start it just gives me this clicking sound.
Charge the battery.
Did you ever get this problem fixed? I'm having a similar problem with hills, I think my float settings might be off because I run a Pingel straight to the carbs (shouldn't have fuel delivery problems)
I had a similiar problem and posted about it a while back. I fixed mine by buying a new petcock. But, I have a buddy who brought his 85 Kawa 900 over the other night with similiar problems. We talked to a buddy who is the local carb/fuel expert in the area and he suggested getting a petcock rebuild kit from the local bike shop. So we did, and it worked like a champ. I don't know if such a thing exists for our bikes...but it might be worth looking. The kit was $12 and replaced all of the gaskets/valves in the petcock. It was a 10 minute fix after draining the tank.