Well I have had my GS now for a few weeks and have a few hundred miles.  I decided to go for my first hour long highway ride.

3 miles in my bike started to lose power on the highway.  As soon as I felt it I looked down and my oil light was on.  I hit the kill switch and got on to the shoulder.  I called my GF to come out (assuming I had ran it out of oil).  Nope, oil is right in the middle of normal.

When I found the oil to be in the middle of normal I decided to try to start it.  The starter did nothing, not even a click.  I have had that happen before after warming it up though.  I just figured the battery did not charge at idle so the other 2 times I push started it.  This time it would not push start.

It broke down a half mile from the Suzuki dealership so I had them grab the trailer and drag it to service.  We shall see.  Predictions?

Hard to say without more info. One main thing to check was it getting fuel? Did you run out of gas? Did you hit the switch? Maybe the petcock valve. As far as not starting, maybe a loose connection, bad battery, it just didn't want to go for a ride. lol

Let us know what happen.

Just talked to the dealership.  There was a lose connection going to a clutch switch.  They rode it for about 20 min and said that the carbs need to be cleaned which is understandble given the time that the bike sat before I bought it.  I am going to get new tires and a carb cleaning and will get out for about $500.  No charge for the tow and the fix on the switch.    Cool bunch of guys at Yamaha Suzuki of Texas.  Am still into the bike for under $2k.

RC

What did they say about the oil light coming on? There are 2 reasons it should come on: if you have a faulty switch or your oil pressure is tanked. Bad pump, clog in the system, etc.

It would also come on if the bike wasn't running, correct?

Clutch switch ONLY effects starting and then ONLY the use of the START button. It is merely a safety interlock on the starter button.
You can still push start.
Oil light, as mentioned before, has nothing to do with the clutch switch and means there are other issues.
Oil light will come on if bike not running because there is no oil pressure when the bike is off.

I'm wondering how close you were to hitting reserve. When the main petcock has used its fuel the bike will feel like it is dying. If you don't rectify it by switching to reserve the bike will die. You'll be rolling down the street with an engine that is actually not running. Oil light will come on.

Michael

Thanks for the replies.  I believe that the oil light was on because the bike was not running.  I stopped giving it throttle as soon as I felt a problem so I would not have known if it had still been running.  The full story as I have it on the switch is that a previous owner had jumpered it but did a shoddy job.  They did the same job but with better work.  If that would not have kept it from running (and killed it on the highway) then I suppose I have a mystery on my hands.

RC

EDIT:  mister, I checked the fuel on the side of the road and it had plenty.  I only had 100 or so miles on that tank.

Might pay to also check the sidestand switch.

Primary power harness connected to starter solenoid is starting to melt and/or has a connection issue
Had the same exact problem with PITA.

I would say generator or regulator/rectifier could also be an issue (you ran the bike on the battery until the battery died and now it wont even try to start cause it doesnt have enough juice for the starter solenoid)..... Check the voltage of hte battery and see where it is at... If it is dead it means you have something wrong with the generator and/or regulator...

Quote from: mister on December 29, 2011, 04:00:48 AM
Might pay to also check the sidestand switch.

I say bypass that switch... I know it is ment to stop you from riding with the stand down, but seems to cause more potential issues then it helps...