Losing power on the highway

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TheImp · #1 Post by **TheImp** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 4:02 pm

Today I decided to take a 30 mile highway trip. On the leg back home I was doing about 70 mph for the past half hour with little slowing down except at tolls and at one point I changed lanes and hit the throttle a little harder to pick up a little speed but when I did that it was as if the engine cut off momentarily and then fired back up. What it seemed like was fuel was not actually getting to the engine for that time. Now that could usually be a sign that I need to flip the fuel valve to reserve, but my trip odometer had only 60 miles on it since I refueled earlier in the evening so that wasn't it. When I got back to regular city street riding where I'm on and off the throttle a lot that situation didn't happen. So, I'm kind of confused as to what happened. Perhaps there were air bubbles in the fuel line or tank?

Another problem I had earlier when I was first cranking up the motor was that it wouldn't fire and the lights came on intermittently, and when it did and I hit the starter button it seemed to drain whatever voltage was in the system. (After fiddling with the ignition it eventually fired up). Tomorrow I'm going to look at the battery and top off fluid and recharge if needed, but this wouldn't have any bearing on my problem above would it? This bike is new, only a month old but I did forget my key in the ignition for about 20-25 minutes and the lights were running straight off the battery, so perhaps that amount of time was enough to drain it to the point its at now?

Thanks for some insight into this.

ZooTech · #2 Post by **ZooTech** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 4:04 pm

Sounds like a loose battery connection. Perhaps the technician that assembled the bike didn't snug 'em down well enough. If I were you, I'd give the bike a thorough once-over.

jmillheiser · #3 Post by **jmillheiser** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 4:09 pm

what he said. sounds like a loose battery cable.

camthepyro · #4 Post by **camthepyro** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 4:10 pm

I'd charge the battery, and make sure the connections are all secure.

TheImp · #5 Post by **TheImp** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 4:17 pm

thanks all, I was going to do just that in the morning when its light out, so perhaps one is related to the other here...

EDIT: Btw, this bike sucks for extended highway travel, I kept getting thrown around like a ragdoll and it wasn't even windy out either. I still love my bike though, just won't take that trip from here to orlando that I was thinking about.

Scott58 · #6 Post by **Scott58** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 6:23 pm

It does sound like battery connections. I don't think 25 minutes with the lights on would hurt a new battery. For your highway situation try a flyscreen. It makes all the difference for my Rebel on the interstate. On a light bike if you improve your aerodynamics you'll improve long distance highway riding.

Fri Apr 28, 2006 2:28 am

TheImp wrote:thanks all, I was going to do just that in the morning when its light out, so perhaps one is related to the other here...

EDIT: Btw, this bike sucks for extended highway travel, I kept getting thrown around like a ragdoll and it wasn't even windy out either. I still love my bike though, just won't take that trip from here to orlando that I was thinking about.

I agree a windshiled will help you with this and actually the smaller the bike the less trouble you'll have with wind. The bigger bikes with fairings and other things act like a sail in the wind. A couple of weeks ago we went up by Lake Ockeechobee and with was pretty windy. The bigger bikes, one of the being a Goldwing had a hell of a time with the wind, the smaller bike hardly noticed it.

CNF2002 · #8 Post by **CNF2002** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 3:10 am

Maybe you just had some water in your gas.

Mustang · #9 Post by **Mustang** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 7:03 am

I agree on the windshield......understanding that any motorcycle looks cooler without one (IMHO) but the feeling of getting blown around is night and day....

Mine goes on for highway travel and comes off on the short, around town runs.

JC Viper · #10 Post by **JC Viper** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 8:23 am

Funny, you're posting something that happened to me 2 days ago when the + terminal on my battery was loose from a crack and starting the bike would be like a crap shoot and then broke off yesterday.

Like everyone else says check the battery connections. Then check the fuses next to the battery. After that just do a routine look around such as the air filter, coolant, electrolyte level and maybe a good charge couldn't hurt as your are making sure you don't have a bigger problem on your hands.

For highway purposes a windshield is a great add-on, the only pic I have is the one under my name and you could probably see the windshield.