Total Motorcycle Community Forums

OK, total newbie here with limited mechanical experience. I have had my motorcycle for about 8 months now with really no problems. But today on the way to work the engine started acting up, chugging and running sluggish and then just died in mid-ride. I coasted to the side of the road and tried to start it, but it didn't turn over. Had to to pull out the choke to get it started and it still ran sluggish and threatening to die on me, almost like it was running out of gas but I still have over half a tank. I chugged another 1/4 mile to work before it died again. I have no service history on this bike, but it only has 8K miles and appears fine. Can you help?

P.S. I live in Vegas, dry heat, no moisture etc.

OK, just went out to my bike at lunch and now it won't start up even with the choke out. It trys to start, chugging and spitting out a little black smoke, but won't turn over. Uh..... After reading the forums here I guees I will try to pull the spark plugs and see what they look like. Can anyone help? Suggestions?

yeah pull your plugs and you can kind of diagnose how your engine has been running by the look of them. engine needs three things to run. Air, Gas and Spark. You're missing one of them.

OK, I replaced the sparkplugs with brand new ones, and there is no change in the engine. With the choke out I get it started (barely) but it idles VERY low. Keeping the choke out I give it a little throttle hoping to "warm it up" enough that it runs like normal. After a minute it dies out again. Im at a loss here guys. Oh, I also took out the air filter and gave it a quick hit with compressed air, although it still looks in very good shape.

What really has me baffled is that NOTHING was changed with the bike. It didn't sit out in the rain, or wasnt tipped over, etc.

sharpmagna wrote:yeah pull your plugs and you can kind of diagnose how your engine has been running by the look of them. engine needs three things to run. Air, Gas and Spark. You're missing one of them.

Of the two old spark plugs, the right one had significantly more buildup than the left.

Try opening the gas cap to see if there is a vaccum in there. Also have a look for an inline fuel filters that may be plugged. Is there a fuel pump that may not be putting out enough gas? Or the petcock could be screwed up and not letting enough fuel pass. These will be the easiest things to check.

I ride a V-Star, and mine did the same thing, turns out I got a load of water in the gas from our local Marathon station. You can check for water in the gas by draining the carbs and taking a good look at what comes out. This may or may not be the problem, take it as a suggestion.

mindspa24 wrote:OK, total newbie here with limited mechanical experience. I have had my motorcycle for about 8 months now with really no problems. But today on the way to work the engine started acting up, chugging and running sluggish and then just died in mid-ride. I coasted to the side of the road and tried to start it, but it didn't turn over. Had to to pull out the choke to get it started and it still ran sluggish and threatening to die on me, almost like it was running out of gas but I still have over half a tank. I chugged another 1/4 mile to work before it died again. I have no service history on this bike, but it only has 8K miles and appears fine. Can you help?

P.S. I live in Vegas, dry heat, no moisture etc.

There is a great group on the internet that you may want to ask about your V STar issue.
I own an 85 Honda NIghthawk 650, but will hope to get my 650 V Star in the coming months.
I hope this resouces helps you out! Email them and they are very friendly and always willing to help ( as well as give great tips on Modifications.
http://www.650ccnd.com/

OK guys great suggestions. By the way, a friend told me he had a similar problem and corrected it by charging his battery. So I pulled it, doubtful though, and had it charged. No change.

Now I just need to figure out a way to get my bike home so I can do what you have suggested. I can't drain carbs and such in the parking lot at work.

Well, I'll post again when I have more news.

Do you guys think my problem might be the battery? I know it was charged, but by a friend of a friend who's not really a mechanic or anything, just happened to have a charger. And they left it on for like 4 hours. It just seems like it might be. Like how it will start after sitting for a bit then die. And then won't turn over again until it sits awhile again. Plus when it dies you get that kind of whining sound like from the starter? I'm not familiar with how this works on bikes, I assume its different from a car with a charging system and alternator. What are your thoughts? If its a possibility maybe I should pull the battery and have it tested.