Total Motorcycle Community Forums

hey there. I'm a new rider and I was on my way to work today. Everything seemed to be fine and then I was about 3 miles away from home and the bike turned itself off. I had some momentum going so at least I could get over to a safe place and park on the side of the road and wait for a tow truck.

So, now I'm at work hours late and I'm wondering what could have caused this to happen. It will start sometimes but then turn off after about 10 seconds to a minute. I've tried giving it some choke, giving it extra gas, etc doesnt work. The towing guy was pretty sure the battery was ok, plus if the battery was the problem wouldn't it not start in the first place?

Any ideas of where to start looking are GREATLY appreciated. Thanks so much!

um, gas in the tank?

could be a clogged tank vent. if the tank can't 'breathe', you can get vapor lock, which won't allow fuel to flow, starving the bike.

Gadjet wrote:um, gas in the tank?

could be a clogged tank vent. if the tank can't 'breathe', you can get vapor lock, which won't allow fuel to flow, starving the bike.

Yeah... there is definitely gas in the tank. and to be safe I tried using the reserve gas and it was the same thing.

clogged tank vent however.... I'll have to look into that when I get home.

thanks!

In my experience, this kind of problem is usually a loose ground cable. The fact that it cuts off intermittently makes it seem like it's more an electrical problem anyway. Just make sure the ground cable (on the negative side of the battery) is firmly tightened down - both to the post of the battery and to the ground point (Probably the frame)

TechTMW wrote:In my experience, this kind of problem is usually a loose ground cable. The fact that it cuts off intermittently makes it seem like it's more an electrical problem anyway. Just make sure the ground cable (on the negative side of the battery) is firmly tightened down - both to the post of the battery and to the ground point (Probably the frame)

Thats what the towing guy was saying about the ground cable. We tried moving it a bit and that didn't help. It seemed to be tight. I'll check that as well. Maybe I should disconnect/reconnet it to make sure?

My bike was doing the same thing one time when I went out to start it... Intermittent power followed by nothing, then more... Turns out it was just a loose coupling of the power cords right off of the battery, might want to look at those too...
Wrider

It's not the battery or the ground cable being loose. I brought the battery to honda and they said it was low, but holding it's charge. They charged it all day just in case. I just re-installed the battery and it still won't start.

I'm not sure where the fuel filter is...I cant seem to find it in the service manual...? I was going to check the spark plugs as well, but I can't get them to loosen up at all. I either need to really put my weight into it (is that safe? will I break the plug?) or I need a wrench with more torque to check the plugs.

The fluids are fine, the coolant is on the lower end, but still within where it should be. I'll add some more soon though.

It doesn't sound "right" when it tries to start. I don't really know how to describe the sound, it's not quite sputtering, but similar. If the motorcycle could talk I imagine it would be saying this:

"All right it's time to go! ... oh wait, maybe not. Something feels weird, but I think I can do it! No wait...I can't (I use the throttle) OH YES, I really can do it...oh wait, nevermind. Well ok... I'll try to do it.. ah the hell with it" and then it shuts off.