Engine quitting after a few minutesEngine quitting after a few minutesI don't know what the problem is. Here are a few of the symptoms. The bike quits after a few minutes of running. I have'nt taken it very far, just aroud the block. Eventually it just dies like it ran out of fuel. If I switch the headlight switch to the right it will die unless I rev it up. If I switch it to the left it will die no matter what I do. I just recently fixed the taillight. I wired it wrong the first time and it blew a fuse. I can't get the brake light to work yet. After it dies it won't start back up right away. If a wait about ten minutes it will start on the first kick. The headlights will not come on after it dies. The horn makes a very quiet noise that you can barely hear. Also the neutral light dims when you lpush the horn. The bike has'nt run in 30 years. The headlight seemed to be working properly before I hooked up the taillight. Could it be the charging system? Any advice would be great. Or just point me in the right direction. If you need more details please let me know.
Not sure if you have just an electrical problem or an engine(tuning issue) which after 30 years you probably do.Carb. cleaned, new plugs etc.Give more details on what you replaced or did to it so far.I will assume you have a new battery?Did you check battery voltage while bike is running and when revving engine?Did you make sure the ground strap to the frame is clean and tight?Does your starter work?May need to check all the connections from the stator up to the rectifier.Also, selenium rectifiers can cause a problem with charging.Myself and others have put a modern rectifier on our bikes.Also, ther are tons of posts about engine tuning, charging and electrical problems on these bikes on the site.May want to take the time to read those and you may find the answer to your problem.Not sure what you mean by turning key to left?What position is this?Are your fuel lines and carb and petcock clean?Too many things at question here.Let us know what you did or did not do.Joe
CB or CL? If CB, does it start on the button or do you have to kick it?
If it needs a kick- or a bump-start, it all smells of a duff battery; like a dead-short cell (or maybe two). Such a problem would cause the voltage to collapse to such an extent that there wouldn't be sufficient power available to keep the coils fed. Also, your other symptoms are telling me the same thing. What happens when a cell is sulphated to the point of shorting is that the alternator / dynamo is forced to feed its available voltage -- possibly as high as 30V at high RPM with no battery connected -- into a lead/acid accumulator that may only be able to accept 10 or even 8v (or maybe less!). In such a situation the battery will get hot very quickly as the 5, or maybe 4, available cells attempt to absorb the voltage that's destined for 6 cells. Come back with your own thoughts & observations. Steve Thanks for the help. I'm not very good at this sort of thing but I'm trying to learn. I charged the battery up and it ran a lot better. It has been sitting a couple of days and it started on the first kick. The bike did not die when I turned the head light on. When I started it today the battery read 11.5 volts, even after I started it. However I took it around the block and came to the stop sign it died and wouldnt start again. I tested the battery and the meter read 12.5volts. It's a brand new battery. It is a kick start. One of the cylinders has also quit on me a couple of times. I think that's a fuel problem but I'm not sure. I put in some in line fuel filters. Could that cause a problem. Its getting spark. Sorry all this stuff is so random. Just putting down what I know.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
