First LONG ride - hauled home in defeat

So I headed out Friday on an overnight trip about 230 miles to the south of here. The bike ran great and I was getting just a hair under 50 mpg! On the way home yesterday two things happened. First, the tach needle dropped or broke off. It had been bouncing around a bit when I got up to highway speed. I assumed that was due to air infiltration. One of the dial faceplate screws was missing and it looked like it might not have been tight on one edge.

Maybe 20-25 miles after that, I suddenly started to lose power and the bike quit. After about a half an hour I was able to start it up again. I got about a mile down the road and the same thing happened. Because it was after 4:00 on a Saturday afternoon and I needed to be at work this morning, I had to call my wife to come get me with a trailer. Humiliating. Luckily, she did not make me sit on the cycle and ride the 120 miles home in the trailer.

A number of people I've spoken with have speculated that it could be a plugged filter and I'll check that out first. I have a newly rebuilt petcock plus an inline filter. I also recently cleaned the tank using electrolysis, although I rinsed it a couple of times pretty thoroughly, I think.

I'm also wondering if either the ignitor or the pickup coil could exhibit that behavior when they start to fail and perhaps are getting hot. Seems like the half hour break would have provided a cool-down period. The weather was fairly cool, so it's certainly not anything generally related to the motor getting too hot.

 

I had the same problem I was told by the knowlegable people to check the battery among other things. I had to go buy a multimeter (Sears) my battery was suppose to be new I tested the battery it read out at 11.73v enough to crank the motor strong, but not enough volts to get spark, I replaced the battery today it starts now I am happy tomorrow will be the real test I will take it out for a ride that will tell if that is the only problem Good Luck

 

Thanks for your reply, amfmtxca. Actually, my problem isn't getting it started. It dies while running. Even at that point it cranks just fine.

 

amf.... have you checked the output from the generator? If you are on a long ride, with the headlight on, it will run down the battery & just stop.

 

Check to see if the vent built into the gas cap is plugged. When it dies open the cap put the petcock on prime position and see if it starts back up. If it does you'll need to take the cap apart and clean the vent and lube the locking tabs.

MN

 

Thanks, MN. It's a brand new gas cap from Yamaha but that's easy enough to check. What the heck do you lube it with? I'm guessing that will be temporary fix no matter you use because of fuel splashing up on it.

 

I use a product called super lube. Gas can get up in there if you fill the tank up to the brim. I like to only fill mine about an inch below the bottom of the neck in there.

Even if its new don't trust it. If you have the time take it apart and double check the check ball and vent hole. I had quite the time with one of my bikes running out of gas when I knew the tank was almost full. I would open the cap or let the bike sit for awhile and it would run fine for several miles and it would start acting up.

MN

 

according to his other thread. he's got 13.5 with new battery now. not that that indicates the whole story.