VMCgirl

So, my less than 1 mile ride home from work took me over ten minutes.

My bike was a little fishy on the way home on Sunday - it kept revving while I was going a constant speed. I know I'm not the most graceful on the throttle, but I couldn't recreate it even if I tried. Today I went to start it up and when I turned the key to ON, I got nothing - no lights, no gauges. Turned key off, turned key back on and everythings fine. So I get out of work and the same thing happens, only this time it doesn't want to start. Finally starts and I start going down the road and it's just not right. It get no gas (picture me, Fred Flinstone like, pushing while still on) and then a ton of gas and rev's like crazy because I've got the clutch in. All this while I'm going about 5 mph, just trying to get the thing home. Also, the entire time, I've got my blinker on, and it keeps going on and off irregularly.

I'm no wiz with bikes, so please help me out.

The fuel and air delivery is regulated by some electronics, is it not? With the blinker doing what it's doing and the on/off funny thing, I'm guessing that I've got a loose connection somewhere, right?

If so, what connection would it be and where can I start troubleshooting?

VMCgirl

I guess since it's all power related my first instinct would be to check the battery...

coyotee

girl i know how you feel.... unfortunately i cant help but i did want to express my sympathies...

bmxracer

When the bike loses engine power do the lights go out as well?

bmxracer

I would definately start with the battery connections.

SLAMD

yep, that would be my first guess.if its not, let us know.

OrganDonor

when you say it was revving at a constant speed, you mean the tach was going nuts? yeah, they do that, then they won't turn back on. On the right side, under the seat and behind the gas tank, behind the plastic, there is a relay and fuse, one of the two is bad. if it is the relay, easy check, turn the key on, and smack the side of the bike, it will come back to life. If it doesn't, change the fuse.

Ninjadude

Corrine......your fuel delivery is completely mechanical on your bike. No electrics with carburetors. Also, check to be sure noone messed w/your idle speed adjusting ****. That will make it rev by itself. It does sound like you have a bad connection/switch in your electrical system too. Hope that helps

Littleguy

This is what I think...

1.) Check your battery connections to make sure they're tight.
2.) Get a volt-meter and place it across the battery terminals. You should get a voltage of 10VDC to 12VDC. If it is lower, it might be a bad battery or your stator/bridge rectifier is bad.
3.) Start the bike and check the voltage again. It should read 13.0 VDC to 13.8 VDC. If it is higher, the bridge rectifier is bad and the battery is probably toast. If it is still lower, your stator is bad.
4.) Your throttle speed is another thing. Check to make sure the inside of your grip isn't too close to the throttle housing. (I noticed that a couple of times on your bike.) If so, pull it back away. Otherwise, you might have throttle cable problems. You probably should lube them (there are 2). But you should also check to make sure one hasn't come off your linkage by the carbs. The only other thing is to make sure the cables aren't being pinched. Check the two throttle cables along with your choke cable. Any one of the three could be the problem.

If you have any questions on how to do it, let me know and I'll give you a call.

bill parr

if it kept rving up by it self it is most likely a carb problem. stuck float bowl valve or dirty jetts. that doesnt explain what happened when you turned your key on the next day though. good chance thats a dead batt. possibly caused by a bad connection. plus most bikes only charge when you are over 2000 rpm's or so. so if the rpms kept dipping or were very irratic that could have caused it.

OrganDonor

guys, it is an F2, it is the fuse on the starter solenoid, when it blows, it loses current to the tach, so it just bounces around looking like it is revving. After you turn the key off, nothing happens when you turn it back on.

VMCgirl

I thought about that after I posted it. If there was a loose connection to the battery, would it be possible that the plugs weren't getting the signal to fire, and thus weren't firing as they should? If so, that would explain why yesterday it would barely move and then get a ton of gas.

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'm hoping to get some time to take a look at it tonight.

VMCgirl

Here's where I'm at -

I took the plastics off and removed the seat. Bike started just fine today like nothing was wrong. Shook the hell out of the battery while the bike was running and nothing spectacular happened (guessing its not a bad battery connection). While I was in there, I THINK I found the fuse and relay OrganDonor was talking about (little white plastic box with 2-3 wire coming in?) Tried to remove it from it's housing but I couldn't. The ground right next to it looked fine though.

The only thing that I did notice was that while it was running, the lights tended to dim a little irradically. I would have put it in gear and saw how she ran out of neutral, but I managed to split my shorts from the waist clear down to the crotch so I had to come up and change...

So - bad connection somewhere else or maybe an alternator on the fritz?

bill parr

could be, do you have a shop service manual for the bike? if you do you can get a volt/amp tester from your local auto parts store, the book will tell you what each wire should be putting out.

VMCgirl

No service manual. Not even an owners manual.

Littleguy

Just a thought.... Check for a fuel filter. Just follow the fuel line out of the tank to the carbs. There might be a filter in the line. If so, replace it. They're usually less than $10. But if your bike isn't "sputtering", that's probably not it. But try the voltage test on the battery. That will tell you if it's the charging system or not. The only other thing is that it may be a vaccum leak. That would take another set of tests...

VMCgirl

I'm checking out a voltmeter from work today and testing the battery over the weekend. If its not the battery, that little f**ker is going to Engleharts come Monday.

Driver

did you get your bike figured out yet?hopeffully its notheing major,well at least you have one,iam still saveing,well just thought id drop you a line have a good day ray ray

VMCgirl

Bike is still FUBAR. Well, not necessarily beyond all repair, but definately not rideable.

It's for sure an electrical problem. It's not an alternator or an fuel filter problem, because sometimes I don't have lights or gauges when the key is in the on position and the bike isn't even running yet.

Going to take some time on Sunday to check all the terminals and grounds that I can.

OrganDonor

Or check that relay on the right side behind the plastic under the seat, it is gold colored with two large wire bolted to the top of it, it hangs in a rubber holder and has a fuse on the side of it. When the fuse blows or the relay dies with the bike running, the tach starts reading erratically, you lose power and when you turn the bike off, nothing happens when you turn the key back on.