Up and died.

[Pat Conlon]

Are you sure it's fuel related?

[movenon]

I am not sure of anything Pat ! I gave some thought to electrical but haven't came up with any good ideas that fits his description.  There could be a mouse in the air box for all I know.  Any ideas ?
George

[JPaganel]

Are you sure it's fuel related?

It feels and sounds like it runs out of gas. Can't be the air - I tried it without the air filter, did the same thing.  I suppose it could also be ignition cutting out, but why would it cut out at 3K RPM?

There could be a mouse in the air box for all I know.

Airbox has been inspected by one of my cats while I was working on this. No mice were reported. 

[FJmonkey]

Airbox has been inspected by one of my cats while I was working on this. No mice were reported. 

[oldktmdude]

Airbox has been inspected by one of my cats while I was working on this. No mice were reported. 

You obviously haven't started your bike with the clutch slave off yet, hence the cat still hangs around your bike!   Pete. 

[FJmonkey]

You obviously haven't started your bike with the clutch slave off yet, hence the cat still hangs around your bike!   Pete. 

Now that is damn funny dude... 

[Capn Ron]

Aaaand... FAIL.

Started perfect, warmed up. Idled great. Crapped at 3K RPM, like clockwork.

I like a good puzzle...  You say above that the engine quit at 3,000 RPM "like clockwork", but in your original post you mentioned 4,000 RPM.  If it's always happening at EXACTLY a specific RPM...and at ANY time (30 seconds after start up...20 minutes after start up...sitting in the driveway...going down the road but ALWAYS at exactly 3k) then I would suspect something other than fuel...such as electrical.  grounds, coils, plugs, ignitor, etc...  If it sometimes happens at 3k...then at 4k...then at some other RPM, then you're on the right track looking at something less precise in its delivery such as fuel.

It shouldn't be hard to temporarily replace the entire tank. petcock, vacuum switch and fuel lines to the carbs with a bottle full of fuel and a bit of hose.  That would split the problem in half anyway..."TO the carbs or FROM the carbs?"  If the problem persists (and you're convinced it's fuel delivery issues), then it's time to look at specific carb culprits...

Cap'n Ron. . .

[JPaganel]

4K was before. 3K was the last time I tried it.

The bike warms up normally. Then, once warm and with choke pushed in, it idles just fine.

I have not completely ruled out electrical. I have just installed heated grips. They are wired into the loose green connector on the right side of the bike that gets power with key on. AFAIK, it's some emissions thing I don't have because it's not a Cali model. and there is nothing else tied into it, it's just switched power. The grips are turned off, so they shouldn't really affect anything, but I'll try pulling the fuse and see if it makes a difference.


I am really not convinced of anything. I am just annoyed and frustrated. This kind of stuff is exactly why carburetors suck. Easier, my foot. 

[JPaganel]

I wonder if the guy who wants a rev limiter in the next thread over would want to trade bikes...

[andyb]

Pull a plug or four and see what they tell you, after holding it where it's unhappy.

[JPaganel]

So, before I continued with all manner of messing around, I decided to get a good baseline. So, I drained not only the carbs, but the tank, as dry as it could get.

Lo and behold, with fresh gas it started and ran. 

One hitch was that after cleaning out the dirt in the emulsion tubes the carbs got out of sync. Idle hunted around 2K after warmup. 15 minutes with the trusty sub-$10 sync tool, and idle settled rock solid. Except it was a rock solid 1500 RPM. Dang, that idle screw is a pain to reach... Lowered it to about 900 or so.

Runs great now. Except that really annoying buzz from a crack in the fairing, it's super smooth. Clean carbs are happy carbs. 


Also, I found some silicone 10mm fuel line on eBay. We'll see how that works out. Mine is still good, but it's starting to develop cracks around the edge.

[FJ1100mjk]

Also, I found some silicone 10mm fuel line on eBay. We'll see how that works out.

Go for it, but you might want to keep in mind that silicone tubing doesn't rate too well for usage with gasoline.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#5034kac/=ryob9k

Fluorosilicone tubing is better.

[JPaganel]

Go for it, but you might want to keep in mind that silicone tubing doesn't rate too well for usage with gasoline.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#5034kac/=ryob9k

Fluorosilicone tubing is better.

The stuff I ordered is not "high purity white silicone", but I can take a piece of it, stick it in  jar of gasoline for a while and see what happens.

[FJ1100mjk]

The stuff I ordered is not "high purity white silicone", but I can take a piece of it, stick it in  jar of gasoline for a while and see what happens.

Some more information on its compatibility...

Select silicone as the material, gas (unleaded, or leaded) for the chemical, see rating.

http://www.coleparmer.com/Chemical-Resistance

Report back with your test results. I'm interested.