Hi everyone, last week, I was riding on some fire roads and hit some whoops. As I gassed it, the bike suddenly lost all power and suddenly lost RPMs. It wouldn't hold RPMs above maybe 2000, and eventually shut off after about 10 seconds or so. I tried to start with no luck -- both with choke on and off.

I then tried bump starting it downhill in 3rd gear. The engine sounded like it was struggling to get above 2000-3000RPMs (almost like it just couldn't spin any faster, even if I had the speed going downhill) but could not get started. Eventually, the battery became low. I used a jumper pack but still couldn't get it started.

I called for help and about 2 hrs later, I stuck my jumper pack on it, just to test it, and amazingly, it started right up -- like nothing happened. I rode back 10 miles with no issues. Completely normal. Today, I fired up the bike and it's completely normal.

At first, I thought maybe the battery cable was loose -- so I loosened it while the bike was running and it didn't seem to affect anything. Then, I thought the spark plug may have been bad, but for the bike to be running normal again with the same plug, seems to defeat that theory.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

 

Do you still have the kick stand kill switch enabled or have you bypassed it? Bouncing thru whoops may have caused side stand to move a little and open up the switch or if its bypassed and the wires are just twisted together maybe loosing contact "take off the tape and solder them together. Either way might be worth a look.

 

I've had that happen to me, turns out there was trash in the float bowl on my CVK carb.

When I would hit a whoop and catch a little air, it was enough to stir everything up and block fuel flow. Once I got it to clear, it ran great until the next time I caught a little air.

I finally pulled the bowl and there was plant matter in there from an unsuccessful water crossing a few weeks before. I didn't have the T-mod installed on the carb vent lines and I sucked up a bowl full of water (and all the crap stirred up by other bikes) and stalled it during the crossing.

Blew everything out and she has been running like a champ ever since.

 

Checking that switch is a very good idea and so is the issue of junk in the carb bowl. I've seen that issue occur when you have a tip-over too where something in the bottom of the float bowl gets into the main or needle jet. Check the switch first, and check the carb if that doesn't appear to be the issue.

 

Thanks for the ideas guys. When I was starting the bike, the starter was cranking, but the engine wouldn't start. Do you guys still think it could be the kickstand? My understanding is that the kickstand prevents the starter from even cranking.

What about anything ignition related? The weird thing was when I tried bump starting, the bike acted like it wanted to start but couldn't go above a certain rev and wouldn't start.

 

Based on the symptoms you're fuel describing, I would suspect a blockage in the jets in the carb. Pull the float bowl

 

And while you're in there, make sure you have good flow from the tank to the carb. Cycle the petcock a couple times while pouring fuel into a catch can.

 

Thanks for everyone's help! I believe it was the kickstand switch. During the whoops, I think the switch activated and shut the bike off. I didn't realize this and probably kept trying to gas it, thinking that the bike was bogging down, when it actually was just merely revving because I still had some speed.

This caused the bike to flood and therefore I could not start it even after the kickstand switch was okay. All of this was compounded by my crappy battery which only let mean try to start it maybe 20 to 30 times, even with the jumper pack.

2 hrs later, the gas dissipated and I was able to start again.

I short circuited the switch and yesterday, rode 60 miles in the desert with no issues.

Thanks again for all the help.

 

Congrats on the fix.
Now just remember to always put the kickstand up before taking off.
Happy riding!

 

You mean I was right about something. Hey be sure and let my wife know I was right