today's bike fettling

yes, me, really.

I identified and solved a problem with my bike.

The last time (about a month ago) I rode the LC4, it seemed to
run...oddly, as if it were sort of thinking about cutting out, but
kept going anyway.

I tried to start it last week, but although the starter motor cranked
over, there was no sign of the engine catching - felt like it was out
of fuel, though it was in fact about 1/4 full (and yes, I checked the
kill switch and the fuel switch).

Anyway, I wheeled it the 200m down the road to the petrol station to
pump up the front tyre (it has a very slow puncture) and put some
fresh petrol in.

After paying for the fuel, I hopped on hopefully, and thumbed the
starter. Started first churn, and I rode it home (naughty, no helmet!)

Once back, wheeled around to wear I park it, and experimentally tried
to start it again. Same as before - no dice whatsoever.

But I sorted it today.

So: points to win on this one: what was the problem, and why would a
problem like this occur in the first place?

A clue, because I'm feeling generous: nothing at all to do with the
previous problem I had with the sidestand switch.

 

Fuel starvation caused by a blockage in the little hole in the filler
cap?

Opening the filler cap allowed fuel to flow, but it was all used up by
the time you got home.

 

----

The brain soon starts to die when you stop exercising it.

Vacuum lock due to a spider in the petrol cap vent?

 

not even in the right ball park. Did you not read the bit where I said
I put fresh petrol in?

 

I did. Still, I can wallow in the glory that I had exactly the same
prognosis as Krusty and Champ, however wrong it was )

 

Oh. That's three of us with the same suggestion, so three of us wrong
then.

By 'all used up' he meant all the fuel that had flowed into the carb
while the cap was open, not all the fuel in the tank.

 

that's 3 of you going with a fuelling problem. Not even slightly
close.

I'll give it another 10 minutes, just in case someone can think
outside the box.

 

Thanks for explaining what I meant better than I can!

 

Split HT lead? Wet weather causing problems & arcing etc.

--


Nige,

BMW K1200S (for sale)
Range Rover Vogue
Suzuki GSX-R600 Racebike (for sale)
Honda ST1100 Pan European

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, darsy

Does it have an immobiliser?

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - "He's hopeless, but he's honest"

I have already made the greatest contribution to the fight against climate
change that I can make: I have decided not to breed. Now quit bugging me and
go and talk to the Catholics.

 

Ok if it's not fuel then it's sparks or compression. Can't think it's
compression, so, an electrickal problem. Has it got an immobiliser? Some
weird lecky field caused by the fact that you live underneath
100,000,000,000,000,000 volt power cables.

 

sort of.

Here goes: for some reason, utterly unknown to me (though possibly
alarm-related), it turns out that there's a microswitch underneath the
seat that stops the bike from running if it's not pressed. On the way
back from the BOSM earlier this year, the bolt that secures the seat
vibrated loose and went AWOL. This meant that contact to the switch
wasn't as tight as if the seat had been securely bolted in place. So,
intermittent contact last time I rode it led to the funny running.

Then, when I was trying to start the bike not sat on it, the switch
was completely open circuit, so the bike wouldn't start. When I popped
onto it after filling it with petrol, my weight was enough to complete
the circuit and so the bike ran; when I got it back home again and
tried starting it whilst not sitting on it, same problem as before.

So, the fix was to fucking bypass the fucking switch.

 

Injudicious use of killswitch

Idiot owner.

 

closest answer, though still off - see my reply to Champ.

 

again - close.

 

another one who can't be bothered to read all the words in the OP.

not this time!

 

You make 'em interesting and I'll read 'em.

 

interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting
interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting interesting

 

How ironic.

 

Ground sloping the wrong way ?