Yes my Teapot is poorly and we haven't the foggiest what is wrong so if anyone has any ideas we would appreciate the input!

We thought perhaps I had some dirt in the fuel, result of me (apparently) running out of petrol the other weekend - now we are beginning to wonder if I was out!. We put in fuel cleaner but no luck.

Basically we set off today and it seemed fine, then after about 10 miles or so of doing 70 up the A10, I started to lose power. I went down a couple of gears and it struggled on it's way for a mile or so at about 30 mph, then it cleared and was fine. We had a break for an hour at the cafe and all was fine when we set of for Clacton - ran fine all through the twisties and villages, then blow me just as I was coming off the A12 (after about 5/6 miles of 70 mph) I lost power again. This time changing down did no good, it cut right out. We let it cool down for 10 minutes and started off again and it was fine - all the way to Clacton and part way back and guess what - after about 10 miles of higher speed running out it went again - right out again. We came home in fits and starts. The last time it did it (on the A10) it seemed at first that changing down and getting extra power had helped, then it lost more power and I was right down to first and it started to kangaroo down the road and then cut out. After it cooled that time, I went no faster than 60 almost all the way home and got all the way home without having to stop again.

The only other odd thing is that almost every time it has done it I get terrible feedback from the radio so we are now thinking electrical fault maybe ?.

So any ideas?

Oh yes - less than 1000 miles ago it had oil change, new oil filter, air filter and plugs.

Always difficult to diagnose but I would be tempted to say a coil on the way out ?

We wondered about that but it is aa total failue not just a couple of cylinders - we are wondering about pulse generator now - must be catching if it is cos we had this problem on my GS500 too!

If the coil's mode of failure was by shorting to earth then I think it might kill all cylinders like that.

although I would have expected that then to blow fuses :/

I'm thinking coil as well.

I have heard (not experienced it myself) that they can start breaking down(?) when they get hot. I've not described that well, but basically, if they're a bit suspect, they can stop working properly when hot.

Just remebered something; when I got back on bikes, I got a 900 Trophy. This broke down on the way from the shop in a similar manner.

The culprit was a slightly loose (so I'm told) crank/TDC sensor. When the engine got hot, this caused the sensor to expand far enough awasy from the pick-up (or whatever it was) to stop everything from working. I seem to recall EB had a similar issue on his GSX a coouple of years back too.

When it's conked out and not running I'd undo the float bowl screws and see if there's any fuel in there. If you've got a prime position on the fuel tap I'd try running it on that as well as checking it's getting fuel to the carbs.
Check that you're getting a spark by taking the plugs out in turn and holding them with some dry cloth against the cylinder head while turning the engine over.
I'd check the battery voltage too. I've had some bikes that will run with a discharged battery and others that go the same way as yours when they're not charging and the battery is running low.
My first thought was that the coil is breaking down.

Cheers guys. We tried the prime position test yesterday Wilf - it still conked out. So coil checking today and a few other things!

Trouble is we can't do most checks when it is actually conked out because checking plugsfor instance, means removing the fairing and the tank - not a good idea on the side of the A10/A120 which is where it was conking out yesterday!

I could be doing the Memorial Ride in the Landy at this rate!

I'm just kinky!

Yep that was the problem and my hero Hobio has sorted me out - again! Would you believe it a kinked hose! It was soft being old and had developed a little kink which would explain why it was fine when pootling but packed up when at higher speeds. Got a new bit of hose and there we go.

Thanks for all the sugggestions - am mightily glad it ain't the electrics. RO has given it a test ride and it would appear that the radio feedback was a coincidence now, though he does say that he thinks my spark plugs/leads need a check as it is not 100 per cent (when we changed the plugs recently we did have a problem with one of them). However the major problem is cured - yippee yippee!

Doh! I should have thought of that! I had the same thing happen to the Triumphs fuel pipe a few years ago.
I'd put an inline filter on and it put a little bit more bend in the pipe but when it got hot it kinked and stopped fuel getting through. On the plus side mine croaked outside a nice pub.

Glad you got it sorted! You could have pootled up to the garage if it was before 12, we'd have had a look for ya

I had this on my BMW a few years ago.... but in reverse... when it was cold it was like running with the choke full on, then when it warmed up quite suddenly it would kick in and full power....

MM

I was going to mention fuel pipe kinking...this happened on my old GPZ where I replaced the fuel line and it was too short and was being creased in place once the tank was down. Glad you sorted it!

This appears to be the original one but it's not a desperately good design so when soft this can start to happen - keep an eye on yours! If you start having the problem look there first!

will do