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Been gone for a while - seems like I only post when I need something. Hope its okay to post this question here.

I was riding home from work today and after about 10-15 minutes the engine died while slowing down to stop and would not start. Battery is good, plenty of gas in the tank, seemed like it was firing but just wouldn't catch and run. After a long push home and rest in the garage for about an hour, it started right up.

Anyone have any thoughts on what the problem might be.

Thanks in advance.

Doug

I just had the same problem with some back firing. It was due to a high resistance in the spark plug's leads as well as a fouled spark plug.

04Rockster wrote:seemed like it was firing but just wouldn't catch and run.

Pull the spark plug out and see if it has a spark.
I think it is a "HALL SENSOR" or the side stand switch.
Good luck.

I would have to agree with TicTac, all an engine needs to run is fuel, air and spark. It's obviously got air so 1 of 3 down. Leaving fuel and spark, test them one at a time to see which is missing. From that point it get much easier to figure out how to fix it. From my recollection of the posts on the forum, issues like this are most likely spark eg. hall effect sensor or coil packs. If you don't have any luck PM me, I live close enough I'd be glad to come over and help troubleshoot. Hate too see someone deprived of their machine! Good Luck!

I had the same problem this summer. I was about 10 - 15 minutes into my ride and it died while decelerating. It started up about 30 minutes later. In my case, the dealership (now out of business) I had used to do it's 6K service did a very poor job a syncing etc...

Another common problem, might be the too tight wire ties. Here are just some of the number of threads.

http://www.r1150r.org/board/viewtopic.p ... +wire+ties

http://www.r1150r.org/board/viewtopic.p ... +wire+ties

http://www.r1150r.org/board/viewtopic.p ... +wire+ties

http://www.r1150r.org/board/viewtopic.p ... +wire+ties

TicTac50 wrote:

04Rockster wrote:seemed like it was firing but just wouldn't catch and run.

Pull the spark plug out and see if it has a spark.
I think it is a "HALL SENSOR" or the side stand switch.
Good luck.

Like TicTac said, check the plugs and hall sensor. Well, at least have the dealer check the hall sensor. Also, is the fuel pump running?

Thanks for all the advice.

Decided to ride the bike to work yesterday and today - don't have a car of my own and I thought maybe I was crazy and flooded the engine or something - since it was still running and all.

No problem yesterday, but today it died again about 200 or 300 yards from the place it died the first time - wouldn't start. Parked it, walked home, ate dinner and went back to get it and it started right up. Rode it home and now it sits in the garage.

Will try to work on it this weekend. Read about how to get to the Hall Sensor - don't think I'll be doing that myself.

Will let you know how it turns out. Let me know if anything else come to mind.

Oh yeah - the fuel pump is running - you can hear it prime when you turn on the ignition.

Thanks again,
Doug

The side stand switch brings back memories. Tried to start my bike with the stand down, boy does it do a good job of inhibiting the starting!

Another idea that comes to mind is obstructed tank venting. When the motor's running the vacuum builds up in the tank until it stops running. After sitting for a while, the vacuum slowly dissipates and the fuel pump is able to draw fuel again.

The next time it stops like this, open the tank and listen for the sound of air rushing into the tank.

The fuel filter could be blocked even if the pump is running.

Capt. Blackadder wrote:The next time it stops like this, open the tank and listen for the sound of air rushing into the tank.

This was one of the first things I thought of (had a dirt bike that had that problem) - soon as it stopped the first time, I opened the tank - unfortunately no go.

Anyway, after reading and following the advise posted here, including checking the plugs, I convinced myself that it must be a Hall Sensor. Symptoms sure seemed like it. So in a feat of daring (Taking apart a BMW seemed more daring then taking apart my $750 KLR600), I followed the instructions at this url:

http://users.rcn.com/dehager/service/oi ... ensors.pdf

Using the test in the article, both sensors passed the test. I heated them up so hot I couldn't touch them and they kept working. I was hoping they would fail. Not sure what to do now.

I guess after reassembly, I'll ride it and hope it was a loose connection, and when it fails again, I'll take it to the dealer and part with a bunch of cash (just spent ~$700 on service a month ago).

I had a similar experience twice but both times there were after fueling after riding in really foul weather. My suspicion is that I managed to allow some water to accumulate in the crack around the fuel filler port. When i opened it to fuel the bike it allowed water to run into the gas tank. As soon as i added some gas dryer the symptom went away.

So did you ever figure out the cause of the problem... My bike just did the same thing today. So here i am... Any info would be great. Could be the coil but not sure how to check it...

It's hard to troubleshoot when I don't know any specifics about your bike.

ProductUser

ProductUser wrote:It's hard to troubleshoot when I don't know any specifics about your bike.

ProductUser

I have the problem as 04Rockster... I just wanted to know if he fixed his problem or not...

I recently had a batter issue. Full tank, juice in the battery, but would not turn over, and barley power the clock.

Turned out to be a faulty ground connection somewhere downline from the battery. Probably due to lazy work by the dealer upon retreiving it from winter storage, as they remove the battery while stored.

Just another option to consider.