I know my limitations. I was all psyched up to tear into the Suzuki to see what its intermittent problem is. By all accounts I should have been able to check a few things and eliminate those issues.
So I started by taking off the seat. Easy enough. With my owner’s manual in hand, I followed step by step the process of removing the gas tank so that I could get to the spark plug. The manual failed to mention that you have to disconnect the fuel line, speedometer, etc. to lift off the tank. Duh! I felt so stupid that I hadn’t thought of that and had no idea how to go about disconnecting these things.
My husband is the type who doesn’t wrench anything, and would rather pay a professional who knows what they are doing (sometimes). So he wasn’t much help, and kept recommending that I hang up the tools and take the bike to a mechanic.
Meanwhile, I proceeded to remove my battery, fill up the cells and put it back in. No problem. That was all I could check because I couldn’t get past the gas tank. I decided to order an owners repair manual, but only could locate one online for my particular motorcycle and it was $65.00. I am considering ordering it, but then I hope to get a larger bike in the near future. Maybe I’ll just take it in……
So yesterday I rode to work again. The idle is running fast, but still occasionally wants to die when I come to a stop. I want to take a long ride over the Labor Day weekend so hope the bike will keep up with me. We’re hoping to take a ferry ride over to one of the islands and ride around there. Washington State Ferries are great fun. Motorcyclists are first on, loaded in front of the boat. Then they are first off when it arrives on the other dock. There is no waiting and a lot less expensive than going in a car.
So the saga continues. I looked at new motorcycles online today……hmmmm…..what do I want? Harleys are talking to me, but now BMWs look pretty good. Must decide.
Showing posts with label troubleshooting motorcycle problems. Show all posts
Showing posts with label troubleshooting motorcycle problems. Show all posts
Troubleshooting my motorcycle this weekend
It has come down to this. I am going to have to tear into my motorcycle this weekend and see what is going on with it.
About two months ago I was riding to work regularly when the weather was nice. I stopped at a red-light in town one morning and I was first in line. All of a sudden my bike just died. That had never happened before. I couldn’t start it up right away. It would just wind and wind but not turn over. Before the light turned green I rolled it over towards the sidewalk on the corner of the street. Now that I was out of traffic it still wouldn’t start. I looked across the side street and saw a parking lot. I assumed I would have to call someone. So I rolled across the street, luckily there was a slight downward slope. I parked it, waited a couple of minutes and finally wound it up, gave it a good rev and she started up. I went on to work from there, muttering to myself along the way.
I took it home and read the owners manual. I decided to adjust the idle screw because it didn’t seem to be idling fast enough to keep going. I turned it a little until I could hear the engine sound like it would keep running. It had been fine until yesterday.
The Suzuki had always been very dependable especially since I bought her new back in 2005. It’s a Boulevard S-40, the smallest in that series. I did have to fill up the brake fluid reservoir after about a year of riding. It turned out the front brake pads were down to nothing after only 1400 miles. I do shift down to slow the bike so I was pretty surprised to see them shot so soon. I bought new ones and put them on, with a little help from my husband. I then filled the fluid reservoir and they have been perfect ever since. I think the first ones were paper thin to start with….
The other thing I did was adjust the tension of my drive belt which I love because you never need to lube it. I’ve changed the air filter and, of course, added oil. I have all the stuff to change the oil so will be doing that soon. It’s due around 4000 miles and I’m at 3600 miles now.
Tomorrow I plan to check the spark plug, and look at the carburetor. The bike only has one spark plug, but it is under the gas tank. I’ll have to lift it up to get to the plug. The seat has to come off to get to everything else. I like working on the bike if I can figure out what to do. I always refer to the manual, which has been pretty helpful so far. Now I’m not sure what the problem is. The bike died again twice yesterday at stoplights on my way back to work after meeting friends for lunch. I adjusted the idle up once again to make sure I could get home.
The other thing it is doing is hesitating a little like a bucking bronco in lower gears. When I get up past 4th gear it seems Ok. It also backfires a lot more while going downhill. I am not sure what is going on but I ride it all year and use good gas always.
If anyone has a suggestion of what else I should try, let me know. I hate to take the bike to the Suzuki dealers. They don’t respect the smaller bikes and the last time they gave mine back to me with big greasy handprints all over my tank! As you can see its white – I was not happy. Grrrrrr. I take very good care of my ride and I’m proud of it. I will take it to a different dealer next time that I can’t do something myself.
Meanwhile, I’m having fun trying….
About two months ago I was riding to work regularly when the weather was nice. I stopped at a red-light in town one morning and I was first in line. All of a sudden my bike just died. That had never happened before. I couldn’t start it up right away. It would just wind and wind but not turn over. Before the light turned green I rolled it over towards the sidewalk on the corner of the street. Now that I was out of traffic it still wouldn’t start. I looked across the side street and saw a parking lot. I assumed I would have to call someone. So I rolled across the street, luckily there was a slight downward slope. I parked it, waited a couple of minutes and finally wound it up, gave it a good rev and she started up. I went on to work from there, muttering to myself along the way.
I took it home and read the owners manual. I decided to adjust the idle screw because it didn’t seem to be idling fast enough to keep going. I turned it a little until I could hear the engine sound like it would keep running. It had been fine until yesterday.
The Suzuki had always been very dependable especially since I bought her new back in 2005. It’s a Boulevard S-40, the smallest in that series. I did have to fill up the brake fluid reservoir after about a year of riding. It turned out the front brake pads were down to nothing after only 1400 miles. I do shift down to slow the bike so I was pretty surprised to see them shot so soon. I bought new ones and put them on, with a little help from my husband. I then filled the fluid reservoir and they have been perfect ever since. I think the first ones were paper thin to start with….
The other thing I did was adjust the tension of my drive belt which I love because you never need to lube it. I’ve changed the air filter and, of course, added oil. I have all the stuff to change the oil so will be doing that soon. It’s due around 4000 miles and I’m at 3600 miles now.
Tomorrow I plan to check the spark plug, and look at the carburetor. The bike only has one spark plug, but it is under the gas tank. I’ll have to lift it up to get to the plug. The seat has to come off to get to everything else. I like working on the bike if I can figure out what to do. I always refer to the manual, which has been pretty helpful so far. Now I’m not sure what the problem is. The bike died again twice yesterday at stoplights on my way back to work after meeting friends for lunch. I adjusted the idle up once again to make sure I could get home.
The other thing it is doing is hesitating a little like a bucking bronco in lower gears. When I get up past 4th gear it seems Ok. It also backfires a lot more while going downhill. I am not sure what is going on but I ride it all year and use good gas always.
If anyone has a suggestion of what else I should try, let me know. I hate to take the bike to the Suzuki dealers. They don’t respect the smaller bikes and the last time they gave mine back to me with big greasy handprints all over my tank! As you can see its white – I was not happy. Grrrrrr. I take very good care of my ride and I’m proud of it. I will take it to a different dealer next time that I can’t do something myself.
Meanwhile, I’m having fun trying….
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