Spark plugs stopped working...

[dgro76]

Hi guys (new rider and new to the forum - so hi!)

I have a 2003 Suzuki Intruder (VL) 125, has done just over 5K.

The bike was laid up over winter (would run it every weekend).

I decided to take it for a quick spin one day in December, after about a mile the engine spluttered to a halt. After this it was a real pain to get started and it would never idle...

So... checked plugs - looked fine, not fouled etc... Bought a new set of plugs - started first time and ran as smooth as...

Went for a ride at the weekend and after around 20 miles the thing died on me again - managed to get it running on one cyl but that was all - trailored home. Checked plugs – nothing visually wrong with them, they have the appearance of an engine that’s perfectly tuned.

Put a new set of plugs in yesterday and guess what!? Started first time and ran fine.

I've lost confidence though as something’s causing them to “blow”…



Anyone have any idea what could be causing this?



Cheers,



Dave

[Finglonga]

Sounds like coil, HT lead/cap related issue, maybe caused by heat. Are you getting any spark at all with or without the plug in from the HT lead?
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Andy Sez....
F.Y.Y.F.F.

[veze]

yeah, i would say that something is breaking down under tension.
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tlm50,mt5,sr50. rs125 extrema, cbr 400rr nc29 suzuki gs500e.Honda cbx250 rs . FJ1200 .fz6,fjr1300

[dgro76]

OK, sounds like it may be more of a battery/charging issue...

Had a flat battery Saturday (due to all the messing around/starting I've been doing trying to figure out what the problem was)

Charged the battery and went for a spin, got half a mile down the road and it died again - wouldn't re-start even though turning over ok.

Took 20 mins to push it home, parked it up and went for a cup of tea thinking that's another set of plugs gone!. Came out - started first time.

I then ran it at idle + holding high revs for about 20 minutes at home yesterday to try to simulate the issue and guess what? It didn't die on me!!

The problem here is that I know as soon as I jump on and go for a ride, sods law it'll break down!

Any thoughts on the charging side of things? (Any suggestions would really help - I have my test (DAS) in 2 weeks and want to get as much riding in as possible!)

Cheers.

[Finglonga]

Only way is to use a test meter to see if it's charging, that is assuming you have checked the electrolyte level is ok.
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Andy Sez....
F.Y.Y.F.F.

[veze]

yup, like finglonga said.
i would check your batter is holding charge.
start the bike and let it idle. ive its a small amount of revs.
check across the battery with a multi meter while revving it. it should read about 14.5 volts DC i should think.
do your lights get brighter when you rev the engine??
the only thing that bothers me about it is that ive found that the bike batteries i have had say about 2-3 AH on them, so even if your battery wasnt charging it should be able to run for a couple of hours from fully charged to flat.
like you said, it was fine on idle, but breaks down while you ride it, which tells me that as you plugs get hotter and get put under more load from riding they are breaking down from being put under load.
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tlm50,mt5,sr50. rs125 extrema, cbr 400rr nc29 suzuki gs500e.Honda cbx250 rs . FJ1200 .fz6,fjr1300

[reckless_b]

Had a similar fault a few years back, as in cutting out but starting ok some time later, turned out to be the petrol tank breather, in the petrol cap. Quick and easy to test, when it cuts out remove the petrol cap, you will hear if it is not working, and if this is the fault will start ok once the carbs are primed.

[baldy]

Sounds a bit daft but have you cheched that the choke isn't on and the fuel is on?
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One day i will rule the world, just not today.

[dgro76]

Thanks for the responses guys...

Well, I had the day off yesterday so borrowed a friends multimeter. Stripped everthing back to first check every single connection while the bike was running - no bad connections.

Battery is holding a charge (up to 14v when the revs are slightly up, 13 when at idle).

So not a batter/charging problem then. The thing had been idling happily all day while I was testing everything, so put it back together and decided to do some U-turn practice in the road. After 5 minutes of riding round in circles it dies on me!!!!

One thing I did forget about of the petrol tank breather when it dies - I'll ride around in some more cirles after work until it dies again and check!

[dgro76]

Ha ha!

I'm really going to have to start getting used to the idea of having a 'reserve' on my fuel tap!

So I went from thinking I had a rubbish electrical problem to just not having enough fuel. What a tit.

[nowhere.elysium]

[Billing]

I did the same thing on the way home once going up a hill my bike started spluttering, I checked everything and then realised I had done 170 miles on about 4 quid! My TS50 didn't let me have reserve, the tap hit the bottom of the tank and got stuck if you tried =[
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[dgro76]

I felt such a fool getting loads of people involved in trying to figure it out!

The problem was that I'd leave it running for ages switched 'on', go for a ride and it would die, then from all the wobbling around some fuel must have been sploshing into the highter pipe and it would start again (repeat cycle).

I just assumed there was loads of fuel in there as I filled up with £5 and did around 60 miles - the reserve must kick in quite early on this bike.