Engine trouble, im new at this pls help

[hahaman115]

Hey guys (and girlies
just got into biking a couple of weeks ago, got myself a suzuki vl intruder. she's a beaut and iv had very little trouble with her but started to find a few things that are puzzlin me. i had my cbt monday before last and then a few days later took her on a 100 mile trip down to aberystwyth, fantastic scape but all too distracting. on the way back a couple of days later i dropped her on a corner while it was pouring it down, completely misjudged the grip to my major shame.
iv had her checked over and fixed up by a grage but since then whenever i put her into neutral after abit of a ride she cuts after very little time, will do it in 1st too if i hit lights or whatever. im afraid i was a bit of an idiot and run her (not sure for how long but cud have been well over 200 miles) without any engine oil . now iv filled her up but when i checked her after work the oil had gone bk dwn below the min, after being at max when i filled her. is it pos iv screwed the engine with my antics?
Any advice wud really help me out guys, all the best on ur travels and thanks for lookin
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Forever changing, all we do is lay back and let the road come to us

[johnnyfaro]

Right, I could be wrong but I think your problem may be unrelated to the lack of oil. I also doubt that if you had run it with no oil it would have made 200 miles without seizing.

If i get this right when you have it in neutral the engine cuts out, what exactly happens does it slowly die or just cut out. Is it when you go back into gear?

[buddy]

do you mean it cuts out when you leave it idleing(just sitting still with the engine not revving)?
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When this baby hits 88 miles per hour... you're gonna see some serious shit.

[hahaman115]

when it happens it does so slowly, you can certainly tell when its about to happen so i tend to rev it up. it also goes on the change into 1st on occasion, and it wil keep doing it until i rev the hell out of it on the switch, not so good for the engine me thinks.
to top it all off my panic about the oil i think has caused me to do yet more damage cos being an idiot i didnt realise the sidestand wud affect the accuracy of the window thing (tongue in lip moment) and i now reckon iv over filled it, checked it out after more than 2 hours and it looked way up again. apart from anything iv heard this can be pretty bad for the engine, any suggestions?
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Forever changing, all we do is lay back and let the road come to us

[Burnzy1989]

[CBA]

so it conks out all by itself when left to idle, and when you select 1st without revving the engine.

and its been on its side...


clean the sparkplug,
check the battery electrolyte level (acid), if it's good give it a charge to be on the safe side and try it with a clean sparkplug and fully charged battery...

if the battery is low on acid because it has leaked then refill with acid.
you only use deionised water when the battery has not leaked and the level has dropped "naturally"

[Pete.]

I'm going to start a campaign to reduce school summer holidays from 6 weeks to 6 days. Looks like the country needs it


Aside from that, if you have over-filled the engine, just drain some out. Remember, always check the oil on level ground. Get someone to hold the bike upright and check the sight glass. It has all the accuracy you need so use that to set the level and check it weekly. If you had run it dangerously low your 200-mile run would have killed it so stop worrying about that.

The point about the battery electrolyte is a good one. Check the battery level and if it has leaked a significant amount you'll have to get a battery place to top it up or replace it.

If the bike is running poorly ever since it went over then you might have debris from inside the tank blocking the carb a bit. Remove the float bowl and slosh it out with some petrol. Check the jets are clear. If you have an inline-filter in the fuel line then this won't be your problem. It could be something as simple as the idle adjustment needs looking at especially if the garage cleaned out the carb.
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[lozzypop1]

If you checked the oil after riding it back from work, a lot of the oil might still be stuck up in the engine? Let it stand for a fair while before checking it.

Oh and everything Geri says too!
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Funny, I used to hate being spanked as a child!
Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.