Me or the bike?

[Louise]

Cagiva Supercity 94

Noticed this yesterday, but thought it was just me being new to the bike.
Going out again today, I think im in 4/5th gear. Slowing down, the bike looses power all together and just runs to a stop.
Try to find netural, and I cant? It takes a while, and I mean a while.
Even leaning over and doing it with my hands wont do it.
Feels like the gears get stuck?
Then when I try to start it, it wont. Flat battery maybe, but after yesterdays 2 hours run I thought it be ok. I have no Kick start, so its bump only. (Ive just had to walk it home)

So, if anyone can help.....

1) Me going down in gear to quick make it loose power alltogether? Or is the bike playing up

2) Why cant I get into netural right away.

If anyone is in and around Portsmouth sometime, please drop us a shout. Would like someone to have 20 min ride on it to see what you think..

Louise

[davidimurray]

Hi Louise

A few thoughts -

1) How old is the fuel in the bike? Has the bike been left standing? When I bought the girlfriends bike that wouldn't run without throttle. I drained the take, cleaned the carbs and fitted a new plug then ran like a dream.

2)Has it had an oil change recently and are the oil levels correct?

3) When it won't go into gear, let the clutch just out to the biting point then pull it back in, now try going back into neutral. If the engine has stopped then try rocking the bike back and forward while in gear whilst knocking it into neutral.

4) When you say wouldn't start, what was happening ? Did the engine turn over? Have you checked you didn't knock the kill switch to off accidentally?

Cheers

Dave

[Jebus]

it depends on what speed your doing, if youare coasting for a while and loose a lot of speed then it will feel like your bike has no power as its trying to pull a higher gear, trying going down through the gears one at a time as you slow down, do it quicky let clutch back out and do it again, if you pull clutch in and let it coast like that then selecting gears will be harder. not starting, that could be any number of reasons does it start when cold? if its hot start problem it could be coil related, sometimes they overheat and wont work right.
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2nd time around CBT: 8/9/11
125 Varadero

[Louise]

ok
1) Fuel cant be that old, I put around 6 quid in the other day
2)Oil, I need to check.... I have an Oil light but its not on so I gathered that was ok
3) Yep tryed rocking the bike and releasing the clutch in serval different places, still took time. Even with hand, it seemed it was 'stuck'
4) It would start, engine turned over but just wouldnt start. Then after the 4/5th time it would justb e completly dead.
I have no kick start


When the bike looses power i click down a gear, looses power even more. Click down another gear, more power lost then dies.
Ive charged the batt up, will go for a ride around the block a few times to see if this was the problem.
As I said I did a 40 odd mile trip home on it other day and seemed fine.

[Marci]

Check for inline fuel filter and ensure it's clean... or just remove it altogether and see if problem goes away. My Mito had this issue and fuel filter was too restrictive, causing float bowl to empty whilst running, then everything'd die... left it a while for float bowl to refill and all was well again.

It's a Cagiva... try getting it in Neutral whilst rolling... they're a bitch to get neutral at the best o' times.
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FAB-Racing MiniMotoSidecars - Back with a vengeance - F1 Class 2011...
CBR170 engine, custom chassis - www.minimotoscene.co.uk

[KatOwner]

GEtting as bike from 4th into neutral with the engine stalled will quite often be tricky. With the engine spinning and the bike rolling, it's easy. Don't worry about that...instead...worry about why the bike died like it did!

When you are slowing down, going down through the gears, the revs rise....but the throttle is closed. This results, quite normally, in a leaning off of the mixture and a increase in speed of the inlet charge. In cold weather...this is what causes carb icing, as the gas charge gets over-chilled. Not our problem here..... but a pointer as to where to look!

Most likely cause here will be fuel starvation. If there is a problem, this is where it will show itself. Check the fuel is flowing through the float valve and into the carb itself. Check that the jets..especially the pilot jet, is not blocked and is clear to flow fuel.

When it comes to a flat battery....2 hours should charge a battery Ok if it is in good condition and your charging system is on the money. This can easily be checked by sticking a multimeter over the battery terminals when the engine is running. Expect to see 14v when you rev it up a few thousand revs. If your battery is more than 3 or 4 years old...it may well be dying. A replacement is well worth the money in these days of no-kickstarts!It's years since i had a bike I could either bumpstart or had a kickstart so I am a bit paranoid about batteries. I actually carry a set of jump-leads in the bottom of my rucksack when I am commuting just in case. Along with my visor de-mist spray, instant puncture fix, emergency toolkit and spare bulbs! And my AA card!!!!

[Louise]

I checked for the plastic float and could not find one. To meits just one lead from the petrol tank.
I fount the reserve float, ive checked and it has filled up at the turning on the valve.
Will go out on it later to see what happens now the batt is fully charged.

[firefox]

my bike did this a while ago, it would just die for no reason then start again later on and run fine, then just die, it actually turned out to be the spark plug
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bye bye gti <^>( ' . ' )<^>
*officer* what caused the crash ? *firefox* you see that wall up there sir ?
*officer* yes what about it *firefox* i tooted my horn but it refused to move i had to teach it a lesson.

[cagiva gezzer]

They're a cow to get out of gear when standing still. Either change into netural while still moving, or let the slutch out slightly while still so that the bike tries to pull forwards, then try again.

They're easier to knock in to netural from second, rather than first.

Check you've got enough gear oil. Prop the bike upright (bar against wall) and alow the bike to stand for a min or two. Undo the plastic dipstick and wipe clean. Place back into its hole, but don't thread in. Offer it up to the threads, but don't screw in. Then make sure the oil level is between the two marks. If not you'll want some "light gear oil" in there.

Fuel thoughts once i bashed out some workies.
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"because one stroke isnt enough and four strokes waste two"

[KatOwner]

Here's a brief list of where muck can sit that will block fuel flow, and give symptoms like you have described.

1) Fuel filter in the bottom of your petrol tank. You would need to disconnet the fuel pipe, take off the tank, and tip out all the fuel. Then, remove the fuel tap itself. Usually one large nut holds it on. You should see the fuel tap, and two places for fuel to get in. One long one and one short. Both should have a filter mesh over the end. Make sure they are clean.

2) This requires removal of the carb. You will see where the fuel pipe goes into the carb....well, now you will find out where it goes next! Take off the carb, empty out it's residual fule, and turn it over. Remove the floatbowl. There you will see the float that controls the fue level in the carb. Slide out the pin and remove the float. Under the float is the needle valve. This lets fuel into the floatbowl until the float goes up high enough to shut the valve. Take out the valve and make sure the conical tip is clean. Next remove the brass 'seat' that the valve sits in, and mak sure there is no muck under there. If all this is clean...fuel will get into the carb OK.

3) Now check the jets. You will see these screwed into the top part of the carb. Unscrew them carefully and make sure nothing is blocking them. Blow them through..and never poke anything metal down to clear them! Hold them up to the light and make sure all is well. Then put them back.

4) Clean out any muck in the floatbowl, and then fit it all back together just the way it was.

You now have a nice clean carb which will do it's job properly. Keep a VERY careful eye on what goes where when doing jobs like this. Also make sure you are working in as clean an environment as is possible. There are lots of fiddly parts that you really don't want to drop!

[Louise]

Ok well I did another test today. Started up and leave to run on its own. After 3-4 mins it would cut out alltogher.
So, I turned the plug to reserve. I can see fuel run into it. Left it to run. Seemed ok. Had to stop because I was late for work

Got home. Rode it on reserve to petrol station. There was a bit of fuel left in there that I could see.
9 quid to nearly top it up. Ran it around for 5-10 mins and seems fine.
If it runs fine tommorow to and from work then I gather that the bike dosnt like to be 'below' a certain fuel level.
And I'm hoping this was the problem as I need to get to Brighton tommorow night and London Sat morning

[cagiva gezzer]

They take 14L to the brim. Top 10L is the main tank, bottom 4L reserve. Expect 160-220KM from 10L. There's no vacuum line so its best to turn the tap off all the time.

Sounds like it's running out of fuel. It should be running the carb on the left.

https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h294/supercitybity/Cagiva/DSC04295.jpg

If so you've got three filters.

1) - In the tank. You should have to take the tank off, but i reckon you can get away with laying teh bike on its left side. You might have to rest the end of the bars on a brick so the indicator clears the ground. DOn't do it on grass as it'll kill it. Run the bike to reserve before trying this and turn the fuel tap off. If the fuel still comes out the tank you need to whip the tank off.

The fuel tap is held in by two allen bolts. Undo and make sure the filer is cleanish.

2) - Fist carb filter. Under where the fuel line goes in. Undo the 13/14mm bolt and you should get a long thing filer coming out with it. If you're on the 28mm carb you undo the bolt holding on that black disc.

3) - 34mm only - Undo the 17/19mm bolt at the base of the carb (empty of fuel first) and there should be a filter just inside.

Attached is the WS manual for the bike.
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"because one stroke isnt enough and four strokes waste two"