RVFRick
Well-known member
Saturday night we were on southbound 880 returning from a fun day through Lake Berryessa and Napa. I had half a tank of gas. In the fast lane moving at 70-75mph in heavy but smooth traffic my '90 Honda CB-1 started to sputter.
The symptoms were exactly like a bike running out of gasoline. At first there was a slight hesitation/flat spot which I thought was my imagination. I rolled the throttle WOT and she hesitated but then responded, 2-3 seconds later she started to sputter and not respond. Crap! Fortunately the surrounding drivers saw my turn signal and arm waving and slowed so I could limp to the shoulder.
I checked the tank and saw plenty of gas. The petcock was set to RES as expected (I leave it on RES and rely on the trip odometer to monitor fuel level). I tried starting up but no joy.
This had never happened before. The only recent change to my bike was the 12V heated jacket that I had running part of the day. However I used it in the week prior with no issues. For this ride I used it in the morning, had it off during the day and only just tuned it back on 10 minutes earlier after we stopped for dinner. I doubt the battery was the issue since running at 70mph means 8k rpm and, I assume, enough electricity. Nevertheless, I unplugged the jacket from the battery. The bike sat for maybe 2-3 minutes before I tried the starter. After a minute of attempgs she sputtered back to life. :thumbup
The remaining 20 miles to home was as if nothing happened. I have no hypothesis except for the heated jacket straining the electrical system but I don't think it jibes with the the symptoms.
A few ideas:
1 Water got in the fuel - I doubt since it recovered itself and isn't this an old wives tale?
2 A dying rectifier. In old Hondas I've read rectifier/regulators are failure prone. But do the symptoms agree?
3 Old battery - I plan to test the battery at O'Reilly's.
4 Just ride it and bring AAA card in case I get stranded.
The CB-1 is a carbureted inline-four with a fuel pump. Any ideas how to proceed?
UPDATE: Evolution mechanics identified bad fuel pump after bench testing and running bike on aux gas feed. My battery failed load test after recharging. So I have a new battery, new petcock (I've had it sitting around for a while) and new Quantum fuel pump. Charo's been running fine. Only difference is the new pump has an audible clicking sound that I never noticed with the OEM pump but I think it pretty normal from what I've read online regarding fuel pumps.
The symptoms were exactly like a bike running out of gasoline. At first there was a slight hesitation/flat spot which I thought was my imagination. I rolled the throttle WOT and she hesitated but then responded, 2-3 seconds later she started to sputter and not respond. Crap! Fortunately the surrounding drivers saw my turn signal and arm waving and slowed so I could limp to the shoulder.
I checked the tank and saw plenty of gas. The petcock was set to RES as expected (I leave it on RES and rely on the trip odometer to monitor fuel level). I tried starting up but no joy.
This had never happened before. The only recent change to my bike was the 12V heated jacket that I had running part of the day. However I used it in the week prior with no issues. For this ride I used it in the morning, had it off during the day and only just tuned it back on 10 minutes earlier after we stopped for dinner. I doubt the battery was the issue since running at 70mph means 8k rpm and, I assume, enough electricity. Nevertheless, I unplugged the jacket from the battery. The bike sat for maybe 2-3 minutes before I tried the starter. After a minute of attempgs she sputtered back to life. :thumbup
The remaining 20 miles to home was as if nothing happened. I have no hypothesis except for the heated jacket straining the electrical system but I don't think it jibes with the the symptoms.
A few ideas:
1 Water got in the fuel - I doubt since it recovered itself and isn't this an old wives tale?
2 A dying rectifier. In old Hondas I've read rectifier/regulators are failure prone. But do the symptoms agree?
3 Old battery - I plan to test the battery at O'Reilly's.
4 Just ride it and bring AAA card in case I get stranded.
The CB-1 is a carbureted inline-four with a fuel pump. Any ideas how to proceed?
UPDATE: Evolution mechanics identified bad fuel pump after bench testing and running bike on aux gas feed. My battery failed load test after recharging. So I have a new battery, new petcock (I've had it sitting around for a while) and new Quantum fuel pump. Charo's been running fine. Only difference is the new pump has an audible clicking sound that I never noticed with the OEM pump but I think it pretty normal from what I've read online regarding fuel pumps.
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