Engine stalling, help?

[filthyvagrant]

I've been having problems with my 85 Kawasaki 454 LTD, it starts and rides fine for about 10 minutes then it just stalls, I started encountering this problem a lot and don't know where to start, could it be my carbs? I've been riding this bike for a couple of years and besides oil and coolant changes I haven't had to touch it.

Example: I was going down the road 40 - 50 mph, and all of a sudden I felt the bike get a little jumpy/ bog down and then it started acting normal so I gave it some gas.. well seconds later it did this again except this time I lost all power and it was all I could do to coast it to the edge of the road before it stalled entirely.. kind of like running out of gas, so I check to find that my tank was mostly half full, it wouldn't start whatsoever. I was there probably 10- 15 minutes and decided to try it again well it started! So i turned it around and about 1 mile down the road it did it again and I had to tow it to the shop, I decided to take it out again the next morning, I drove it around town for a bit ( probably about 30-ish minutes.) assumed it was fine and went home.  Well the next day on my way to work it happened again. It idles great but could this still be a carb issue?   

[jdarryl]

Aug 18, 2016 14:23:16 GMT -6 filthyvagrant said:

I've been having problems with my 85 Kawasaki 454 LTD, it starts and rides fine for about 10 minutes then it just stalls, I started encountering this problem a lot and don't know where to start, could it be my carbs? I've been riding this bike for a couple of years and besides oil and coolant changes I haven't had to touch it.

Example: I was going down the road 40 - 50 mph, and all of a sudden I felt the bike get a little jumpy/ bog down and then it started acting normal so I gave it some gas.. well seconds later it did this again except this time I lost all power and it was all I could do to coast it to the edge of the road before it stalled entirely.. kind of like running out of gas, so I check to find that my tank was mostly half full, it wouldn't start whatsoever. I was there probably 10- 15 minutes and decided to try it again well it started! So i turned it around and about 1 mile down the road it did it again and I had to tow it to the shop, I decided to take it out again the next morning, I drove it around town for a bit ( probably about 30-ish minutes.) assumed it was fine and went home.  Well the next day on my way to work it happened again. It idles great but could this still be a carb issue?   

Is the temp gauge working accurately so you can confirm it's not overheating ?
Is the flow from the tank to the carbs clear ? If setting to PRI solves the problem, it could be a vacuum issue or the petcock. If it doesn't, it might just be the latter. Also the jets might have gotten clogged on one or both sides.

Losing a lot of power sounds familiar. I've had the bike act real strange and weak when one of the cylinders stopped, that's what makes me think in the direction of a fuel problem. When you give it a lot of throttle it might still work with a lot of misfires. The first time it happened I had to redo a valve job. The second time it was a bad spark plug, though I suppose the spark itself might give out too at some point.

What makes me unsure is how it's possible you can actually drive it around properly every now and then... Anything you've tried so far ?

[filthyvagrant]

Aug 18, 2016 15:40:05 GMT -6 jdarryl said:

Aug 18, 2016 14:23:16 GMT -6 filthyvagrant said:

I've been having problems with my 85 Kawasaki 454 LTD, it starts and rides fine for about 10 minutes then it just stalls, I started encountering this problem a lot and don't know where to start, could it be my carbs? I've been riding this bike for a couple of years and besides oil and coolant changes I haven't had to touch it.

Example: I was going down the road 40 - 50 mph, and all of a sudden I felt the bike get a little jumpy/ bog down and then it started acting normal so I gave it some gas.. well seconds later it did this again except this time I lost all power and it was all I could do to coast it to the edge of the road before it stalled entirely.. kind of like running out of gas, so I check to find that my tank was mostly half full, it wouldn't start whatsoever. I was there probably 10- 15 minutes and decided to try it again well it started! So i turned it around and about 1 mile down the road it did it again and I had to tow it to the shop, I decided to take it out again the next morning, I drove it around town for a bit ( probably about 30-ish minutes.) assumed it was fine and went home.  Well the next day on my way to work it happened again. It idles great but could this still be a carb issue?   

Is the temp gauge working accurately so you can confirm it's not overheating ?
Is the flow from the tank to the carbs clear ? If setting to PRI solves the problem, it could be a vacuum issue or the petcock. If it doesn't, it might just be the latter. Also the jets might have gotten clogged on one or both sides.

Losing a lot of power sounds familiar. I've had the bike act real strange and weak when one of the cylinders stopped, that's what makes me think in the direction of a fuel problem. When you give it a lot of throttle it might still work with a lot of misfires. The first time it happened I had to redo a valve job. The second time it was a bad spark plug, though I suppose the spark itself might give out too at some point.

What makes me unsure is how it's possible you can actually drive it around properly every now and then... Anything you've tried so far ?

I'm inexperienced with actually working on motorcycles so what I've considered trying is pretty limited. SO i just did like basic stuff, checked the gas tank after draining it, changed spark plugs, etc. however I'm concerned overheating is the issue, I turned it on today from about a week of letting it sit in the garage and just let it idle well about 10/15 or so minutes after it shut off, I was on the phone with a customer so I couldn't just immediately go back to check on it but when I did I tried to restart it and noticed the temp was way passed the mid tick mark, it was a lot closer to the over heating mark than I was comfortable with; any suggestions on what I can do or what It could be? the fan might be out which could be contributing if it is, but I still don't see that causing it to overheat so fast.