Breakdown

[Deviant]

On my way to work this morning I was coming off the Gillies Ave exit, Newmarket, then moved over to the far right lane in order to get over the Harbour Bridge on my way to work.

It's only my third time commuting, but my confidence is way up and I was riding cautiously, confidently, and enjoying the experience of being on two wheels.

I felt my power start to drop while in 4th gear, revs at 5000 and stable. The speed slowly dropped off while the revs stayed high, I heard a couple of skipped cycles in the engine (I know nothing about engines so I'm just describing how it sounded to me), then it started to conk out with many skipped cycles and a fast loss of power/speed.

I dropped a few gears and tried to restart/rev while in motion, but no luck.

I moved right up against the far edge (I was on an overbridge, no emergency area!) and tried a few times to restart while flattening myself against the wall and waving my helmet to warn oncoming cars.

I tried to call a tow-truck, but just as I got through, a police car came along.

The cop was a really nice guy, covered me from behind with lights flashing while I pushed it around to where there was an emergency area. I managed to start it again, so he said to give it a go while he covered me from behind.

I got up to the next are with no passing lane, just before the bridge, and conked out again in 4th gear.

I pushed it to the next emergency lane, and the guy said it looked like an electrical fault.

I've only had this bike a couple of months, only been riding it for about 8 days on public roads, commuting for 2, so I'm wondering (a) if it's the way I ride/care for it (haven't really done anything for it, still so new from shop) and (b) if it's something I could have fixed on the spot if I had a little more knowledge, or if it's going to need to go back to Coleman's.

Now it's been towed home, thanks again to the cop for calling Causeway Panelbeaters for me- he really was a decent bloke, very helpful and concerned for my safety.

Coleman's is shut today, so I thought I'd ask here in the mean time if anyone has any idea what may have caused my embarrassing and dangerous predicament!

[merv]

Mate this sounds like running out of fuel and you needing to flip the petrol tap to reserve - are you up with that?

[Zuki Bandit]

Jeez Deviant, that sux dude. Like yourself, I'm not that familiar with engines, but I'm sure someone here will be able to give you some helpful advise.

Good luck mate!

[arj127]

yep, i would say you ran out of gas

[spookytooth]

as a general rule if its a problem with gas ya bike will backfire/ miss a bit befor stopping.If its electrical it will just die

[Matt_TG]

If it stumbled to a stop it could be fuel related, electrical faults generally stop things dead all of a sudden rather than spluttering to a halt.

You have checked you have petrol aye? Do you know about the petrol petcock switch, turn it to reserve and see if it starts (sorry if these are stupid questions). Pull the spark plug out and see if it's looking dry or oily. What's the battery condition like ... will it turn over ok?

Edit: Oh, I should type quicker

[Disco Dan]

Initially it sounded like the clutch, but by the end of your post I was thinking electrical/fuel!

Check your leads from the plugs and see if there is any damage - sometimes they can sit on the head and get too hot and melt in places etc etc

Check your coils for corrosion on the contacts.

Was it wet? ie if this was the first time the bike got wet/ridden that may have caused something to short out.

Give everything a good clean and check all your wires - take the wires off the spades and check for corrosion/breaks in wires etc.

...on the other hand, if it is pretty new then go back to the shop and start asking questions. They should come to the party and fix it (unless of course if its red baron then they wont care).

EDIT: another posibility re fuel related is a blocked fuel filter - running the tank too low/using reserve can cause gunge to be sucked up and block your fuel filter.

[Deviant]

Hey guys, thanks for the fast replies!

The fuel tank is barely used and I can still see plenty in there from when I bought it. I was concerned it may be fuel related too. Which direction is reserve? I haven't touched it since they gave it to me. It can be straight down, halfway, or straight up.

[Filterer]

Sounds like fuel to me, on the GNs down is normal, halfway way is off and up is reserve

[arj127]

i had a similar problem with a kawasaki not long after i bought it, turned out to be the fuel vent on th e tank was blocked, therefore not letting any petrol through to the carbs

[Deviant]

Damn! It's on normal and the normal tank is near full.

If it had been that the fuel switch was set wrong, I would have been relieved to have such an easy fix, but embarrassed as hell. It shouldn't run out that fast though even on reserve though, I have only done about 15km, and someone said reserve would cover well over 20km. The guy here said it will do about 50km.
It is

[Max Preload]

Is there a PRIME position on the fuel swtich? I'm not sure if these are vacuum operated switches, but it's possible, in which case the diaphragm might have a wee hole of the hose might have come off.

There's not much can go wrong with a GN250.

[Filterer]

Damn! It's on normal and the normal tank is near full.

If it had been that the fuel switch was set wrong, I would have been relieved to have such an easy fix, but embarrassed as hell. It shouldn't run out that fast though even on reserve though, I have only done about 15km, and someone said reserve would cover well over 20km. The guy here said it will do about 50km.
It is

Ok there is no "separate" reserve tank, it just takes fuel out of a lower position in the main tank.

Any chance you left the choke out?

[xwhatsit]

Is there a PRIME position on the fuel swtich? I'm not sure if these are vacuum operated switches, but it's possible, in which case the diaphragm might have a wee hole of the hose might have come off.

There's not much can go wrong with a GN250.

They're not vacuum operated, just normal gravity feed.

With the clutch slipping, I wonder what that was all about. Most odd!

What year is the GN, Deviant?

[Deviant]

Nah, I checked the choke first.

It's 2005, 17,000 km on the clock (although I just noticed receipt says 12,000, will ask them about that as I've done under 50!).