Topic: was running great/ towed home

[carl550k]

 hey all, took the 550 out for a ride last night. the bike was running great, then started to bog so i flipped to the reserve fuel, back to running great. doing about 60 mph i knew a gas station was up ahead so i decided to see if i was low on gas or just a piece of dirt in the petcock. whan i did this the bike stiil ran great, but i must has accidently shut off the gas, the next thing i knew the bike quit. has to push about 1/4 mile to payphone.i could not start it up, also i sounds like the motor is spinning with no spark plugs,faster with a higher pitch.also i pulled the points cover while waiting for tow and saw no spark at the points.what has happened? i know the bike ran a little lean but to stop the fuel at this speed and rpm could this have really messed up the motor internally?havn't done anything yet, just got out of work.any advise where to start? thanx all, carl

[TwoTired]

Feel for compression with the kick starter. Do all four give the same resistance?  Is there resistance?

Pull the spark plugs, note condition/deposits of each one.

With ignition on measure voltage across the open points.

Did you bump the off-run-off switch?

Check fuses?

[Chris Liston]

have you re-fueled and tried starting again. 

[DammitDan]

Make sure to inject fuel into the carbs if they went dry.

[Bob Wessner]

Make sure to inject fuel into the carbs if they went dry.

I've never had to do that and have had the bowls empty many times. The carbs are lower than the tank and since the carbs are vented to the atmosphere, fuel should flow and fill normally even if the bowls are empty.

[dusterdude]

bob,you are doing better,that was a very astute observation.

[carl550k]

havn't done a thing yet, but if there is no spark at the points what could it be? have tried the kick start there is some compression but doesnt seem as much.there are no visible signs of engine damage, no oil leaks or holes.there is also 1/2 tank of gas still in it.

[carl550k]

 have also checked fuses, all good. did not hit the kill switch. hope i didn't burn a piston.

[Gordon]

Had the same problem with my bike before I rebuilt the petcock.  If I waited until it started bogging to switch to reserve, the bike would die and take forever to start again. 

It won't hurt your engine to run out of gas, so I wouldn't worry too much on that.  Have you filled up the tank and tried again? 

[Raul CB750K1]

I would say kill switch accidentally off or clogged cap vent-lack of Vegemite in the float hinge pin.


Raul

[Dennis]

havn't done a thing yet, but if there is no spark at the points what could it be?

There is not supposed to be spark at the points. (I have no idea where people learn to look there for spark.) There is only supposed to be spark at the plugs. Sometimes you may notice a slight sparking between the points while running. If there is a strong spark at the points there is a problem there!!
If you THINK you have an ignition problem, check for spark at the spark plugs - tha's where you want to see spark!