Engine stalls on 2001 Suzuki Savage

[blueartyman]

Hi everyone,

I am new to this so don't laugh too hard at my question. I own a 2001 savage and up until recently it has been a great bike.
About a month ago I was taking my 8 year old on a quick ride around town. We had been riding for about 15 minutes. As I came up to a stop sign, I pulled in the clutch as I always do and the engine died. I cranked on the starter for a minute and adjusted the idle up a bit and it finally started. It ran for about another two miles then died again as I was stopping at another sign.
I was able to ride the bike back to my house, but I was really stumped on what it could be.
The next morning I started the bike and it was running fine for about five minutes. The engine started to idle slower and slower and finally died again. As you can see, I am unsure of where to go from here.
I did start the bike up 3 days ago and let it run for about fifteen minutes, no problems at all. Later that evening after cleaning it up I started the bike again and it ran for about two minutes then slowly died as it did before.
If anyone could give me any help, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you in advance.
Jeff

[blackie1491]

Try and catch DrBob's attention.
A little more info will help.
How long have you had the bike.
When was it last serviced.
When you leave it sit for a long period of time , do you place any stabil in the tank.

It will take awhile to help you work thru the possibilities.

[DrBob]

Hmmmm...a couple things come to mind.

Generally a low-RPM problem like not wanting to idle is a carb problem, or a fouled plug. But your's isn't doing it all the time...

You could have an obstruction in the fuel line or petcock, or in the carb itself. If your tank has some gunk in it you can occasionally pull some into the system and plug up the screen over the petcock, or plug up one of the little passages or jet in the carb.

Or it could just be some bad gas, or water in the tank. Or the plug could be fouling a little. Or look around and see if there is a vacuum line off.

Start with the easy stuff first: fill the tank all the way with fresh gas, add some carb cleaner, and some dry gas. Hit the highway and burn up the whole tank of gas. If the bike runs better afterwards problem solved. If it doesn’t, at least you had a nice afternoon ride.

If that doesn’t work, pull the plug, and if it looks boogered up clean it with a file or buy a new one.

If it still acts up, drain what is left in the tank and see if there is any rust or other crud in the fuel you take out. If there is, remove the fuel line and blow it clean, and take the tank off. Buy some Yamaha's Fuel Tank Rust Remover ($14.95, Part Number ACC-FUELT-CD-KT) and follow the directions on the bottles. The first part is some acid to swirl around the tank to remove any rust, and the second part neutralizes the acid.
Or, back in what they now call the 'old school' days, we'd add a quarter gallon of distilled water to the tank, and toss in a handful of BBs, buck shot, or even gravel, and swirl it around to grind the rust out of the tank. Then we'd rinse it well with the hose and blow it dry with the old lady's hair dryer.

[blueartyman]

Thanks guys for the info. I'm going to try your tips and I'll let you know how it goes.
Jeff

[JoelAZ]

I'm thinking, you may have a charging system problem, or you need a valve adjustment.

[sunny]

if you set the petcock to prime how does it run?

[blueartyman]

Hello everyone,
I'm about to lose it with this bike. I have now pulled the tank off, drained it and cleaned it out. I also took the petcock out of the tank to check for any blockage. I've looked at every vaccum hose on the carburator and I can't see any thing off. After checking all these things, I put the tank back on and the bike started up and ran fine. I drove down to autozone and bought some gas treatment per Dr. Bob's info.
After that , I went for a thirty minute ride and no problems. I thought "hey this problem is fixed" Wrong!!!!!
I got home, had some supper with the family and was going to take my daughter for a ride. Wouldn't you know the damn thing gets down the block, at a stop sign and the idle starts getting lower and lower until it quits. What now?
Any help from anyone will be greatly appreciated.

[sunny]

what condition is the vacuum hose from the carburetor to the petcock in?

and when it sputters to death will it run with the petcock set on prime?

[intimid8er]

Originally Posted by blueartyman

Hello everyone,
I'm about to lose it with this bike. I have now pulled the tank off, drained it and cleaned it out. I also took the petcock out of the tank to check for any blockage. I've looked at every vaccum hose on the carburator and I can't see any thing off. After checking all these things, I put the tank back on and the bike started up and ran fine. I drove down to autozone and bought some gas treatment per Dr. Bob's info.
After that , I went for a thirty minute ride and no problems. I thought "hey this problem is fixed" Wrong!!!!!
I got home, had some supper with the family and was going to take my daughter for a ride. Wouldn't you know the damn thing gets down the block, at a stop sign and the idle starts getting lower and lower until it quits. What now?
Any help from anyone will be greatly appreciated.

Dude....I think a higher power is telling you not to ride with your children on the bike anymore!!!

[JoelAZ]

If you were closer, I'd take a look at your electrical system.

[snakeyes3602001]

i must agree with the previous guy, i strongly think it is electrical, i work at a shop and have run into this problem quite a few times. usually it is carb and fuel related, but if this stuff is all counted out, then i would majorly suggest checking your coils. when coils taht are weak get hot, they tend to fail. also, a majorly overlooked thing is the secondary jet, which has a lot to do with low rpms. if this jet can not be seen through, that is your problem. i would look into that first, because i have had that be the problem many times, even after i thought i had it completely cleaned out, i still sometimes found the secondary jet was not open enough. that is the smaller jet of the who in the float bowl by the way

[sparg93]

i have the same problem with my '99 CBR F4 and another member on this forum is experiencing the same problem.

Mine, like yours happens when my bike heats up from frequent stops...otherwise it runs perfectly.

I'm also new to this...but what are the "coils" you spoke of??