Triumph Rat Motorcycle Forums banner

Sudden loss of power...bad gas or???

19K views 14 replies 12 participants last post by  bleach1224 
#1 ·
Hey all! I've got a new 2007 America...absolutely love the bike! ..but have had a weird loss of power...I'll say 3 times now. I did the break-in period..running around town and such...then had the 1 month service done (750 miles)...no issues were noted. I did a few more hundred miles and then decided to head to my Mom's house 550 miles away (which is where I sit now). 300 miles into the trip...15 miles after some fresh BP 89 octane gas the bike lost power..but did not die...I went to reserve and back with no effect (just in case of dirt or something in the tank). After a few revs I was back out in traffic with no issues for 15 more miles when it happened again..but this time it did die. I started it back up..no issues...went 12 more miles and decided to stop and put in 93 octane from a Shell station. I road the remainder 220 miles to my Mom's without incident...so I assumed bad gas. Now today..with only 117 miles on a tank (of which I'm only putting premium at this point) it dies again..and I switch to reserve...started it...moved back into traffic...put the petcock back to 'ON' and then rode 6 more miles to a gas station and actually put in 3.2 gallons...seems that tank only got 37mpg when I normally get 45mpg's. So...I can buy the lower gas mileage since 60 miles of it was the end of the trip and the flow of traffic was rather brisk (about 80-85mph)...so here are my assumptions:

1. On Friday I really did have bad gas...though it doesn't make total sense to me why the bike would restart and run fine for a while
2. The lower gas mileage was due to speed and wind conditons...but can you really go 6 miles on the gas sitting in the carbs??? (since I went from reserve back to 'ON')

I'm hoping all is well...as there are no Triumph dealers here and I have to ride the 550 miles back to Omaha on Tuesday.

Any advice or thoughts from the experts?

Thanks! Michael G.
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Power

1st- Dont use ANYHTING but premium, the $ diff isnt that.
2nd- It may be some paint / crap in the tank, tho not likely.
3rd- When it dies, release the gas cap &see if that makes a difference? Could be a clogged or crimped vent line.
4th- Dump in a little injector cleaner in the tank. It will clean out any crap in the jets.

Sounds like a venting issue. I only use premium to make sure I am getting rweal gas in the tank. Not serouus but a long trip comming so youi want to make sure you are gonna get home! Check the vent line to make sure there are no crimps or clogs. When it dies- relaese the cap rite away & try ro restart. If it does - its the vent line! Good luck & have a safe ride home!!
 
#3 ·
I think you're just running out of gas. My mileage is much worse at interstate speeds. Sounds like every time you put in gas or swapped to reserve the bike recovered. I've seen as few as 92 miles to reserve on my Scrambler in windy interstate riding. I also notice the bike seems pretty sensitive to low fuel levels in the tank. It starts running worse even though there is a little fuel left and you'd think it shouldn't be a problem.
 
#8 ·
1st: I can tell you I'm sold on Premium...and not simply for the increased octane but the overall quality. True the bike can run on mid-grade...but my experience has been that you have a higher probability of better quality gas when you use premium. ...and to be honest I'm not going to complain about spending an extra 40 to 60 cents at the pump when I fill up... it's worth the peace of mind.

2nd: Agree on could be but probably not crap in the tank...

3rd: I reached under and followed the vent line...seems to be OK.. and it hasn't happened again. In fact doing 60 or below driving I got 47.5mpg's on the last tank

4th: I've got a bottle in the saddlebags and wanted to see if it happens again first. Thus far I've had no issues over the past 150 miles.

Not sure if it matters but I do have the Triumph upgraded pipes and they did rejet the carb to accomodate...but like I said...I made a point to have them check the carbs at the 1 month service and I was told they are "spot on!"

Thanks for the help and feedback! I'm headed out to a Motorcycle candy store today (60 miles away) and then the nice 550 mile trip tomorrow. WOOT!

Michael G.
 
#9 ·
I have a heavily modded Subaru that i absolutely must use 92, preferably 93 ocatane in because its tuned for it. Anything less and it knocks badly and switches to a reduced timing map. But my experience with premium fuel recently, especially with the price increases in the US, is that no one is buying it anymore, and its sitting in stations tanks longer and longer, and i am getting progressively crappier fuel with every fillup. If you dont absolutely need high octane as a result of tuning or compression, i would stay as far away from it as i could-

My bike gets the recommended 89, nothing more, and runs like a champ.

Brian
 
#10 · (Edited)
Brian makes a good point about premium gas sitting, I never see anyone buying it. I use 89 and have in all of my bikes, never had any problems and never had any great improvement using higher octane in power or fuel mileage. Run a can of Seafoam through it from time to time.
 
#11 ·
Sudden loss of power

Michael,

My wife and I just went for a weekend campout at Letchworth State Park (NY) this weekend. All the way there we were in pretty heavy rain. She's riding my 2002 America and I'm on my 1999 Thunderbird. We stopped for gas and I put in 87 octane. After a while, the America began bucking and misfiring, particularly in low gear at a start. Made it difficult and unpleasant for her to ride. I checked it out as best I could thinking that there was moisture in the ignition system someplace (acted like cars used to when the distributor cap shorted from moisture/condensation inside). Next day on the way back we filled up again and I put in 93 octane to see if that made a diff. Problem solved. She runs like new again. I don't know why that would be the case with the America but had no effect on the Thunderbird at all. So, unless I discover something else to the contrary, it's at least 89 octane for the America. Apparently, I can get away with the lower octane stuff on the T-bird.

Dan
 
#12 · (Edited)
Once you have eliminated gas or the tank vent as the problem, bad ignition coil(s) may be the cause. I just replaced them on my Daytona 1200. Symtom was sudden loss of power for a few seconds every once in a while. Felt as if I was running on two of the four cylinders. Once replaced, the bike ran perfectly. Triumphs are known for this problem.

I recco Nology ignitions (made in Germany) which are less expensive yet better than Triumph's. Here is a link to Nology:

http://www.nology.com/profiremotor.html

Good luck,

JohnD
 
#13 ·
Sounds like a problem I had. T100 would run fine but would sputter and die - if I loosened the fuel cap, I could feel the vacuum pressure in the tank - ran fine for a period of time after but would reoccur. Lots of junk in the fuel lines so placed an inline filter after the petcock - did not sem to help. The REAL problem was the roll over valve - acted like the vent line was crimped. The valve is located between the carbs, clipped to the airbox. I probably overfilled the tank at one point which cause the valve to stick closed. Used a small allen wrench to push into top end and released pressure - had a small amount of gas escape. Completed 250 mile trip this weekend in NC mountains with no problems.
 
#14 ·
Made it home....550 miles without any issues...bike rode well! ...at least when I dialed the rear shocks down from 5 to 2! Tomorrow I'm off for another adventure...this time with my "Real Boss"...aka my wife. Thanks for all the feedback!

Michael G.
 
#15 ·
Loss of Power on 06 America

I had a similiar problem with my 06 America. On hot days (90 degrees or above) when the bike got reall warm, if I were to stop for a few minutes (shut the bike off), as soon as I started it and took off I would lose significant power. Sometimes it would last 30 seconds ... sometimes an hour. This happened about five times in a two month period and ONLY when the weather was really warm. As I would limp home I could put my hand on the right cylinder head and it was cold (not firing). I checked all connections, coil, battery and everything would check out. Thought it might be the pickup sensor but if so, the bike would have completely shut down since it signals both cylinders at the same time.

Finally, I just got fed up and replaced the right coil. Haven't had a problem since. I've been told several times since then that this is a common problem with Triumphs and the coils can fail at different temperatures. I'm old school and thought a coil was a coil was a coil ... it either worked or it didn't.

Other than that, for a midsize cruiser, I really enjoy this bike when running around town.

JBLCowboy
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top