Engine dies at speed - fuel pump related?
Ran into a slight mechanical issue on my way home from vacation last weekend and would love some input on what might have caused this.
1996 ST1100
38,xxx miles (bought it with 22,000 on it 14 months ago)
In the week prior to the below, I rode it 900 miles to the vacation destination and also rode it periodically throughout the week while on vacation ? it ran fine the entire time and I?ve never had this issue surface before. The only other aspect of the trip that was outside the norm is that it sat outside (uncovered) during that week when it is normally kept in my garage at home.
Day One
After running at interstate speed for 2 hours, we got stuck in some stop/go traffic for about 45 minutes on the interstate because of a crash ahead. Air temperature was in the low 80s and without any wind movement over the radiator, the temp gauge was showing the bike was heated up, but not past the point where I?ve seen it before in other stop/go situations.
Once traffic was moving again and we had been at speed (65-80 mph) for about 10-15 minutes, the bike ?died? while moving. At first it sounded like it wasn?t firing on all 4 cylinders, but eventually all that was keeping the motor running was the fact that I was in gear and the bike was still rolling. I got over to the side of the interstate. It would turn over, but acted like it didn?t want to fire.
After trying to start it for a few minutes, I called the nearest person on the RAN list who suggested it might be a vapor lock situation caused by the charcoal filter being clogged up. After removing the gas cap and replacing it, the bike started right up without the choke.
The bike ran perfectly the remainder of the day ? another 6-8 hours.
Day Two
The bike started up and ran fine all day 6-8 hours (including my first trip through Deals Gap). Late in the day we hit stop/go traffic for about 30 minutes on the interstate again. Once we cleared the traffic and were running at interstate speeds for about 10 minutes the same thing happened again.
Over the course of about 10 minutes I tried the gas cap removal trick that seemed to work the day prior ? but the bike would not fire.
After about 10 minutes of trying (and another call to another RAN list contact), I slide the choke lever down ? of the way and the bike fired right up. It ran perfectly fine the remainder of the trip.
Thoughts? Suggestions on where to look first? Questions for me that would help us diagnose the issue?
Ran into a slight mechanical issue on my way home from vacation last weekend and would love some input on what might have caused this.
1996 ST1100
38,xxx miles (bought it with 22,000 on it 14 months ago)
In the week prior to the below, I rode it 900 miles to the vacation destination and also rode it periodically throughout the week while on vacation ? it ran fine the entire time and I?ve never had this issue surface before. The only other aspect of the trip that was outside the norm is that it sat outside (uncovered) during that week when it is normally kept in my garage at home.
Day One
After running at interstate speed for 2 hours, we got stuck in some stop/go traffic for about 45 minutes on the interstate because of a crash ahead. Air temperature was in the low 80s and without any wind movement over the radiator, the temp gauge was showing the bike was heated up, but not past the point where I?ve seen it before in other stop/go situations.
Once traffic was moving again and we had been at speed (65-80 mph) for about 10-15 minutes, the bike ?died? while moving. At first it sounded like it wasn?t firing on all 4 cylinders, but eventually all that was keeping the motor running was the fact that I was in gear and the bike was still rolling. I got over to the side of the interstate. It would turn over, but acted like it didn?t want to fire.
After trying to start it for a few minutes, I called the nearest person on the RAN list who suggested it might be a vapor lock situation caused by the charcoal filter being clogged up. After removing the gas cap and replacing it, the bike started right up without the choke.
The bike ran perfectly the remainder of the day ? another 6-8 hours.
Day Two
The bike started up and ran fine all day 6-8 hours (including my first trip through Deals Gap). Late in the day we hit stop/go traffic for about 30 minutes on the interstate again. Once we cleared the traffic and were running at interstate speeds for about 10 minutes the same thing happened again.
Over the course of about 10 minutes I tried the gas cap removal trick that seemed to work the day prior ? but the bike would not fire.
After about 10 minutes of trying (and another call to another RAN list contact), I slide the choke lever down ? of the way and the bike fired right up. It ran perfectly fine the remainder of the trip.
Thoughts? Suggestions on where to look first? Questions for me that would help us diagnose the issue?
Last edited:
My first thought was the vacuum shutoff valve and fuel pump output too.
