NC30 starting problem

[ant_v4r]

I got my NC30 insured at half 4 on Wednesday 28th November and was waiting for the recovery truck 6 hours later.
it was running fine all evening (4-9pm) until I got onto this country lane and decided to open it up a bit and 'feel the power' as it was my first proper ride out on it, but no power came through past around half throttle, so I thought "okay, maybe it's not de-restricted." About 100 metres down the road, the power reduced even more, then the bike died a few seconds afterwards. While moving at about 45mph by this stage, I quickly pressed the ignition (when I also noticed the oil light came on) and it started up for about 20 metres and died again. I came to a stop and luckily there was a pub with a car park about 30 metres away and pushed it there. I checked the oil and found out it's fine - half way between max and min.
In this car park, I did a number of different starting attempts, including turning the fuel tap to 'off' (in case it was flooding the engine) and 'reserve' while changing the position of the choke (in case the engine wasn't getting enough fuel). They all ended with no joy, although with one or two attempts, the engine would start for a few seconds but then fade out, like it was stalling.

This has really pissed me off as I only passed my test 5 days ago, got insured yesterday and have been dying to ride a bike as my RS has been in pieces for the past few weeks!!
I think I've provided as much detail as I can...
I'm hoping this is something relatively quick and easy to fix as I spent basically all my money on insurance so I'd have to do some magic for any money for repairs :/

[Cammo]

How far did you ride?

It sounds like it's run out of fuel. This could be caused by a number of things.

How much fuel's in the tank? When the main tank runs out you need to turn it to reserve or the carbs will run dry. Once they've run dry, turning the tap to reserve won't get fuel into the carbs unless the engine's turning over (the tap is vacuum operated, fuel doesn't just flow through it to fill the carbs).

To get fuel through to the carbs, turn the tap to reserve and crank the engine over for 5 seconds, give the starter motor a break for a minute or so then crank it again. If it doesn't start it could flatten your battery, to stop this just use jumper leads from a running car. When you have it running, fill the tank and turn the tap to on.

Also, when you go to start it from cold, use full choke and no throttle. Using the throttle when the engine isn't running will flood the engine quickly, and often you won't get it started without replacing the spark plugs (pricey $). You don't need to use any choke if the engine's still warm when you start it.

I don't think you'll have too much trouble finding the cause, my bet is that the carbs have run dry.

[magg]

Might want to check the condition of the vacuum hose too, they split and break with age.

[CMSMJ1]

Aye, sound like no fuel to me.

[ant_v4r]

I've been told by 3 people before I posted this that it sounds like fuel starvation... I wanted to get some advice from people with the same bike, which seems to be the consensus! I thought it was fuel too, but when I shake the bike side to side, I can hear it sloshing about. I'm not sure how I'd tell you how much is in the tank, though.
My thought was that maybe there is not much fuel in the tank but enough to hear sloshing about, but maybe there's a fuel tap flaw, whereby the fuel can be below the reserve tap?
Thanks anyway, I'm just about to stroll over to Tesco with a fuel can... wish me luck!

[Drunkn Munky]

You must know how much fuel is in there surely? haven you filled it up at all since taking delivery of the bike? how many miles have you done?

[pip]

Shine a torch in the tank & check, they leave a bit in even when empty.
I'm not the first to run out on a new to me '30.

They can be a swine to start afterwards, I put some hose onto the vac stub on the fuel tap & suck for a minute or so to fill the float bowls. You may drain the battery using the starter.....

Phil

[ant_v4r]

You must know how much fuel is in there surely? haven you filled it up at all since taking delivery of the bike? how many miles have you done?

when I got it (a friend brought it back on a trailer) it had about half a tank and since then and yesterday was the first time I've ridden it; I've done 20 miles at most.
I've just put in 10 litres of petrol and will try what Cammo suggested after a bite to eat.

It sounds like it wants to work but isn't firing, so maybe there's a problem with the spark plugs, though they aren't that old? Or maybe the reg/rec? I don't know how to identify it if it's the reg/rec that's causing the problem.

[Drunkn Munky]

Tank holds 15 litres with reserve being 2 litres of that, unless those 10 litres you just put in filled it to the brim then my guess is you run out of fuel.

[ant_v4r]

Tank holds 15 litres with reserve being 2 litres of that, unless those 10 litres you just put in filled it to the brim then my guess is you run out of fuel.

If this is true (which it sounds like it may be), sorry for wasting everyone's time and being such a goon!
After getting my RS insured, I spent 4 days on it, taking apart the carb and cleaning out the jets and checking the floats, etc. (you have to take the fuel tank and the air intake housing off first, which is a fiddly bitch) to think, "hmm, no more fuel is coming through. even on reserve... ummmm..." And after that, I vowed to never have this problem again... Looks like that failed!! haha
I just got a text back from the previous owner, he said that he never had any starting problems with it "apart from one time, when the vacuum pipe came off. If it's not starting, it's probably that as I never had any other issues with it." so here I go!
Nothing like working on a bike when it's 1°C outside and your home's heating is off because of on-going radiator work. yayyyyyy