[Vnumuss]

Today I was riding my 06 450x back from school today through the streets which is about a 15/20 mile distance, & the bike was running great , I didn't notice any bogging or hesitation from it. When I was about 5 miles from my house, the bike randomly shut off on me in the middle of accelerating as if it suddenly ran out of gas. I tried hitting the electric start & the bike would just crank with no sign of firing back up. I pulled over, checked the gas tank and I still had about 3/4 in the tank so I knew it wasn't because I was running low on fuel . I was on the side of the rode trying to crank her over for another 30mins, and no sign of getting close to firing back up, I even tried the kick start. When I got home from loading it in my brothers truck I checked the oil and it was clean and full. I'm new to motorcycles so I don't really have an idea where to start when it comes to troubleshooting. Any suggestions ? Any help is more than appreciated. Thank you!

[Back2-2]

First thing to determine is if you have spark and fuel and go from there. I suggest a service manual and follow some of the trouble shooting guides. But if you determine which you are missing of the two required items that will give you a direction to proceed.

No fuel flow into carb would be a clogged petcock valve screen. No flow from the fuel bowl drain would be stuck needle valve. No spark can be many things. Start with the easy stuff like the kill switch and electrical connections.

We can help you from there. Good luck.

[Vnumuss]

First thing to determine is if you have spark and fuel and go from there. I suggest a service manual and follow some of the trouble shooting guides. But if you determine which you are missing of the two required items that will give you a direction to proceed.

No fuel flow into carb would be a clogged petcock valve screen. No flow from the fuel bowl drain would be stuck needle valve. No spark can be many things. Start with the easy stuff like the kill switch and electrical connections.

We can help you from there. Good luck.

Okay thank you I appreciate your help, I will start troubleshooting tomorrow & see if I could get closer to the problem. I actually got the bike to turn on right now for the first time by kick starting it and even got a couple revs in before it died on me again. Would this suggest any further information on the diagnostic? Again, thank you.

[Back2-2]

That is good that you got something to fire. Had to make a good judgement of waht is wrong with just a slight start of the engine. But I would start now with verifying fuel flow to the carb. You may just have a stuck needle valve or fuel restriction not allowing enough fuel to sustain running.

[Vnumuss]

That is good that you got something to fire. Had to make a good judgement of waht is wrong with just a slight start of the engine. But I would start now with verifying fuel flow to the carb. You may just have a stuck needle valve or fuel restriction not allowing enough fuel to sustain running.

That's true I understand that. Okay got cha, Do I start by just taking apart the carb?

[Back2-2]

I would start by first checking for good fuel flow from the fuel petcock valve. If that is good I would reconnect the fuel line and check for good fuel flow from the fuel bowl drain nipple on the base of the bowl with the fuel petcock valve open. That will determine that you have good fuel to the carb.

[Vnumuss]

I would start by first checking for good fuel flow from the fuel petcock valve. If that is good I would reconnect the fuel line and check for good fuel flow from the fuel bowl drain nipple on the base of the bowl with the fuel petcock valve open. That will determine that you have good fuel to the carb.

So today I pulled the fuel line from the back of the fuel petcock value with it open & gas started pouring out with a steady stream, so I figured the problem isn't there. Next I unscrewed the drain nipple on the base of the bowl and gas started pouring out a good amount from the hose thats attached to it. Assuming I did everything right , this indicated there is proper fuel to the carb correct? Next I'm assuming I test the spark plug. If I got the bike to start for a couple seconds a handful of times, could this still indicate a possible spark plug problem? This could also indicate possibly a bad coil potentially as well right? Again I appreciate the time you're taking to help me out!

[Back2-2]

Yes, all correct. Certainly try a new spark plug just for the sake of ruling out simple things first. Check for good solid spark and go from there.
Fuel related the only other thing you could do to eliminate this as a fuel issue with out opening it up would be to attach a clear line to the fuel bowl drain nipple and run it up parallel to the carb body. Open the bowl drain screw with the fuel petcock valve open and see where the float level in the tube is in relation to the carb. Should be about the split line on the bowl and carb body meet. Bike sitting level and not leaning over.
Your getting it and it just takes time.

[Leardriver]

A plugged gas cap vent can shut a bike down after a while, but usually it starts back up.

[Vnumuss]

Yes, all correct. Certainly try a new spark plug just for the sake of ruling out simple things first. Check for good solid spark and go from there.
Fuel related the only other thing you could do to eliminate this as a fuel issue with out opening it up would be to attach a clear line to the fuel bowl drain nipple and run it up parallel to the carb body. Open the bowl drain screw with the fuel petcock valve open and see where the float level in the tube is in relation to the carb. Should be about the split line on the bowl and carb body meet. Bike sitting level and not leaning over.
Your getting it and it just takes time.

I took out the spark plug & it’s was a burnt black around the rim , so I went to test it & it sparked but it was more of a dim yellow spark. So I replaced it with a new one, tested it, and the new spark plug was putting out a blue spark . I was thinking I was getting close to solving it so when I put it all back together, same thing . Not kicking over at all . I still am looking around locally to see if I could get a clear tube to test the fuel level of the fuel bowl . But when I open up the fuel bowl drain a good amount of gas pours out. Since I got a decent spark from the spark plug when testing it , I’m assuming this rules out a bad coil correct? I’m becoming stumped troubleshooting this issue

[Back2-2]

If you have a nice bright blue spark it is pretty safe bet that electrically you are good and eliminates any issues with the kill switch.
So no kick back, no pop from the exhaust? Any fuel draining out of the over flow tubes under the bike while trying to start it?
If you do not have fuel running out the over flow tubes you are probably ok with flow level.
Fuel, air & spark at the right times and it should run. Back to the fuel checks as you stated. Have you tried to start it with the throttle at 1/2 or full positions? Sometimes if the pilot jet gets clogged a bike can start and try to run with the throttle twisted, choke on, which has the carb out of the start and primary circuit.
You are probably going to have to loosen the clamps and rotate the carb and remove the bowl and see what is going on inside. You have pretty much eliminated the easier things to do before opening the carb for a look.

[Vnumuss]

If you have a nice bright blue spark it is pretty safe bet that electrically you are good and eliminates any issues with the kill switch.
So no kick back, no pop from the exhaust? Any fuel draining out of the over flow tubes under the bike while trying to start it?
If you do not have fuel running out the over flow tubes you are probably ok with flow level.
Fuel, air & spark at the right times and it should run. Back to the fuel checks as you stated. Have you tried to start it with the throttle at 1/2 or full positions? Sometimes if the pilot jet gets clogged a bike can start and try to run with the throttle twisted, choke on, which has the carb out of the start and primary circuit.
You are probably going to have to loosen the clamps and rotate the carb and remove the bowl and see what is going on inside. You have pretty much eliminated the easier things to do before opening the carb for a look.

Yes sometimes when I try and start the bike it will give a initial backfire before it just cranks and cranks with no results. Then I’ll let the bike sit , try and start it again and there will be a backfire again before it continuously cranks . What would the backfire indicate? As far as the choke and throttle , I’ve tried starting it with the choke on and giving it gas while I try and use the electric start & it seems to make no difference. Okay sounds good, what am I looking for once I have the fuel bowl disconnected from the carb? I really appreciate your help , it means a lot

[Back2-2]

If you are getting back fires it means you are getting spark to some fuel or to much fuel and igniting it. It can mean other things also like timing is out or a valve problem but since the bike was running well and suddenly quit with out any catastrophic failure you don't want to go down those avenues just yet.
First - you should have a manual before you go much further. No offense but If you do not know what to look for if you remove the float bowl it's time for a service manual.
What I suggest next is the float level check with the clear rubber tube before doing much more. It will probably check out fine but worth a check since its easy. When you get to the point of removing the float bowl, unless something really obvious stands out you are going to be removing the pilot jet. Still not sure that is your problem but something shut you down and these are all easy things to eliminate.

[JimDirt]

Try this .... When you are going to start it with the button (or kicking) try twisting the throttle about 6 full twists , then choke it , then start it , if it starts right up and idles , then push in the choke , if the bike dies when you release the choke then it is a internal fuel blockage , whether it be the pilot jet or a internal passage ..... also , try removing the vent line from the fuel cap , see if any improvement then ... , it keeps sounding like a fuel issue

Also , take a mirror ,and place it in the airbox with the filter removed , pointing it down the snorkle of the airbox , you might need a small flashlight to point directly down the snorkel , light it up so you can see the slide of the carb itself .... then give the throttle a full twist while looking into the mirror and see if you see a small stream of gas squirting out towards the slide , this will verify the Accelerator Pump is working ......