Katana Died on the Road Today - Have Some questions

[numus]

So this isn't the first time this has happened. The last time the shop said it was a kink in the fuel line.
Backstory... Katana works great up until the redarea of the gas gauge. I rode maybe 10-20 miles into the red before i switched to reserve. The bike is parked on my driveway all the time which is maybe a 15-23 degree inline upward (front of the kat elevated up in relation to the back).
Was riding and all of the sudden the engine cut off while riding (red oil light came on). Pulled it over and tried to start it.. wouldn't..
Put the choke all the way open and it started up.. Cut the choke off and sounded horrible (kinda sounded like it dropped some cylinders). Was able to get it to the closest gas station (rode in 1st and 2nd only) and filled it up with 3.831 gallons...
Only got about 25 mpg with mostly city and a little highway. The city isn't stop and go city tho. It is a 45 mph road with maybe 7 lights over the span of 12 miles and most of the lights are green on my trip (major transit route).
Bike only has 1700 miles on it and it is an 06 (bought it used but the PO never rode it).. I have put 700 of those miles on it myself.
Put it on prime for about 5 minutes and switched back to on and it is riding fine now...

Any idea what went wrong or what I should do in the future to prevent this (and also how to get my mileage up a little)...

[steves]

Carbs are dirty

[numus]

Carbs are dirty

Last tank had k100 in it.. May put some more in this tank...

[steves]

Chemicals like that don't fix dirty carbs.

[numus]

Chemicals like that don't fix dirty carbs.

Problem is I don't have the time to do a carb rebuild.. and local shops quoted me around 300-400 to rebuild the carbs.

[scottynoface]

Problem is I don't have the time to do a carb rebuild.. and local shops quoted me around 300-400 to rebuild the carbs.

Well if you want to ride the bike you gotta pick one of those options.

Bet your tank is nice and rusty, fuel additives are a preventative measure with a little hope sprinkled on, nothing more nothing less.

[Kreylyn]

I think you need to narrow down your issues...

1. Check and test the petcock.

Remove the tank entirely makes this much easier. Put a temp fuel line on that runs off the petcock into a catch container you can easily see into. A mason jar for example. In the on or res position nothing should flow. In the prime position, you should have full flow. Back in On and Reserve, use a clean vacuum line on the petcock and apply suction. You should have full flow for both settings.

If any of that is not matching, it's time to fix/clean the petcock.

2. Check your fuel lines again, make sure the is not showing signs of a kink and the filter is clean.

3. Check your oil level. If it's over full at all, then drain some and smell test it for fuel. If you have fuel in the oil, you need a full carb disassembly and cleaning.

4. If you are looking at cleaning your carbs, also drain and flush/clean the gas tank.

Krey

[gsx]

Problem is I don't have the time to do a carb rebuild.. and local shops quoted me around 300-400 to rebuild the carbs.

One thing you can try is a FULL can of seafoam in your gas. Chances are it won't do squat, but it did fix some running issues with my kat. Your best bet is to PM arsenic, he should be able to set you up with a nice setup.

[numus]

I think you need to narrow down your issues...

1. Check and test the petcock.

Remove the tank entirely makes this much easier. Put a temp fuel line on that runs off the petcock into a catch container you can easily see into. A mason jar for example. In the on or res position nothing should flow. In the prime position, you should have full flow. Back in On and Reserve, use a clean vacuum line on the petcock and apply suction. You should have full flow for both settings.

If any of that is not matching, it's time to fix/clean the petcock.

2. Check your fuel lines again, make sure the is not showing signs of a kink and the filter is clean.

3. Check your oil level. If it's over full at all, then drain some and smell test it for fuel. If you have fuel in the oil, you need a full carb disassembly and cleaning.

4. If you are looking at cleaning your carbs, also drain and flush/clean the gas tank.

Krey

Petcock is fine.. Have run the bike on both res and on while tank is full and never had a problem.. Also have removed the fuel line from the carbs while ON and RES and it doesn't free flow.
Oil Level is perfectly in the middle of the window.

Question about fuel lines.. Is it possible to have a kink or partial compression (obstruction) of the fuel line that when the tank starts to get very low (which causes the fuel line pressure due to gravity to decrease) that it starts to obstruct the fuel line? May have to bite the bullet and swap out all my fuel lines. They checked the filter and said it wasn't obstructed but if I do swap fuel lines, will just swap a new filter in too.

They "cleaned" the carbs when I bought the bike a couple months ago (and 700 miles ago).. But I really have no idea what they really did...
This issue only happens when the bike enters the red on the fuel gauge.

Tank is clean.. There is a little surface rust on the lip where the fuel cap seals but inside the tank there isn't any rust (spent 2 years as a scuba tank inspector in college so used one of my old inspection lights and dropped it in the tank to look around).

One thing you can try is a FULL can of seafoam in your gas. Chances are it won't do squat, but it did fix some running issues with my kat. Your best bet is to PM arsenic, he should be able to set you up with a nice setup.

Thats basically what the K100 is.. But the K100 works a little better on ethanol (can give you the chemical reason but figured it isn't really necessary).

[steves]

Um, it's possible that your fuel gauge just reads badly, and the tank is actually very close to empty when you hit the red.

Also if you've replaced the factory fuel lines it's possible to get an airlock in the lines, but odd that the problem only happens with a low tank.

[Badfaerie]

Question about fuel lines.. Is it possible to have a kink or partial compression (obstruction) of the fuel line that when the tank starts to get very low (which causes the fuel line pressure due to gravity to decrease) that it starts to obstruct the fuel line? May have to bite the bullet and swap out all my fuel lines. They checked the filter and said it wasn't obstructed but if I do swap fuel lines, will just swap a new filter in too.

Yes, I had that problem when I had the wrong kind of fuel lines on the bike. If this is the case, replace your fuel lines. Also, you have a post 98 right? if so check your fuel filter. If it is a pre 96 and you have inline fuel filters, remove them.

The fuel is gravity fed so if there's a restriction in the lines or filter as the tank level lowers there's less force to push the fuel past any partial obstructions/kinks.

[numus]

Um, it's possible that your fuel gauge just reads badly, and the tank is actually very close to empty when you hit the red.

Also if you've replaced the factory fuel lines it's possible to get an airlock in the lines, but odd that the problem only happens with a low tank.

Filled to almost the brim of the tank was 3.831 gallons, so i doubt the fuel gauge is reading that wrong (should have had altleast 1 gallon left for reserve)... I haven't touched the fuel lines on this bike (it only had 1000 miles on it for an 06 when i bought it a couple months ago so I am betting they are all stock)...

Yes, I had that problem when I had the wrong kind of fuel lines on the bike. If this is the case, replace your fuel lines. Also, you have a post 98 right? if so check your fuel filter. If it is a pre 96 and you have inline fuel filters, remove them.

The fuel is gravity fed so if there's a restriction in the lines or filter as the tank level lowers there's less force to push the fuel past any partial obstructions/kinks.

Makes sense.. The lines may be getting old and worn out (less rigidity in the wall of the line)... May do a full swap out soon.

[steves]

Yeah. 1000 miles since 06. You have dirty carbs.

[numus]

Yeah. 1000 miles since 06. You have dirty carbs.

Figured that much That probably accounts for the fact i am getting 25 mpg... May attempt to clean them one weekend... I am very good at electrical problems, but crappy at mechanical.

[Badfaerie]

Figured that much That probably accounts for the fact i am getting 25 mpg... May attempt to clean them one weekend... I am very good at electrical problems, but crappy at mechanical.

You definitely have dirty carbs. Check out carbs 102 in the wiki here. Its a step by step on how to clean them with pictures and such. Follow it exactly and don't skip or scrimp on steps. Every time we try to save time and/or money by not doing a thorough cleaning it only leads to aggravation and having to remove them again until we do do a full cleaning.

You other option would be to just pick up a set of rebuilt carbs from Arsenic for the same price as what the mechanic was going to charge you. You would still need to sync them to your bike, but it saves the cleaning time and he does give a core credit for your old set.