Odd things happening: Probably means the engine is almost dead (I'm an optomist)!

[Eight Jade Horses]

Anyone have an idea what this could be?

When I ride in 1st or 2nd gear at low RPMS, I hear a clicking sound (about a half second between the clicks, speeding up until I don't hear it any more as I rev higher).

Also, when I go (too) fast, it acts like the bike has a governer on it, but a screwed up one. At about 110, the engine "shuts down but stays on"... okay, better described... it's as if the throttle is disengaged, and no matter how I turn it, I can't get it to engage again unless I (slow down and then) downshift and rev it really high.

Anybody got any ideas? (And yes, I know that high speed = dangerous, but c'mon! Have you never pushed your Kat either?? And yes, "optomist" is a typo))

[steves]

#1 Your chain either needs to be serviced, or changed

#2 You've hit the rev limiter on the bike. That's as fast as it will go.

[Eight Jade Horses]

Thanks for the quick response, Steve!

I don't know the age of the chain, and I'll admit that I probably committed dastardly acts to it when I first got the bike last summer (improper cleaning/maintenance, etc). It's a '99 750 with 32,300+ miles on it (the last 6000 mine!), and I didn't know enough to ask the guy when or if (!!) it had been replaced. I'll search on here and get some chain info and look to replace the chain and sprockets immediately.

For #2, the revs were nowhere near the redline, but it was in 6th gear (maybe 8500-9000 rpms? I've gone higher in lower gears). Would that still cause the rev limiter to start doing its job?

[KenpachiZaraki]

How bout gearing as far as sprockets go for you hitting the rev limiter?

[squiggy]

So 110 mph is at 9,000-ish?

Suzuki designed the rev limiter to kick in 500 rpms before the red line on the tach, at least for my 2001.

[Dart032]

why did they put the gov that low lol...my pre doesnt have a gov or have I just never been dumb enough to find it?

[RossW]

AFAIK your pre should have an ignition cutoff slightly below redline.

[sharpie6]

That sucks. I hit my limiter all the time but i've never had that happen. Although i never hit in 6th either.

[suzukiray]

I think you may have a grounding issue or it could be jetting or a vacuum leak. Normally a vacuum leak won't give the symptoms you are describing but it is possible. Check these areas to start with. Ray.

[md86]

Thought the rev-limiter kicked-in AFTER redline . But I never go that high . Jimmy ?

[Trackerrrr]

My rev limiter kicks in at 11.5K.

[hardlydangerous]

#1 chain/sprockets
#2 vacuum hose/air leak or petcock ( its starving for fuel)

[Eight Jade Horses]

Thanks for all of the replies. I'm ordering the chain and sprocket kit to replace mine. Found a good deal on ronayers.com.

Concerning the vacuum hose and petcock:

I am just learning where things are on the bike and how to get at them. I searched and found some interesting petcock info (Cyber Poet's thing was informative), but what about the vacuum hose? How do I "check" it?