Today i was riding around doing errands on my monster,and unfortunately, while on the throttle i felt it lose some power. I rolled on a bit only to have it lurch forward and then lose power again, only this time it shut off, and the oil light came on. I tried immediately restarting it but it wouldn't turn over. After a minute or two it started right back up again, no problem, but after a mile or so it did the same exact thing! After that i waited ten minutes or so, i started it again and rode home about 3 or so miles with no problem.
I have no idea what the problem could be, and i'm a novice mechanically. I've looked around here and it seems like my carbs might need cleaning and adjusting but im not sure if my issue is the same. I also thought the engine might be over heating due to my Monster being Air cooled and not being ridden over 40mph for about an hour, which is was why i waited a few moments before riding home.
Any help or advice concerning this would be greatly appreciated as I love my Monster and want to get her back out there as soon as possible.
It sounds like your fuel tank vent hose is kinked, the vent in the cap is clogged, or the vent tube in the tank is clogged.
Check under the tank and make sure the hoses headed towards the ground don't kink when you lower the tank.
If it happens again, open the cap and see if it starts right up. If it does, it's a vent problem.
What dp said is likely the case. I had something similar happen on my '99 as well. I would be riding, and it would suddenly cut off. Sometimes it would restart, and some times it would not ever turn over or give me solenoid clicks. Then, I would move the bike or roll it a little bit and suddenly it would start right back up. Turns out, it was my ground cable. It would vibrate loose causing the intermittent start/not start issue. I wound up completely replacing the ground cable later on due to corrosion.
If it's not the vent line, take a really good look at the battery cables.
JM
Just a thought here, if the ground cable was ungrounding, wouldn't everything just go dead ? I had something similar happen to me and its just like somebody EMP'd it. Dead, that's it.
If it is the tank vent, try opening the gas cap like DP said only listen for a whoosh of air getting sucked in.
Yea, if it is the ground it's 100% gone, no dash lights anything.
JM
Question is does the bike not crank or not restart. No crank? Electrical. Possible loose ground. Crank but no start? Possible venting problem.
Thanks for all the advice. Honestly, i think DP got it though. i just adjusted the hose position and was able to ride around all weekend with no problems. Hopefully that was it, but now i almost can't help but be somewhat nervous.
I've had this on my monster - very disconcerting. It's happened when it got rather hot, like sitting in traffic on a hot day. I'm pretty sure the problem was my fuel filter - the one I got (actually referenced as an oem replacer on this board ahem) didn't have a 90 degree bend, so I didn't attach it back to the tank - it hung near the cylinder. No other hoses kinked, etc. I zipped it higher up and haven't had the problem since.