A buddy of mine has an 80's vintage Honda big red that keeps stalling on him. Sometimes he can ride it for hours and sometimes about fifteen minutes. He will be riding and it will just kill and won't restart for 1/2 hour to an hour and then it will run for awhile and it will die again and won't restart until it sits. I gotta believe it must be heat related, But what could it be ?? Any ideas what to look for ???

 

CDI, its proably fried.

 

I've had honda threewheelers for 15 years, and i have found that sometimes for some reason they will choke out and spit and sputter because the gas cap looses its vent for some reason. If you crack open the tank and put the cap back on, it fires right up. If it is not this simple fix, it is definately electrical, (CDI)

 

run it until it dies, then check for spark, if you still have spark, then go to fuel stuff. If you don't have spark, then post again and we'll try to help

 

Thanks for the help I will have him check it and then I will post back.

 

Sounds like he has a bad gas cap, buy a new one. or drill a vent hole in the one you have, bet you 10 bucks thats the problem. the sx,ex and the quad trx sx had the same issues.

 

Before you buy one.........wait till it dies and remove the gas cap, if it makes a Sucking sound when you remove the cap, the vent is bad, if not, it is good.

 

I talked to the guy last night and he already tried the gas cap and that wasn't it. I told him to run it and when it dies and don't start to check for spark and let me know the results. I am betting the cdi is bad because I remmber on some of the cars in the 70's and 80's they had a similar problem and it was the electronic ignition failing.

 

We had the exact same problem on our '82 Big Red. What happens is that the inside of the metal fuel tank begins to get 'gunk' in after so many years. The 'gunk' finds it's way in the fuel bowl of the carb.

It can sit in there for a long time, or for just a few minutes. It then blocks the fuel system, thereby stalling the machine.

Try draining the entire tank, and clean it out thoroughly. Install an inline filter, and clean out the carb. Change the filter frequently, and you should be ok.

 

Any machine that has a metal tank needs an inline fuel filter. You can find them at your local motorcycle dealer for a few bucks. It's cheap insurance IMHO.