Stall after starting
 

Hello,

I recently aquired a '99 XT600 in excellent condition (35,000K, recent overhaul). I love it for the rough backroads of Honduras however it has been causing me problems.

It started stalling when I reved it over 4000rpm. I changed the air filter (oir was recently changed) but the problem got worse. It started fine, ran for 5 seconds then stalled regardless of how I reved it.

Fuel was flowing into the foat tank, the spark plug was great, so I disembled and cleaned the carborator. This did not solve the problem. There are no qualified mechanics for this class of bike here. Any suggestions on what I can do?

Worried to start my road trip to Canada,
Jeremy

Hello jeremy, A couple questions first then maybe we can try to sort out your problems. when you cleaned the carbs did you remove all the jets to be sure they are not plugged? holding them up to a light will show a blockage. And when you checked the plug How did the spark look while cranking the engine over? From the symptoms you decribed I am thinking it would be plugged jets in the carb causing the problem.
While you may not find a qualifyed mechanic for your bike Any good mechanic should be able to sort this out because the basics of bike repair is the same regardless of model.

Thanks for the reply.

I did remove the jets and some of the holes had junk in them. Nothing was completely blocked. Carb-cleaner and thin wire cleaned them out.

The spark plug was cover with a thin black layer as per normal. When I turned the engin over there was a good spark.

Since my last posting I dismantled and cleaned the carb again. Putting it back to gether I the float got stuck down. This proved that there was no lack of gas to the float tank. Even when the engine was running for a few seconds, there was lots of gas.

I am thinking it might be a bad exhaust valve. After the engine runs for a few seconds then dies I notice a wirring sound of exhaust leaving. It lasts about 20 seconds after the engine is stopped.. like the exhaust is slowly leaking out. Has anyone noticed this? I am hesitant to take apart the head unless there are no other options.

Tired of walking,
Jeremy

Have you checked the valve clearences ? If the clearences is too small, once the engine warms up the valve can actually be held open. I belive the exhaust is set at .006" and intake is .004"