Hitchcocks Forum

Hello

I am new to Bullets. A few days ago I purchased a 2001 350 Bullet with 3,000 kms. It is standard apart from a Goldie silencer. She's been working fine the last few days for short journeys (less than 10 mins). Just took her on a longer journey on a fast road. Was cruising at 50 mph, and 10 minutes in she started running rough with a gurgling sound and reduced power. To my newbie ear it sounded like maybe running too rich all of a sudden. A minute later totally lost power and could not restart.

I took the spark plug out to have a look. You can see photos here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ahgjpzw4wyc9v ... 6.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ww7grlzyamv7z ... 7.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vjw0ivpax2g4g ... 8.JPG?dl=0

Does this spark plug look OK to you?

Many thanks for your help.

I've had plugs that look ok, cleaned up, but when replaced with a BRAND NEW one, things are seriously better. It's easy to put a new one in, try that next?
Good luck, chris

The plug does not look as if the mixture is too rich. Did she start again? If she did when she cooled down could be a coil break-down. If she started again fairly soon could be petrol starvation due to a blocked petrol tank vent(cap). If she failed to start again could be lots of things: stuck float,points,plug cap, wiring fault,valves. You need to start with the simple things like checking for a spark and compression and work up to the more difficult ones. Normally it's something simple!

Thanks for those helpful suggestions.

I'm away for a week now, but we'll let you all know once I'm back and fixing her up.

I had a similar problem and I thought it was fuel starvation: it would start feeling flat, popping and losing power after about 15 minutes, and then stopping. A new coil fixed it.

I know you can't rely on plug colour like you used to but if that was mine I'd be looking to richen the mixture some. Look at the jet sizes and compare them with Mr H's recommendations on page 18 of the catalogue. It should have been rejetted when the Goldie (non) silencer was fitted.

Thanks for that advice PeteF. I will have a look inside the carburettor and see what jets are fitted.

Again probably something simple - the only times my 350 has come to an unscheduled stop has been due to a blown fuse. The last time the wiring in the rear mudguard had fallen onto the tyre which wore through it exposing the strands which shorted out when I applied the brake.

In case anyone is curious, it turned out to be the HT lead came out of the coil.

Cheers,

D

daveh moral of the story in most cases unless bits of hot metal are visible in the road in an oil slick it is usually something simple.