SeaKrait

When I get a hold of a volt meter I will check, but if it isn't charging the battery back up, then how come it starts up so easily after it sits for a while? Perhaps you are right and it would have enough juice to start up, at which point the turning of the generator/alternator takes over and provides enough power to run the engine and charge back up the battery - until it heats up, at which point the generator/alternator begins to fail and there is poor spark, and it dies. Is this the scenario you imagine? I can think of a lot of problems that would cause the engine to die, but I am having trouble figuring out what would work fine for a while, then go bad after a few minutes.

Hi, I am new to the board, and new to motorcycles. I recently received a 92 XJ600 seca II. It was working pretty good there for a few weeks, but now it dies after a few minutes of riding. It starts up pretty strong and seems to run fine, but after about 3 to 5 minutes it starts having trouble. If I am riding it at speed, it will continue to run, but barely and will little power. When I release the clutch it dies. If I pop the clutch it starts back up, but there isn't enough power being produced to accelerate much. I can start it back up with the choke out, but it will often just rev high for a sec then die again. Sometimes I can keep it going if I give it gas, put the choke in, and keep the rpms high, but as soon as I let the clutch out it dies - no real torque being produced. If I let it sit for a good while, it will start up strong again, and the process repeats itself. Any suggestions on where to look? Would it overheat that quick? I live the Monterey area, so it stays pretty cool. How can I tell if it has overheated - though I don't think this is the problem? Before I inherited it, the carb was rebuilt. It has a new battery. I checked a few of the spark plugs and they looked ok. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Thomas