Bike wont start.. help?

So hears the situation.. I jumped on the bike this morning and rode it thirty minutes to work. Ran fine all the way, and it ran fine yesterday too. Ten minutes after parking, I hopped on and was going to run to the gas station a half mile away. Started right up, I got about a quarter mile d. Xown the road, it sputtered twice and shut off and nzsssow it won't start. I switched over to the reserve hoping i nt was out of gas, but nope. Still won't start. Tried push starting it, and it fired up but died just after that. I'm new to bike engines, so I've got no idea what's wrong. Any ideas? Please help

Its an 86 700

 

Sounds like your battery gave out. Could just be old and time for a new one. Or you regulator \rectifier is shot. First thing to do is get your battery checked. Then if you can get it running again you need to check your voltage coming in to the battery. It should be around 14.5 or so when rpms are around 3 or 4 thousand. I'm not exactly sure what the 86 should put out but if its really low like 10 or 11 volts or really high like 16 or 17 your r\r is shot. There is also a way to check your stator but I would check these first. When it starts sputtering it does act similar to running out of gas.

 

I managed to get it started today again (don't know how) it just did after a few tries. Tried to ride it home, got about twenty minutes down the road and it did the same thing. Both times, the oil light came on. I haven't been able to start it since. Would that still be a battery issue?

 

Yes. While it is sitting the battery is slowly bringing a charge back up or at least enough to start it and run a while. But after it runs for a while and you ride a little the battery is getting drained again because your bike isn't putting out any or enough of a charge to keep it charged up. Basically your bike is running off just the battery. You need a volt meter to test your charging system. You can get a good one at sears for around 20 to 30 bucks. Find the setting for checking voltage. First check your battery. Which now sounds like it may be okay and it is just your regulator \rectifier that's gone bad. Use the same setting you had to check your battery voltage and start the bike(if you can) charge your battery if you have to. Then rev your bike up to 4000 rpm and see what it reads. Between 14 to 15 is good. Let us know what it reads. Reason I know is I had an 86 that had a r\r go out on me then I had the same things happen on my 98. How long have you owned this bike? I could be wrong and it could be something else but. R

 

I doubt it. Good luck. The meter I have is a craftsman. 82345 multimeter. It is digital and very easy to use. Think it cost me around 25 bucks