Carb icing on a single cylinder?

[-Ralph-]

Would it cause the engine to cut dead, like hitting the kill switch, then spring back into life a few seconds later, or would the engine just run like sh!t, but keep running?

[yorkie_chris]

Usually carb icing won't kill them as the idle circuit isn't affected.

[-Ralph-]

Hmm, dunno what's up with the XT, cut out like that several times today.

Left me on full engine braking in the middle of an overtake on a busy A road, then again on a dual carriageway slip with cars behind all accelerating up my rrsss whilst looking in the door mirror, then again having just moved into lane 2 of the dual carriageway, and I had to scurry back over to the hard shoulder.

It dies completely, looses 20mph, then springs back to life again.

When it died on the dual carriageway slip it didn't come back to life quick enough and I ended up stopped on the left. Bike wouldn't restart, but I'd only in the last mile or so got back on the bike after a 1/2 hour stop, so I gave it some choke and it started. Soon after I closed the choke it did it again, so it left me thinking it was fuel related. Every time it did it I was on the throttle accelerating.

It did feel electrical though it was so sudden, i.e. kill switch, side stand switch, coil, ignition, spark plug, etc. Fuelling I'd expect it to run sh!t then die, not just die immediately.

[yorkie_chris]

Coil breaking down under load perhaps.

If it was fuel starvation you'd expect some popping and puttering at various throttle positions rather than just death I agree.

[-Ralph-]

It's a CDI ignition. The CDI units are known to go on them too.

[ogden]

If it was icing, you'd find it stuttering really badly on part throttle. Idle and full throttle would be OK, but part throttle would feel like fuel starvation. Not cutting out completely, just stuttering.

I once did the length of the A303 with carb icing on a 7R, playing leapfrog with an ambulance. I could either do 30 or 130, but nothing inbetween. That's my excuse, anyway, and I'm sticking to it.

Only time I've had complete cutouts like that was when the loom wore through and was shorting out at random.