Motor dies, runs, dies, runs, dies, runs, etc

[OldEz]

Maybe should have started with electrical. I feel this will probably end up there.

22 XT, last Saturday was playing around alone, was harder in the throttle than normal... just because I felt like it. About 7 miles in, saw a friend, stopped the motor and shot the bull for 10 minutes. Fired up and left out even more in the high rpms.

Bike died just like pressing the kill button about 15 seconds later. Wouldn't hit a lick for about 15 seconds when it fired up like nothing was wrong. Was nicer on the throttle but about 20 seconds later, kill switch type shutoff again. 20 seconds later ran like it loved me. Rode back to my friend. Kill button type thing just as I got there.

Sat there about a minute telling him where to meet me on his way out and if I wasn't there to come back to this point and bring a tow strap. Bike fired up and ran like new for about a minute. Now I was getting suspicious so I sat there about a minute and then it fired up and ran great for a minute before it died again. Now I cranked it after about 15 seconds. Sure enough, it ran for about 15 seconds before it died.

I tried 3 minutes but it only ran about a minute and a half. Tried various wait times but MOSTLY what ever time I waited before I restarted was how long it would run with a lower limit of about 5 seconds and a upper limit of about a minute and a half.

The last couple of miles were coast-able if you kept your speed up, so I was trying to do all I could in one of the steep sections and crashed my brains out.

3 broken ribs, hairline fracture in the right femur, and a 2x2 1/2" cut to the bone just below the elbow. So today was the first I have felt like rinsing off and checking out the bike.

Is still doing it but only after about a 5-7 minute warm up. No flashing warning lights on the computer. No obvious problems. transmission oil is fine (I have no idea where Beta might have sensors and what, if anything, they might trigger). Nothing is getting hot. Coolant is full. Fuel is over half tank and tried on reserve. Oil injection level was dropped about where it normally does with 10-14 miles of running so it appears to be working.

Finally spotted a tiny dark spot in the upper left of my computer screen. Had to get my other glasses, and wear both pairs, to make it out. It is a black square with a lighter picture of an oil can in the center. Have no idea if thats the "it checked OK" light or the "Oh Shit!" light but its not yellow, red or flashing so it seems to me to just be the "your oil is fine" light.

I was reading that anything that could make your voltage drop or be unsteady could throw off your oil injection system but I don't know what the CPU might do in response to that. I also read that even a bad regulator would throw off the injector system and to check and make sure you have a steady 13.5 volts or more across your battery when the motor is running.

I DID replace my regular battery with a lithium-ion battery and it has some really wild readings. (its one that pressing a button on top will tell the current voltage) I have seen it down to 12.3 and up to 14.2. With the high rpms that day, I COULD have been making the fan run a lot more and its possible I had a voltage drop but I only thought of that a few minutes ago and will have to check voltage tomorrow.

So you see I don't really have any ideas right now unless the cpu is going into limp mode for some reason that I don't know.

Its still under warranty but I prefer to work out my own problems and besides, the closest dealer is 5 hours round trip and the dealer I bought the bike from is about 7 hours.

Anybody have any ideas before I suck it up Monday, call, and make the long drive TWICE ? (once to leave it and once to pick it up)

[OldEz]

Had family plans today and so barely messed with the the XT.

I remembered the steady voltage was actually supposed to be 13.3 volts or greater. The battery was holding at 13.3 volts and with the engine running as the test required, was doing 13.35 to 13.38. So the battery, regulator, or charging system has nothing to do with the problem.

I tried the 6-6 second x4 reset and nothing changed so either the oil injection reset has changed since 2018, the oil injection is so boogered that the electronics are immediately re-triggered, or the electronics are boogered. But the most likely seems to be no problems there.

Will probably call the closer dealer tomorrow since a double round trip to him will save me about 4 hours driving time wasted out of my life and the place I bought the bike seems to have a... ahhh... "technically and mentally challenged" mechanic. They have been nice to me where I bought the bike but the extra drive and mostly... I really would rather their mechanic never came near my bike with a wrench in his hand.

Still wouldn't hurt my feelings if someone made a suggestion... Might save me a lot of time and trouble...

[Darkside]

sounds like it might be a fuel issue. check your in tank filter. also the gas cap breather

[OldEz]

I didn't even realize I had an in tank fuel filter. I believe my Aprilla has one but it is fuel injected.

I also didn't think about my fuel tank breather not working. This DOES sound al lot like that could be it and its super easy to check.

Luckily, I had things come up today and did not get my dealership call made. I'll get up in the morning and check out those 2 things before I call them.

[pscook]

I'm assuming that the oil injection is still installed? If so, check the connections to the tank level sensor, or check out the sensor itself. We had a similar gremlin on another make/model, and it was the oil injection level sensor. A simple bypass of the sensor and it was running just fine. And if you removed the oil injection system, check the wiring bypass.

[OldEz]

I'll make that my last try.

I had found a suggestion to try that from Dirt Bike Magazine from 2020 and was going to try that, but after spending a few hours tracing out other problems with no success, I had decided that I was tried of working on a new under warranty bike and I wasn't being paid at all for it. But if I took it to a dealer, he could have the headache AND have Beta pay him for their problem that I bought.

But I'm not taking the bike to him until tomorrow, so if I can find the wiring. I'll give that one last try. But I'm over putting a lot more effort into it. I'm starting to just be over Beta.

After I looked up the dealer address, I was wrong. He is further away that I thought and there is 2 or 3 closer dealers but EVERYONE I talk to tells me he is worth the extra drive so I'm looking at a 6 hour round trip or 12 hours to drop off and pick up.The other guys are still over 8 hours drive to drop off and pick up. If I have to drive that far, might as well take it to the one with the best reputation.

It's worth one more attempt to avoid that drive.

I'm seriously reconsidering buying Beta. I very well may sell out over this issue. My dealer is not willing to help enough to matter over the phone, even considering the distance. But to be honest, I don't know that he is capable of helping. Still, for the distance, they could have had someone from Beta call and help me.

Right now as far as I'm concerned, Beta sucks. I already have one friend who thinks he has changed his mind about buying Beta over my problems.

It's not that I don't think I could thoroughly check every single thing possible and eventually find it myself. It's that it is for all practical purposes a brand new motorcycle and I shouldn't HAVE to spend days and hours hunting out problems that CAN"T be my fault and the only help I get is "bring it in and we'll see what we can find".

I'm pretty sure this just finished me with Beta

[OldEz]

Ok. Talked to another dealer.

First time I called his help was an asp with an s.

Got him directly the second time. Spent a long time with me. Ran down the long long list of what to try. Was almost identical to my list of things to try except I don't believe its in the pilot jet and doing that is probably a big waste of time but at least that will be eliminated so I will.

He did have a couple of things to add that might end up being helpful. He seems to think the most likely is a short in the wiring harness. Told me basically what not to do to void the warranty. If it goes past what I can do without voiding the warranty, suck it up, do the long drive, and he'll take it from there.

He is doing exactly what I wanted in the beginning... but now I'm about soured on doing all this work, risking my warranty, and all when I KNOW it was a Beta factory flaw.

Maybe I'll get over it. Meanwhile, back to work.

[pscook]

Thanks for the extra info and clarification. That is a big burden on you for a new bike, and you have done an admirable job of attempting to resolve. The hope is there that the dealer does you right.

I can't imagine your level of frustration, and having a poor dealer experience added on top doesn't seem to help resolve either your frustration or the running issue. Let's hope that everything works into your favor, regardless of the outcome.

[OldEz]

That means a lot! It helps even to know that one person is out there rooting for me. Thank you!

A couple of my closest friends have also thrown in support behind me. Like an old quote from somewhere; The best thing that can be made of a bad thing like this is that you find out who your real friends are.

As usual, when it rains, it pours. I've had other unexpected problems take up all my time today so talk was all I got done toward the bike. Hopefully I will dedicate tomorrow to the labor all day.

Thanks again!

[pscook]

I think that the Beta community has two types of members: Rabid fanboi and realistic enthusiast. Well, there's a third, let's call them "itinerant" or "transient" as they move through the bike as a novelty. They don't count in the overall population

Betas have issues, that's for sure, but they have been occurring at a lower rate than in the past. I had one wire, the right rear blinker, break. I had to split apart the harness wrap and insert a butt splice, and so far that's the only issue. I'm sure that it's a small problem, but it is causing a large issue for you, which never reflects well on the bike or the manufacturer. And when you have a dealer who is an asp, that doen't help.

Good luck, and I do hope that it gets resolved to your satisfaction.