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Firstly, and easiest to check: the switch on the side-stand, the switch on the clutch, the kill-switch. All those "safety features" that will stop the motor if they have a fault. Check them and make sure there is nothing dodgy, and take it from there. Oh, and have a look inside the ignition switch. After that, the relays, primarily those involved in the safety features. But as @gstallons already wrote, there is a whole list of things it could have been. Maybe even "only" a bit of water in the fuel tank.

Red frame ? Whewwww. it could be ANYTHING . We will put on our thinking caps and come up with some suggestions and things to check !

I rode over and met some guys for lunch today. Beautiful weather. As I headed off to come back home the bike sputtered and then died. I checked and there was gas. I restarted it and it was mostly uneventful on the way home. The oil pressure light came on for a second but then immediately went out around a corner. I will admit I treat this thing like a Honda. Put gas in it and ride. There's probably a maintenance list that I'm completely ignoring. That might be catching up to me... I should probably change the oil (not because of age but miles). Or at least check to see if it has oil. I suppose my biggest fear is the original fuel pump will fail at some point. At least I think that's my biggest fear.

I am at home, with no plans to ride anywhere on 2 wheels for the forseeable future. Lots to do, and I put it back a few weeks for the tour so BACK TO WORK lol

Nicely done - that's a fantastic achievement to knock it all off in one shot...lots of endurance! I bought a 100 raffle tickets for the Norge also (it's the twin of my Norge)...we'll see if I win! Are you headed back to the Norton rally this weekend also?

Oh yeah, and this...may not be too late to enter. hehe

You should look inside the tank of a 87 SE and it looks like it would be better underneath a tree w/o a fuel cap than inside a damp building w/an empty tank.

That'd be good, if you could do that. I'm pretty sure it is in the workshop book somewhere, and will look there, but confirmation from another source is always helpful.

Sailed with a few other TourCats the last few days, since on the same route. Good times in the Starlight Theater restaurant in Terlingua. Big Bend area is definitely on my future target list.

Just got home at noonish. Got my paperwork for my 'official' Iron Butt on the horrid I-10/I-75/FL turnpike ride home, motivated me to get it done. Got every stop except the ALT at the 3 corners marker.

Kevin, Look forward to you joining the Muttoneers! Whether yo join us from a launch from the Moto Grappa (c.450 backroads miles from Pinckney) or meet us in Owensboro (444 ditto), it's childplay for you given your run to and from Tellico Plains! Mutton is an acquired taste, but as I tell folks, "it's acquired me." That day's average speed surprised me, too, as I generally do as you do, i.e., loiter at c.40mph average on backroads. In this case, I smelled the barn and wanted to get home before dark. Moreover, while some of the roads I took were pretty technical and not made for rapid riding -- at least at my age and skill level! ; the stretch of U.S. 50 from Grafton, W.V., to vic. Romney, W.V., comes immediately to mind ... ... there were sections that permitted orange-suit speeds now and then. Must go. Dentist appointment! Bill

Fill it up w/straight gas. You don't want to leave it empty and then take the cap off year later to find RUST.

G'day Mick. Yep,I had my sensor sorted years ago and think from memory you're right the gap should be about 0.7mm. I'll dig the paperwork out and check for sure if need be? Cheers Ps yes it will cause running issues if the gap widens!

I definitely spotted the ethanol free pumps. I have yet to try the brisket but I hear it's great. One the guys got the brisket sandwich and they said it was as advertised.

I’ll drain the old fuel out of the machine, as it’s apparently been in there a long time, which can make life more difficult with carbs (or FI). But whats the best option for long term storage… fill it with clear/non ethanol to keep the inside of tank less susceptible to moisture, or leave it dry? i’m in a moist wet environment, so have always defaulted to keeping stored bikes with clean fuel in the tank, but have never planned to store for more than a winter.

It's good to see your back in the saddle again Bill! To tell the truth averaging over 50 miles per hour on back roads is impressive. When planning a trip using all backroads with all my stops I normally figure about 40 mph average. Gives me an idea of saddle time. I got to try some of that mutton one of these days

One additional benefit we have here at the local Bucee's is 91 Octane Ethanol free gas...coupled that with a fresh brisket taco and a coffee and you're good to go!

If you haven't been it's a bucket list item. The pictures do it no justice. From Tennessee you have no excuse not to go.

When we went in 2021 we stopped at Bucee's and had no idea what it was like inside so we just sat in the car. Since then I have been fully exposed to Bucee's and made the guys go in. Minds blown. $4000 and it had about 45k miles. I thought that was... bold.

Today I took the timing sensor out. Lots of buggerising around: I replaced the breather hose that runs under the spine from the headstock to the back of the motor a while back. It seems I made a "tactical error" in the process. The cable from the timing sensor went up between that hose and the frame, and the connector was hidden under the airbox. The result was that getting the sensor out involved "unclothing" the Le Mans all the way down to unfastening the airbox. When it goes back together, that plug will be nicely accessible on the frame just above the sensor, don't you worry. The sensor didn't look too bad, but it will be swapped out. Holding the new one against the old one, and assuming they were both the same length in new condition, it seems the old one has swelled and shortened such that it is about a half a millimetre shorter than new. That would be enough to take the gap from (assuing it was correct) about 0.7mm to about 1.2mm. Going by what I have read here, amongst others from @guzzler's report on the subject, that would be enough to make it run badly. Whatever, the new sensor will go in. Cleaning up around the sensor was a pain. There were liberal amounts of some sort of silicon sealant involved, and getting that all cleaned up took a while. Since the airbox is now unfastened, the list of "things to be done now" has grown again. I wanted to just put the new sensor in, and see how that affects the way the bike runs. Since I'm so far in now, it seems sensible to go at the "tank off mainenance" thing again from scratch. I've been through that once already, but it was all a bit perfunctory. Since I've got it all apart again, it seems sensible to go at it again and take a bit more care about it. Cleaning the throttle bodies really properly, for instance, And I've got some new rubbers for between the throttle bodies and the motor. And I've got a new timing chain here, and whilst I'm in there I could repair the two broken screws of the four that hold on the alternator cover. And the tailpiece is off, to make it easier to get to the screws for the sidecover. Since that's off, I could have another look at the wiring under the seat, particularly on the underside of the relay sockets. And while I'm in there, I could consider adding the additional relay to supply direct power from the battery to the starter solenoid. The fun never ends...

Hey Eric...how are you doing on the tour? I'm at 47 stops, P6x at 49 stops. We should be wrapping up in the next couple of weeks to complete all 50 here. Another friend on a Stelvio is going thru Big Bend National Park as we speak picking up stops also.

I see you made it to Bucee's! The Champagne one looks in nice shape...at what price was it being offered?

Wow!

^^ What little I've seen of her vids, she's a good one to play Neil. I think she's got a little more funk but can do all the doo dahs. Not a huge Rush fan, but saw them on one of their last tours.

Pretty excited to listen to/ watch some new video of Anika Nilles playing with RUSH . . .