Can't win'em all; if you are ever in San Antone, I will make good on the six pack wager. At least the CB is eliminated and you didn't spend much to elimnate it as the cause. Now, back to basics, fuel and fire; what is missing?

 

if its carbed....maybe a new fuel filter just to be safe you know. I know nothing about electrics.

 

djl,
No problem. It was time to replace the circuit breaker anyway.

It's driving me nuts. I'm going to start with the fuel tank and remove the Pingel petcock and make sure everything is clean to the carberator. Maybe I have some water or sluge settled in the tank. A friend also suggested I check the battery ground.

 

Are you getting any trouble codes? Does the engine light go off and come back on for about 8 seconds after you start it?

 

From what you have posted its starting to sound like a fuel problem.
I see where you have a Pingel petcock. That should be easy to troubleshoot.
What other mods have been done on the fuel system?
Stock carb?
Stock fuel lines?
After market fuel filter? ..... Causes more problems than it will cure. Can we say vapor lock.
Does pulling out the choke make it run better? If fuel bowl is almost empty it will help for a moment.
Does the engine "bog" if you crack the trottle?
When was the last time you drained the carb bowl?

Pull the AC, slide the carb out of the intake, remove the bowl, hold a pan under it to catch the gas. and turn the fuel valve on. Lots of gas should come out of the carb. At this point I should say. Gas is "FLAMABLE" also don't abuse the choke cable thats still attached to the carb. Your choke detent wont work anymore if you do.

 

I am going to start on it tonight.

To answer some of you questions...
> No modifications to the fuel system. Stock gravity feed carberator.
> I replaced the fuel line about a year ago. Bought fuel line at autoparts store (maybe a problem)
> I hate to admit, I didn't know there was a fuel filter other than the strainer attached to the Pingel. If there is, please let me know.
> last night when i was struggling to get home, pulling out the choke didn't make any difference
> I've never drained the float bowl in 60k miles, but I plan to

One of my theories is the carberator bowl fills up after sitting for several hours. I take off and the fuel being feed to the bowl is not fast enough for consumption. I get out on the road about 10 miles and it runs out of fuel. Last night, I would wait about 10 minutes and have enough fuel to run a little ways until it shut down and repeat again until I got home.

 

Carb inspection/cleaning definitely in order; the problem is sounding like a fuel delivery problem. Also check for obstruction to the fuel tank vent.

 

Update:
1. Disconnected the fuel line from the carberator and filled a soup can with gas. Seemed to flow pretty strong
2. Took off the fuel bowl. Didn't look gummy or anything. The float and fuel valve moved up and down freely. Wiped everything down.
3. Checked the vapor valve and it seems to stick so I will buy a new one tomorrow. Seems counter intuitive that it allows air to be blown away from the tank but the ball valve prevents air from coming in. Anyway the ball valve gets stuck so maybe that's the problem.

 

Update...went back to finding electrical problem. Replaced the coil, spark plug wires and crank position sensor. Runs fantastic. Hopefully that's it for awhile.

 

It wasn't the plug wires; my money is on the CPS. Glad you got it fixed; feels good to finally figure it out doesn't it?