I will be as thorough as i can. Last weekend I had my baby sputter and die while I was riding at speed. I road to work in the rain and had to leave her uncovered all day. Started riding home in the rain and she started losing power after about 4 or 5 miles. I thought it was time to switch to reserve as that is how it was acting. Switched to reserve and it continued to lose power and finally died when I pulled the clutch. I coasted to the side of the road and tried to start it for about 10 to 15 seconds and then it wouldn't turn over. Called the wife for assistance. She brought a fresh gallon of gas and jumper cables. Took about 30 minutes for her to arrive. Added the gas and again it cranked about 10 seconds and then didn't have enough power to crank. I used jumper cables and got her to start. When she first started she bogged and sputtered then roared to life. I thought is was odd the battery seemed low so i road home in 3rd or lower to keep the RPMs up to help charge. I ride daily and haven't had a problem like this before or since. The only real difference in this day and any other day is it was raining all day and she wasn't under cover.
Could it be I got water in the generator?
Other than make sure i cover her when it rains, any other suggestions or theories ?

 

If your revs were below 3000RPM chances are the battery wasn't getting enough charge.
These bikes don't react well to a low battery - they won't start if it's down.
Don't think it's possible to get water in the stator/generator - it's filled with oil.....
My guess is your battery is down on power, either from insufficient charge, or it's old and needs to be replaced.
Low water levels in the battery will also cause it not to charge properly, and will also damage the battery.
Check your regulator/rectifier and make sure you're getting the correct voltage into the battery - around 13.5 to 15 V is right....check for burnt wires around the reg/rec too which could mean it's on it's way out.

Now go and vote for Sixpack in the bike of the Month - we need your help !
Thanks !

 

She actually started and ran fine after the short (less than 5 mile) ride home. She started and ran ok the following morning and every day since. I think it is probably some sort of short myself but had no idea where to begin. She usually is kept either in a garage or under a cloth bike cover when I'm at work but wasn't covered this day so it must have something to do with the rain but i wasn't sure what could have gotten wet that would have caused this. After looking at the location of the regulator/rectifier in the manual i see there could have been moisture on the connection from sitting on the sidestand in the rain for 10 hours. I'll check the battery and charging system on my days off. Thanks for the help.

 

I am not disagreeing with the guys but would like to add to it. It does sound strange that the bike would lose power, as in low battery while riding in the rain. The battery supplies 12v to the coils and if the battery is getting lower and lower you would also lose a hot spark as they have mentioned. Sometimes these water problems are hard to find.

My first step would be to lift the tank and check the low voltage wires going into the spark coils. I would start the bike and spray them with a garden hose and see what happens. A shorting problem in these wires may be causing the problem when they get wet.

 

As TBT says, a bath is in order, followed by a complete dry off and some silicone or similar spray that'll keep the water out in future.............
Good that she's OK now - must be something small................

 

It was big enough to make me walk half a mile in the rain at night on the highway with no paved shoulder. The silicone spray is a good idea and I hadn't thought of using that. Thanks all.