Last night I coasted into the gas station. Made it to the pump, and my bike immediately sputtered and died. I was of course very excited on having made use of an entire tank of gas without having to push the bike anywhere. So to make sure that it was a lack of fuel and not some other timely problem i went to turn the bike back on. When I moved the key to the on position I heard a very subtle but percise noise coming from the left side of the bike. Mind you, the starter switch was on, the bike was in 1st, and the side stand was down. So I kept turning the key from off to on with out hitting the started (only addressing the battery) and every time the exact same noise. I now believe it's coming from the stator, and the best way i can describe it is like the stator is trying to turn against the magnets but cant. Its like 4-5 little electrical revs and then it stops. Good news though, after filling up, I tried to recreate the conditions to see if the noise would happen again, but it has not. Everything is seemingly back to normal. So what the heck does the stator, ignition, and and empty fuel tank have in common?

 

Absolutely nothing. The sound you are probably referring to would be the fuel pump. When you turned the key it tried to pressurize the system however with no fuel to do it with. This would also explain why after fueling you can't recreate it. Sounds like everythings tip top again. Enjoy your riding.

B-

 

ahhh fuel pump. That makes mucho sense-o. Cheers.