I was on a relatively long ride in the country on a paved county road yesterday (nebraska), when my bike started to lose power, sputter and seemingling run on less than 4 cylinders. I stopped, turned around and headed back. Within 2-4 minutes of the first symptoms, the bike cut out. When I tried to start it, it wouldn't. It was trying, but wouldn't. I checked the fuel visually and it was low, but had gas. Probably what I considered to be the reserve level. The reserve switch had been in the on position the whole time. I let the bike sit for about 5-10 minutes and then was able to start it. It ran o.k., but was not happy for the 2 miles to the gas station. I'm a new forum member and this is my first bike. My guess is that it was a comination of low fuel, riding on inclines/hills (?) and the fact I was using regular grade gas. After I filled the tank up, it was perfectly fine. Can anyone give me advice on exactly what this was? Many thanks!

 

miht be a sign of you R/R going. When it heats up it malfunctions, when it cools itll act normal for a while until heating up again. Cheap fix. It could also be the fact you were low on gas and sucking the garbage out of the bottom of your tank. Most people will say to try avoiding using reserve as much as possible due to the sediment and such that settles to the bottom of the tank. There arew a few topics on how to test the RR (rectifier) on your bike.

 

Thanks. I hope it's not the R/R. Had to look that up. When it happened, my first thought was it's something fuel related. Just the way it was acting. Thought maybe the fuel pump. It was weird. Once it cooled down, I was able to drive it to the station and fill up. After that, I drove it another 15-18 miles, stopping once on the way, then starting it with no trouble at all. My gut feeling says it had to do with it being low. Could have been the reserve switch not fully engaged (?)

 

its possible i suppose, but you said you had been riding with it like that already, so i think it would have done it before then. If it happens again, check the fuel pump first since you think its a fuel isue, you could bypass it and run gravity fed and ride it around and see if it acts up again. If it does then id check the RR.

Might wanna toss some carb cleaner in it too just for safe being. Never hurts.