Any Ideas what caused this?

[kevheads]

Went for a ride tonite, I was going about 45 when the bike just started bogging down with no throttle response. I could stay the same speed but that was it.I was only a couple miles from home so I just kept going, got about a half a mile down the road when the engine just quit running. Pulled over and tried to crank it a couple of times,nothing. A cop pulls behind me and wants to check my Reg/Ins. While he goes back to his car to run my stuff I hit the starter and it fires right up. I drive to the gas station and fill it up(took 3.9 gals.) and rode around close to home for awhile with no problems.I've started it up since I got home a couple of times with no problems. I'm guessing something to do with the carbs, I've always put sta-bil in every other tank full.

[lgk]

probably just bad fuel.
whens the last time you ran the bike, before the problematic ride?

[Alex]

Could be clogged venting on the gas tank. If it happens again, try opening the fuel cap, and see if the problem goes away immediately.

[kevheads]

As a matter of fact, when I pulled over, I did unscrew the gas cap just to make sure I still had gas. And I just installed a new Slingshotracing gas cap a couple of days ago. I had a gold SSR cap and sold it and just got a black one in the mail acouple of days ago. Though I never had any problems with the first one. I just got back from a 15 min ride around town with no problems and when I got back home I pulled the K&N filter just to check it and the gas cap was whinning.
This has got to be it. ALEX you are a G (Genius)

[aShifty]

Originally Posted by kevheads

Went for a ride tonite, I was going about 45 when the bike just started bogging down with no throttle response. I could stay the same speed but that was it.I was only a couple miles from home so I just kept going, got about a half a mile down the road when the engine just quit running. Pulled over and tried to crank it a couple of times,nothing. A cop pulls behind me and wants to check my Reg/Ins. While he goes back to his car to run my stuff I hit the starter and it fires right up. I drive to the gas station and fill it up(took 3.9 gals.) and rode around close to home for awhile with no problems.I've started it up since I got home a couple of times with no problems. I'm guessing something to do with the carbs, I've always put sta-bil in every other tank full.

I cant ever fit more then 2 gallons in my fill ups :/ not sure if i dont know how to pour gas or what..

and a lil off topic but do you recommend sta-bil? to put it in tank every now and then?

[lgk]

Originally Posted by aShifty

I cant ever fit more then 2 gallons in my fill ups :/ not sure if i dont know how to pour gas or what..

and a lil off topic but do you recommend sta-bil? to put it in tank every now and then?

i recommended it if your letting the bike sit for extended period of time, or dont ride it much.
if you find yourself riding to the gas station once a month or less, then i would use it.

my buddies bike ran horribly after it sat for one month.
we just drained the carbs and tank, refilled with new gas.
ran like a champ.

[lgk]

Originally Posted by kevheads

As a matter of fact, when I pulled over, I did unscrew the gas cap just to make sure I still had gas. And I just installed a new Slingshotracing gas cap a couple of days ago. I had a gold SSR cap and sold it and just got a black one in the mail acouple of days ago. Though I never had any problems with the first one. I just got back from a 15 min ride around town with no problems and when I got back home I pulled the K&N filter just to check it and the gas cap was whinning.
This has got to be it. ALEX you are a G (Genius)

so does the sling shot cap does not vent well or is it possible that you are over tightening it?

[kevheads]

Originally Posted by lgk

so does the sling shot cap does not vent well or is it possible that you are over tightening it?

I had rode 2 different times after putting on the new cap with no problems, then rode 20 miles last night before I stopped for a half an hour then headed home when it happened. Took it off this morning just to check it, and the vent hole in the base was clear. Not sure what caused it, guess I'll just have to wait and see if it happens again.

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by lgk

so does the sling shot cap does not vent well or is it possible that you are over tightening it?

Mine does it with the OEM cap even though I have the normal tank-moan venting sound extremely often and no added fuel filters. It usually happens thousands of miles apart but almost always after I hop on an already-warm bike that's sat for a short while and then ride off. The exceptions are outside cooling events such as rain (once). I think that the heat from the engine goes right into the tank when it's parked and creates positive pressure that reverses as it cools and the pressure becomes a vacuum. You usually sputter out a few blocks away.

It sounds like this is EXACTLY what the OP experienced with the 20-30 minute wait.

[lgk]

mine has been moaning a lot as well.

is there any way to make the vent open easier so the vacuum is more gradual?

not really interested in drilling a hole...

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by lgk

mine has been moaning a lot as well.

is there any way to make the vent open easier so the vacuum is more gradual?

not really interested in drilling a hole...

Ride around with the tank open, perhaps?

[lgk]

Originally Posted by CZroe

Ride around with the tank open, perhaps?

not too bad of an idea, but i could get high off the fumes at a stop light, lol.

i wonder how much the vacuum plays a role in my fuel injection system.

[x only performance]

this happened to me just after a fill. rode for five miles or so and died. let it sit for a couple hours and started right up but still trailered it home. went for a ride tonight and made it two miles and died (had to walk it home this time all up hill).... should i drain the tank? PLEASE HELP?

[lgk]

Originally Posted by x only performance

this happened to me just after a fill. rode for five miles or so and died. let it sit for a couple hours and started right up but still trailered it home. went for a ride tonight and made it two miles and died (had to walk it home this time all up hill).... should i drain the tank? PLEASE HELP?

thats weird if you had the same problem as kevheads opening the tank should have solved it.

might want to see take out the carbs and see whats going on.

whens the last time you did this?

[x only performance]

this happened last night and a week before that was the first time. i let it sit for the week only starting it and running at idle.

[lgk]

forgot to say check the petcock filter too.

[kevheads]

I've rode almost daily since mine problem and it's never came back. E-mailed Slingshot racing and they were no help at all. My guess is that the burr that's completely around the vent hole, (looks to be when the hole was originally drilled when made.) though it's not sticking up enough to scratch into the underside of the cap, I'm guessing that it's close enough that it's not letting it vent as much as it would without the burr. I could be way off but don't have any other explanation, it was the first time it did it in over a year and happened when the second SSR cap was installed. I haven't knocked the burr off yet, wanted to see if it did it again and if unscrewing the cap when it starts will fix it.

[dirty nasty]

It's a vapor lock type of deal. I had the same thing happening to my pre-gen. Another user explained it nicely, you can find the thread in the pre-gen section and it's titled "WTF is going on?" or something to that effect...lol. What I've been told is it happens when the tank temp changes rapidly.

[x only performance]

when i died the second time i popped the gas cap...no result

[x only performance]

Update- the bike idle fine but when I give it throttle it rev to about 5k then dies...need help bad...beautiful weather here in Oregon right now and I can't ride :-(

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by kevheads

I've rode almost daily since mine problem and it's never came back. E-mailed Slingshot racing and they were no help at all. My guess is that the burr that's completely around the vent hole, (looks to be when the hole was originally drilled when made.) though it's not sticking up enough to scratch into the underside of the cap, I'm guessing that it's close enough that it's not letting it vent as much as it would without the burr. I could be way off but don't have any other explanation, it was the first time it did it in over a year and happened when the second SSR cap was installed. I haven't knocked the burr off yet, wanted to see if it did it again and if unscrewing the cap when it starts will fix it.

I don't think the SSR cap has anything to do with it because it does it on a bone-stock bike with the OEM cap as well. It will not do it on a normal ride and you could ride thousands of miles before accidentally creating the conditions that cause it. Try this: When your tank is less than a quarter full, idle the bike for 30 minutes or take it on the freeway for an hour. Let it get as hot as it's going to get. Don't let your fairings melt if you're idling though (it does happen)! Park the bike and turn it off for 15-20 minutes and let all the heat in the engine conduct up into the tank. Hop back on and attempt to take it onto the freeway again. Stay in the right lane because you are probably going to sputter-out even before you get on the ramp!

[lgk]

Originally Posted by CZroe

Park the bike and turn it off for 15-20 minutes and let all the heat in the engine conduct up into the tank. Hop back on and attempt to take it onto the freeway again. Stay in the right lane because you are probably going to sputter-out even before you get on the ramp!

i have done that before, but never had it sputter out.
it did run different, but i had no idea what it was.

my fuel injection doesn't seem to be effected but if the vacuum is strong enough to starve a carb, that could translate into additional work for the fuel pump.

[x only performance]

ok so i just drained the tank through the petcock on PRI...is there anything i shoul do while i got the tank off and empty? anything i should clean or check?

[lgk]

did you take out the carbs?

[x only performance]

Originally Posted by lgk

did you take out the carbs?

No I haven't done that before so I'm a little nervous to do it

[x only performance]

I haven't heard my whistle noise from the gas tank in a while is the some thing to clean there so it is venting properly?

[kevheads]

this is starting to suck, how do I get the vapor lock to not happen? headed to Indy this morning (200 miles). it happened twice today, same scenerio, rode for 60 miles or so, stopped for a 15 minute break at rest areas, as soon as I took off, she ran for a couple of miles down the interstate and just bogged and died, waited a couple of minutes and it started right up and ran fine till the next rest break.
Worst part was the first time it did it I was in the left lane going around a Semi. I ended up pulling off down into the median to get out of traffic, second time I stayed in the right lane and had plenty of shoulder to pull off on but still to dangerous out on a busy interstate.

Any ideas? wait long on the rest breaks? CZroe, you're right the cap doesn't have anything to do with it, tried opening it before I left on the second break and still did it.

[lgk]

did you check your petcock.
try using the prime function for a short period of time once it happens.

if it works then it might be a leak on the vacuum line going in.

[CZroe]

I wonder if idling at your stop helps (heat conducts to radiator and gets exhausted there instead of rising up into the tank). Perhaps a way to keep the fan on when the bike is otherwise off? I do wonder if this is why Kawasaki changed the venting and routing of the engine heat on the L-series (2013 model).

[lgk]

according to the website it was designed for rider comfort.
i suspect the block will still radiate heat into the tank.

the fuel injection is less effected by the tank vacuum, but you never know.

[kevheads]

just got back from Indy and stopped twice coming home and it didn't do it at all. There was a faint smell gas when I stopped for breaks even when coming home. Would having my emissions block off plate maybe contribute to this problem. I'll check all the hoses tomarrow, took the day off to recoup.

[lgk]

Originally Posted by kevheads

just got back from Indy and stopped twice coming home and it didn't do it at all. There was a faint smell gas when I stopped for breaks even when coming home. Would having my emissions block off plate maybe contribute to this problem. I'll check all the hoses tomarrow, took the day off to recoup.

it could if you didn't plug one of the tee outlets.

[thurt88]

My favorite part is that the cop didnt even ask if you needed help b4 he wanted your reg/ins card. I really hate cops.