Non-responsive Throttle?

[BlueHairSar]

Hey, so...

Today I was out for a ride, going around 30 through some twisties and my throttle suddenly stopped being responsive. The bike ended up stalling right in the middle of the road. I got her up again in a minute or so, but it took adding a little choke to do so. This was about an hour into riding, and I had 150mi on the tank of gas (I usually fill up at around 200). Plus I was able to ride home (6ish miles) without a hitch.

A similar thing has happened before, but it's only ever been right when I was starting out, so I figured it was just that the bike wasn't warmed up enough.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

[Little Green Machine]

I was just thinking that maybe you need to flush out your fuel system. We used to put a product called PJ1 in the tanks of new bikes after they were built and that stuff cleaned out the fuel system by floating out the junk that builds up in the fuel lines and tank, letting the engine burn it off.

Maybe this is what you are dealing with, a build up of the varnish in the tank over time?

[menikmati]

Gas tank venting?

[csmith12]

Light reflected off of Venus through some swamp gas and it hit your tank causing an instant temporary vacuum lock of your gas tank. That is my guess.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by BlueHairSar

.....but it took adding a little choke to do so.....

Somehow the engine did not receive enough fuel.

It may be venting or plumbing, but not lack of warming.

Flush the fuel filters inside the tank and any in-line filter, besides verifying proper vent of the tank's cap.

[KELPHYN]

Doesn't the '05(pregen) have a manual petcock? If yes, you probably were just on the verge of having to switch over to reserve and with leaning in the corners ran out of gas. Then when you stalled and got to the side of the road with your bike upright your gas level was high enough to again fill the carbs and your bike started.

[alex.s]

rusty gas tank

[BlueHairSar]

Yes to manual petcock, but with only 150 miles on the tank, I should at least have another gallon in there.

Took a peek with a flashlight and didn't see any rust...

[menikmati]

Did you feed your bike any tacos recently?

I still think it was some sort of vapor-lock.

[BlueHairSar]

Sh*t, tacos, that must have been it. It was just a little treat for being such a good little bike-bike!

[geeker]

Is the snorkel blocked?

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by geeker

Is the snorkel blocked?

i like this... maybe a manual or tool kit slid down the tail and is blocking the intake in the tail

[jaesun]

I had the same issue on saturday morning. It was probably in the lower 40s? Slightly warmer than the lows in the upper 30s since it was around 9am. I had been riding for 30 minutes and then it died with about 150 miles on the tank as I was riding slightly uphill. I felt it dying but didn't have enough time to switch the tank to reserve. I just assumed that it was low fuel because I've had this happen before due to a nearly empty tank but at 200 miles in the summer. It eventually started after a minute of priming. It seemed like an eternity because I already late and nearly missed the group ride start. Yeah, I was that guy. Doh!

Colder temps and a switch in fuel forumula for the winter? I have no idea why my mileage was crappy with that particular tank. Extended warm ups and more choke using up more gas? I hardly used the choke in the summer. I've also been having issues setting the idle since it got colder. As I downshift for stops and turns, I've even had the bike die as well. Just to be sure, I just replaced my battery because of the trouble I've been having getting the bike started in the morning and wierd speedo issues. I just didn't have enough amps with my +2 year old YUASA. I had to use jumper cables to get it started on saturday morning (reason I was running late). I got the Everstart ES12AA from Walmart, and it barely squeezes in the battery box.

I'm actually kinda relieved that you had the same issue. Mine is due for a valve adjustment. Maybe our issues are normal? I really didn't want to do the valve adjustment until the spring.

I've also been burning a lot of oil. Well, a 1/4 quart about every 400 miles? I've had to top up 3 times in the past 2 weeks. I checked the airbox and the missing oil wasn't there. I'm guessing that it's because I've been keeping the RPMs near 10,000-11,000 while I'm riding just so I don't have to downshift before the turns and still have the RPMs well above 6,000. I've been going on all day group rides for the past couple of weeks, so maybe the extended riding and high RPMs might be the main cause. Oh well. I now check my oil before every ride. I hope this is also normal. In the meantime, I've been trying to keep the RPMs lower to see if that makes a difference.

Oh, if you haven't already, you should check meetup.com for group rides in the DMV. I've been mainly tagging along with cruisers and have stayed away from the sportbike groups, but the group rides I've been out with have been very ninjette friendly. Mostly empty nesters, but I've gotten along great. An interesting mix too. Never thought I'd ride with a guy nearing 70 on his Ducati. The 4 group organizers I've been out with have set up some amazing rides. I've also met up another group outside of meetup in NoVa. Mainly female sportbike riders who are in the late 20/early 30s. Another fun group, but they ride fast. I already found my favorite road in the area - old WV route 9 just east of Charles Town. Very technical and ideal camber to race through the turns but plenty of time before each turn to set up your body position.