AZ Greg
Member
Just thought I'd pass along this issue and resolution in case others might have a similar problem....
I bought an '03 a week ago and drove about half the tank out of it when it began to progressively exhibit a throttle stumble as I rode down the freeway. It would accelerate and decelerate smoothly, but wouldn't hold a constant speed without bucking. The bucking was the same as I've felt when there's been water in my fuel in other situations. This wasn't water because, if it was, you'd feel the bucking and hesitation under acceleration as well. It progressively got worse and was exhibiting some really violent lashing of the drive train as it alternated between 'gas on' and 'gas off' while trying to maintain a constant speed. Once off the freeway I found I could somewhat control the lashing at lower speeds using the clutch.
At any rate I called the guy I'd bought it from and asked where he got the fuel - he said it was premium and it came from a gas can in his garage that was about 2 weeks old (Don't know about you, but things in my shop enter a time warp and are there for years and I swear they've only been there for a week). I called the dealer and talked with a service tech and he said the fuel injection system is very sensitive to decaying fuel. He said acceleration would still seem fine but that the off-idle stumble is where bad fuel would rear it's ugly head.
I siphoned off all the fuel I could with a siphon hose (which turned out to be all but about 1/2 gallon), refilled the tank and as an extra precaution added a few ounces of 'Heat' (Isopropyl Achohol stuff from Autozone to absorb moisture in the tank). Immediately the bike ran smoother, but during the course of riding through the tankfull it had occasional short bouts with bucking (I assume the 1/2 gallon of bad stuff still in there). I rode the bike through the full tank and 35 miles into the tank's reserve to get as much fuel burned as possible before refilling again. Refilled it a 2nd time and have had no bucking since.
Glad it was nothing worse and maybe this can help someone to eliminate this possibility before spending time and $ on other potential causes of a similar malady.
Best,
Greg
I bought an '03 a week ago and drove about half the tank out of it when it began to progressively exhibit a throttle stumble as I rode down the freeway. It would accelerate and decelerate smoothly, but wouldn't hold a constant speed without bucking. The bucking was the same as I've felt when there's been water in my fuel in other situations. This wasn't water because, if it was, you'd feel the bucking and hesitation under acceleration as well. It progressively got worse and was exhibiting some really violent lashing of the drive train as it alternated between 'gas on' and 'gas off' while trying to maintain a constant speed. Once off the freeway I found I could somewhat control the lashing at lower speeds using the clutch.
At any rate I called the guy I'd bought it from and asked where he got the fuel - he said it was premium and it came from a gas can in his garage that was about 2 weeks old (Don't know about you, but things in my shop enter a time warp and are there for years and I swear they've only been there for a week). I called the dealer and talked with a service tech and he said the fuel injection system is very sensitive to decaying fuel. He said acceleration would still seem fine but that the off-idle stumble is where bad fuel would rear it's ugly head.
I siphoned off all the fuel I could with a siphon hose (which turned out to be all but about 1/2 gallon), refilled the tank and as an extra precaution added a few ounces of 'Heat' (Isopropyl Achohol stuff from Autozone to absorb moisture in the tank). Immediately the bike ran smoother, but during the course of riding through the tankfull it had occasional short bouts with bucking (I assume the 1/2 gallon of bad stuff still in there). I rode the bike through the full tank and 35 miles into the tank's reserve to get as much fuel burned as possible before refilling again. Refilled it a 2nd time and have had no bucking since.
Glad it was nothing worse and maybe this can help someone to eliminate this possibility before spending time and $ on other potential causes of a similar malady.
Best,
Greg
