I just want a few opinions before I take my bike to the shop, so i'll explain what the problem is.

About 2 weeks ago I was out for a ride. After about 4 hours the bike started struggling. It was a similar feeling as when a bike is running out of gas, but I had plenty of gas. After a few seconds of it the entire bike turned off, but right before it did the FI light on the dash turned on. I wasn't too far from a gas station so I waited a minute or two and turned it on. It appeared to run fine and I made it to the gas station. I waited a little longer but attempted to make it to my parents house about 10 miles away. It shut off once on the way, but after waiting about 20 minutes that time I ended up making it home fine.

From there I put some Seafoam cleaner in it and ran it through the engine a little. The next day I brought it home and it was fine up until about a mile from home, which is about an hour drive. It did the same thing, FI Light and cutoff.

I continued using the bike for a few days without problems, a few short rides. I was planning on going on another ride to see if the Seafoam did the job after running out the tank, so I rode for an hour to check it out. No problems. The next day I went for a ride and the same thing happened after about 90 minutes.

So it looks like the problem only happens after long periods of riding. I'm not sure what exactly that means, but i'm guessing it has something to do with the fuel pump getting too hot. Anyone else have any thoughts? I appreciate any help. I searched the forums to no avail and went through the service manual troubleshooting but it didn't really narrow it down.

Bike is stock except for the turn signals, ~5400 miles.

Thank you

 

so what did the ecu tell you when you checked to see what happened concerning the FI light?

 

I didn't want to pay to get it checked, hoping I could find someone with similar problems. I did end up finding a long topic on KawiForums (http://www.kawiforums.com/2005-2006-...alling-16.html). I bought some thermal tape and put it on the plastic between the exhaust and the ECU and got 2 hours of riding yesterday without a hitch.

I'm hoping that's all it was, i'll post back if something happens.

 

You can check it yourself with a manual and 3 minutes. You just put the bike in self diagnostic mode read the codes and look them up. Congrats on the fix!

 

yes, that was basically my question. Do it yourself in your garage in 3 minutes and tell us the flashing codes. Then compare that to what your manual states is the issue and go from there.

 

Ok I found the section in the manual to get into the diagnostic mode. I'll try to run the test later today just to see what it says. Does it matter that the FI light is only on for that half second before it shuts off? Just wondering if it's like a cars check engine light, which has to be on for any codes to be stored in it.

Thanks for the advice, thats good to know for the future.

 

Hmmm, not sure on when it resets. If you leave the key on after it dies it should hold the code for you to check it, try it and see. Have fun

 

There are 3 modes to check, I did not see where it actually will limit the amount of codes. It does tell you how to clear the codes afterwards though. Good luck

 

Did your bike back fire at all or just cut off? My bike was doing something close to this not long ago, but my fuel pump was working fine. I had to replace the pulsing coil. Now its all better.