Wanted to post up for the archive..

Took my '09 out for a spin today for the first time in a month. Ran great when I parked it, and the carb was run dry. Started up fine, but after 3 or 4 minutes, it started to miss and finally stalled. It would restart and run another minute, then miss and stall. Then it finally wouldn't start till I let it rest about 5 minutes. Rinse, repeat....

Felt like it was running out of fuel. The tank was low, so I switched to reserve. I recently re-plumbed the reserve line, so I thought maybe I had kinked the line or maybe there was a blockage, so I walked it back to the shed and fueled her up so I could run on the main line. Same thing, ride around about 3 or 4 minutes and the symptoms returned. NOTE: It felt worse anytime I leaned the bike, especially to the left?

Maybe the carb was clogged... pulled it apart and blew out all the passages with carb cleaner. Put her back together. Cranked her up... same symptoms


Troubleshooting 101- what was the last thing I did? Thursday morning I gave her a bath... so maybe I got water in one of the electrical connections?

I already had the bodywork off, so I pulled the tank and started tracking down all the electrical connection that might have gotten wet. I also took the opportunity to remove the sidestand interlock

That's when I found it... I pulled the boot off the plug and noticed the spark plug well was full of muddy water. I ran a pipecleaner up the drain passage and it stopped about 90% through. I found a stiffer wire and run it through, puncturing whatever was plugging it up and out came the water. I followed it up with some electrical contact cleaner and washed all the dirt out so everything was clean.

At that point, I put it all back together and now she's running like a top. It would seem that once the water heated up, it shorted out the ignition at the boot, or otherwise messed with the electrical contact with the plug.

Lesson learned... the spark plug well drain will get regular cleaning from now on.

 

Good to know, as I wasn't aware that there was a drain passage. I had thought that it looked like an area that would collect water and debris. Thanks!

 

I never seen it! But thanks for the info, now I'll have to go look for it

 

everytime i wash mine i get this - except mine wont start. i'll pull the plug and it will be completely fouled. gotten to where i just spray and wipe rather than soak it down....water apparently pools by the plug.

what is this drain passage you speak of? never seen such....

 

Here's the drain passage that leads to the spark plug well.
Mine was leaking coolant out for a while when I first got the bike as this picture shows. Just a little drop or two after a ride. This coolant leak issue is apparently rare as no-one else here said they've seen it. I think it is due to poor casting. The leak stopped after a season of riding.

Maybe taking a little compressed air to the passage once in a while would be a good to keep it open?

 

Thanks for the pic I will check mine!

 

Just checked my drain it’s wide open via compressed air.

Still not not sure why it always pools after a bath