Persistent Problem 2009 G650GS Redux

[KPINVT]

It happened again. Let me back track. I rode to our Lake Carmi camp out the weekend of June 18 to 20. The bike ran flawlessly the whole weekend. I put over 500 miles on the bike riding the roads in the northeastern part of VT. The route home included a stop at a fireman's BBQ. On the way there the rain came down in buckets. I delayed putting my rain over gloves on and my gloves got soaked. I had the heated grips on and the driving lights on from time to time while keeping an eye on the voltage meter. I returned home without incident and parked the bike and plugged in the tender. Three days later I was laid low by a kidney stone which stuck around until this past Saturday evening. On Sunday I rode the bike about 40 miles to our club's breakfast meeting and took the scenic route home. I did not plug the bike in when I parked the bike figuring I would be going back out Monday afternoon. I left the house and the bike stalled half way to the corner. The LED voltage indicator was in the green while the bike was running. I said screw it, set the throttle lock and continued out of town. Every time I hit the clutch the bike would falter, it would not idle unless I kept a close watch on the throttle. Once on the local two lane highway the bike ran roughly all the way down to the next town south where I picked up I-89 north to head home. Once entering town the bike would again falter at each down shift until I pulled up to my house where the bike stalled. This was the end of a 25 mile loop. I usually back into the driveway and restarted the bike to help in maneuvering when I noticed the bike was now idling without having to hold open the throttle. I killed the engine and restarted it several times and the bike was still idling. I left the driveway and headed back out for another 20 mile loop beginning with holiday weekend traffic down town. The bike ran fine. I don't know what to do. I'm almost sorry I bought this bike. It's a great bike, when it runs. I thought I got a great deal on this bike when I bought it, now I don't think so.

 

[beemergirl]

check your battery cable connections. These bikes are prone to the cables coming loose causing these symptoms.

Mine would run fine then stall after a stop as I accelerated. Loose battery cable.

Check it out. Easy to fix.

 

[KPINVT]

Will do.

 

[KPINVT]

check your battery cable connections. These bikes are prone to the cables coming loose causing these symptoms.

Mine would run fine then stall after a stop as I accelerated. Loose battery cable.

Check it out. Easy to fix.

Nope, that's not it. The cables are tight to the terminals.

 

[BetterLateThanNever]

similar issue - very transitory

I've had a somewhat similar issue, or at least similar symptoms, but it's only happened a few times over the last 6 months. I would ride the bike out in the morning, maybe some stops for errands, and then the bike would sit for 2-4 hours. After this time it started fine but at the end of the first block (or at first stop) it would die. My solution was similar to yours, keep the revs up, definitely over 2000 or a but higher, and it doesn't stall. After a period of time (5-15 minutes) the problem would go away.

Differences in my problem... no real problem shifting, oddly enough. Very intermittant over all, but tends to happen a few times in a week. I guess because of this, and because they couldn't find any problems, the dealer suggested it was related to the gas I'd gotten... don't know.

My bike is currently behaving well, so I'm happy. Don't know whether this is the same issue you're having, or whether this info helps at all. Any further thoughts?

 

[samuelh]

Ditto.

My 09 G650GS stalls and runs rough after/during a hard rain. Could it be water in the airbox?

S

 

[Troutluck]

Just a data point: I've ridden my 09 g650gs through some seriously torrential rains and not experienced this. (knock on wood)

Probably unrelated but throwing it in here anyway: I sometimes shoot a little wd40 into the ignition keyhole.

 

[BetterLateThanNever]

Probably unrelated but throwing it in here anyway: I sometimes shoot a little wd40 into the ignition keyhole.

Actually I think that's a good recommendation in general, was given that by a lock smith years ago when a car was having ignition issues. Probably not related to the problem, but what the hell!

I've not had any issues with riding in rain and stalling. When it first happened there was a thought that there was water in the fuel tank, so that certainly would be an issue... had that happen with a Honda Nighthawk that I owned.

 

[BetterLateThanNever]

bump up

Any further thoughts/experiences/info on this G650GS problem? Had a bad episode this morning that was different than any other episode... did the stalling thing right off the bat in the morning. Worried as I'm taking a bike trip next week!