Once again the bike’s in the shop and has been since Monday. I just want it to run properly and it’s still acting up. After much research I’ve come to the conclusion it’s either the stator or the “dreaded green plug”. Either way it’s probably a sensor of some kind and not a fuel problem. Here are the symptoms:

After running for at least a half an hour the idle becomes erratic and bounces between 1000 and 2000 rpms. If it reaches the 1k rpm area it acts like (and sometimes does) it’s going to die. I have to keep the throttle open to make sure it doesn’t just shut off.

If it does shut off there’s a strong fuel smell coming from the exhaust. This may just mean the mixture is too rich but it runs just fine cold. I’ve adjusted the idle to around 1400 instead of the 1200 that the shop adjusted it to. This at least keeps it from dipping below the 1k mark and causing a complete failure of the bike.

At this point I just want it fixed. If I don’t get a call from the shop by 3pm today I’m just going to go pick up the damn thing and ride it till it dies. If it’s the stator there’s nothing I can do about it. The steps involved in replacing that are far beyond my capabilities and require a complete engine teardown. No way I have the tools or know-how to get that done.

The hard part is it only acts up once the engine is good and warm which means simply putting it on the dyno won’t show much unless it’s been run for awhile.

Crossing my fingers I get some good news today.