did my bike heal thyself?

I posted this on ADVrider as well so sorry if you've already read this. I was riding on the white rim trail out of Moab a few days ago. It was hot and I'd been riding for several hours. I had plenty of fuel. The bike suddenly lost power. I thought it was my vent cap/line to my fuel tank and blew them out. Started the bike and rode off and it suddenly lost power again. About a second later it came roaring back to life (I'd kept the throttle the same). It rode like a bucking horse. On and off, on and off...

It would ride fine for a short bit and then suddenly lose power (as if I had chopped the throttle - or worse). It would then suddenly go again. Felt like it suddenly wasn't getting any gas and then equally suddenly- full gas. At a couple of points I was unable to get the bike going after I had stopped. It would just buck too much. After about 5 miles of this, thinking I was going to be stuck about 40 miles from Moab, I tried riding it with very little throttle. I was able to get up some speed and eventually shift into third gear. I rode about 10 miles until I reached the tarmac. So far so good. At least I was out. I stopped at the stop sign and when I accelerated it was fine. I have ridden it about 3-400 miles since without an issue.

Some have suggested the fuel pump but from what I've read most people have trouble starting. I haven't read anything with similar symptoms. It would always start right up. Others have suggested a faulty kick stand switch. Not sure how to test for this.

Any other ideas? Thanks for the help.

I'm leaning toward the kick stand switch, and agree with others that fuel pump failure wouldn't be intermittent.

All you have to do to the kick stand switch is disconnect it and connect the two wires together, effectively bypassing the switch. If your problem persists after that, then it's something else.

The fuel pump issues are typically only with 2008 models. Have you posted somewhere what year yours is?

There's a connector somewhere around/between the radiator and the gas tank that can mess with the wr.

I'll see if I can find the thread about it.

sticky:
click me <-- found it

I've been doing a lot of searching on this site and adv rider. Both of your suggestions have come up- the kick stand switch and the connector for the kill switch (located behind the radiator). I'm trying to remember if the condition seemed to occur when the bike was bouncing around. I know when I was riding it out under very little throttle I was trying to avoid bumps. I think I will take it out to some dirt and shake it up a bit. If it happens again then I will look at the side stand switch first since it is so accessible. If I can't reproduce it then I'll let it be until I get back home to Oregon. Thanks again for the help. This community is so valuable. marc

My bike was built in 5/08 which puts it in the bad fuel pump range. The symptoms appear different from what I've read about the fuel pump. Seems most people have trouble starting the bike. That was not the case for me. It happened when I was moving. It started every time no problem.

My bike has 16,000 miles currently- 12,000 in the last year. Only hickups have been this problem, a dead battery (after 4 years), a clogged gas tank vent line (IMS 4.75 tank) after riding in a great deal of dust in Death Valley and now a blown fork seal. This bike has been a reliable beast. Nothing but happy with it!