stalled a few times riding, now wont start, backfires

I have an 08 that had the fuel pump issues, replaced with a new pump assembly last fall. Ran fine after install. Bike sat all winter with fresh gas and Stabil treatment. Took the bike out for my first ride of the year and got about a mile down the road and it cut out and stalled. It did this a few times, each time I could hit the starter and get it going again. I'd have to hold some rpms for it not to konk out at stoplights. I managed to make it home and park it. Tried firing it up yesterday, turns over and backfires but won't start. I thought maybe not having it on a battery tender over the winter that maybe the battery was getting bad (original 08 battery) so I picked up a Ballistic lithium battery to swap out the old one. No difference, turns over and backfires. Unhooked FMF programmer, same result. I checked that no lines are pinched and all connections are good. Any thoughts? Bad injector?

Mods: FMF PC4, Airbox lid delete, FMF programmer, AIS block off.

Bike has 1728 miles on the odo.

Did you check the air filter and such to be sure nothing was living in it over the winter.

yes, air filter area is clean and filter looks great. Also I do hear the pump prime when the key is turned on, in case anyone was wondering. Is there a trick to getting the plug cap off the plug, I can unhook the wire but can't seem to pull the cap off the plug.

With some effort I got the cap off the plug, plug looks perfect.

I assume your new battery was charged well.

If so, you covered the basics. You need someone with more experience than I.

...Then again, fresh gas may be another try.

The Ballistic battery instructions say it's fully charged when new. Also if anyone gets the 4 cell battery, the wires just barely reach the terminals when hooked up. I was amazed how tiny it is, like half the size of the battery box. Fortunately they give you foam to pack around it.

If you haven't done it - I'd drain gas tank, and gas lines, and refill with brand spanking new 91 octane gas. 

I'd bet dollars to donuts, since you appear to have covered the battery, that your gas - even with stabilizer in it - was far to old to push through. 

I've never let a bike sit that long, so it's really just a guess. 

Which Sta-bil did you use? The one for ethanol ????

Okay, drained all the gas out and put in a gallon and a half of fresh 93 octane. No difference.

Air, fuel, spark. 

Are you sure fuel is getting into combustion chamber? 

As in, if your injector is clogged.....

So, you turn on the key, you hear fuel pump whirring away? 
You push starter button and bike tries to start? 
But won't?
Any error codes on dash?

turn the key on, whirrrrrrrrrrr of pump, press starter button, ba ba ba ba ba ba *pop* ba ba ba ba ba ba *bang*..... it stumbled into an idle for 10 seconds and died. I guess my next step is pulling the injector and seeing if it squirts. No error codes. It's bad enough that I had to pony up $200 and some-odd dollars for a new fuel pump, I'm going to be pissed if I have to drop another $90 on an injector. It only has 1700 miles.

Not to sound all preachy and shit - but you really can't let motorcycles sit for 7-9 months (?) and expect them to just fire right up and go. 

When you put the Sta-bil in the tank did you do anything else? Like mix up the fuel and sta-bil then run the bike some to make sure the treated fuel got into all the lines and injector and stuff? 

Or did you just dump it in, put the cap back on, and go away for 9 months or so?

I did fire it up over the winter a few times, it was mostly the maiden voyage this season that the s#!t hit the fan. I poured the stabil in rocked the bike around to mix it, let it run for 3-5 minutes blipping the throttle and shut it off. Started fine over the winter a few times. It's the same process I've done for this bike since 08, my three 3 wheelers, and 3 other motorcycles for years. Unfortunately this one is the only FI bike all the rest are carbed.

I pulled the injector and cranked it over while holding the injector into the fuel rail, it sprays fuel. Pulled the plug and checked for spark, my hair is still standing on end! I sprayed some carb and throttle body cleaner into the hole where the injector goes. Buttoned everything back together and had idle for another 10-15 seconds then stall. When I crank it I can hear it popping a backfire in the header sometimes.

Have a close look at your ignition wiring and wiring in general.

More than once I have seen a animal eat wires on a vehicle that was stored over the winter.  Not sure what is in electrical wiring but it seems to be a appetizer for squirrels.

Other than that it almost sounds like some sort of timing issue.

Spark? Check
Fuel? Check

Air??????????

I see you've done the AIS removal. 

Check for a vacuum line or something somewhere. 

All the things you've capped off, plugged, removed.....make sure those things haven't dry rotted or cracked and are allowing some vacuum or something to not be working properly.

motokid wrote:

Spark? Check
Fuel? Check

Air??????????

I see you've done the AIS removal. 

Check for a vacuum line or something somewhere. 

All the things you've capped off, plugged, removed.....make sure those things haven't dry rotted or cracked and are allowing some vacuum or something to not be working properly.

Good point on the vacuum line/fittings.

I was installing my 4.7 gallon IMS and noticed that the cap I used to plug the fitting for the flapper valve was disintegrating.  Hadn't got too far yet but it crumpled in my hand when I removed it.

The AIS block off is still fine, and the vacuum cap off of the throttle body is still intact and pliable. Now it's not even backfiring, I give up. I guess it's off to the dealer. Starting to get really disillusioned about this bike.

Please please please report back anything they find. 

As for the bike.... I have a 2008 with original fuel pump, original battery, and over 11,000 miles so far. 

I've had everything apart except the engine and suspension bits. 

Only thing I've ever done in winter time is use a Battery Tender Jr. 

I've never had any issues. 

However, the longest my bike has ever sat without being ridden might be 4 - 6 weeks tops. 

Never 6-9 months...

Will do.

Had a similar issue with my X a while back & after pulling my hair out I finally found out it was a bad spark plug. Here's the link to my post. https://wr250rforum.forumotion.com/t5247-intermittent-miss-at-idle-eventually-no-start

I'll give it a whirl, think I have a spare plug kicking around.

Whatever became of this issue? My bike is doing pretty much the same thing after sitting for a couple months.

lama wrote:

Whatever became of this issue?  My bike is doing pretty much the same thing after sitting for a couple months.

I had to dump a bunch of money into my wife's car and dropped $7k on my deck build. Kinda ran out of fun money temporarily. Still planning on dropping it off to the dealer, possibly Friday.

Well even though the plug looked pretty decent, a new plug was the cure.

tblumer wrote:

Well even though the plug looked pretty decent, a new plug was the cure.

Wow. Nice.   Thanks for reporting back.

New plug...... 

Gotta remember that.