Short version:
On the morning of a 7 day, 2000 mile trip, I load everything up on the bike, start the bike, go 10 feet and it dies when shifting from first to second. Fires right back up and again, when I let off the throttle, it dies. Strong gas smell, smells like it is flooded. So, fire it up again, keep it revved instead of idle, and 5 minutes later all is well. Ran the rest of the trip like a champ (Michelin PR3s are nice!), except once in a while when it was hot the restart wasn't real strong, especially at altitude.

Long version: My son recently graduated from Michigan Tech U and was accepted to University Colorado Boulder graduate school. So I jumped on that right away and volunteered to help him move. Took a Penske truck and loaded up my 2008 DL650A out to Denver (and we managed to get all of his stuff in there also) and ride home to northeastern WI thru Rocky Mountain NP, the Black Hills, northern MN, and northern WI.

We got there Tuesday after 3 days with the bike in the truck, and I unload the bike, it started right up, and took it around the block – no issues. Next morning, Weds, I took it for about a 30 minute ride in the morning to make sure all was well. Again, no issues. Thursday the bike sat all day.

Friday morning is when I left and the issue occurred. It had not rained during the time it sat but it may have gotten wet from sprinkers maybe? Altitude related? Battery? Never have had any issue with this bike, it has always run like a champ. I think I'm going to replace the battery since the starts seems a bit weaker than in the past.

Here's a few pics (for some reason, almost all of the pics I took have the bike in them

Rocky Mountain NP




Ahead of the rain northeast of Eagle Butte, SD:

Off topic, but what saddlebags are those?

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Regards, MillCreek
Snohomish County, Washington USA

2012 Suzuki DL650A
Three road, two mountain and one folding bicycle

Moto-Sport Panniers - they were on the bike when I bought it. They come w/ an inner liner and kept my stuff dry in a few rain storms. However, they are getting somewhat dirty and I'd like to be able to afford to replace them with some hard cases (or, I'll probably buy have to buy a new VStrom Adventure to get the hard cases).

Has all scheduled maintenance been done? Valves, TPS, TBS?

p.s. Great photos -- love the one with the storm in the background.

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'08 Wee

Checked the valves before I left. All were within spec. One output valve was near the upper limit, but I only like to adjust them when they are out of spec (rather than "centering" them).

Have not checked TBS/TPS - the bike has always run very smooth and I've had zero issues previously. I've owned it since last April and put around 6,000 miles on it.

Regarding the bags, check this out: Moto-Sport Panniers demo on Vimeo

I'm not sure if he ever fully developed this product. I'll drop Bill a note.

How recently had you filled the tank (possibly overfilled) prior to this mornings problem?

It's a known issue for Stroms with charcoal canisters. Heat from ambient air, sunshine on the tank or heat radiating from the engine can evaporate fuel and send the vapors into the intakes as the charcoal is overwhelmed. Altitude can make it worse as there is less air. Opening the throttle when starting if there is any hesitation in the engine catching will let in more air and quickly clear the excess fuel vapors.

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Pat- 2007 DL650A was ridden to all 48 contiguous states. 2012 DL650A is just getting started.
Nicknames for posting ease on my part, Vee = all DL1000s. Wee = 2004-2011 DL650s. Glee = 2012+ DL650s

You nailed it. I had filled the tank after Wednesday's ride, and it sat all day Thurs in the sun. Thursday was a hot and sunny day.

Thanks!