Afternoon everyone. I’ve got a 2007 vstrom DL650. It sat for a few years with limited riding. Before I started it up I took the old gas out and put new in, and added some sea foam as well. Since I have started riding again around 5k rpm the engine starts to sputter, and I cannot get it above 8k rpm in any gear. It is very consistent with the rpm where it sputters, so I do not believe it is a clogged fuel filter/carb. In neutral, the engine does work properly (it does not stutter at 5k rpm). I did a bunch of trouble shooting and found some possibilities that it could be tps or stva. I took the fairings and tank off, as well as the air box to take a look at the throttle body. When I turn the bike on and I am looking at the carbs the butterfly opens fully and closes (goes through its normal setup procedure). This would lead me to believe that the stva is not stuck. However, when I slowly turn the throttle and then slowly release it back I can see the throttle cable move accurately along with my wrist movement but the butterfly’s both stall and stutter around a quarter turn and will not open fully. This seems to be in line with what I am experiencing when I ride - but I am not very experienced with the strom engine. Is this indicative of a busted Or is that a normal operation for the butterfly?

Sorry meant to say in the last line “Is this indicative of a busted tps or is that a normal operation for the butterfly?

Dang auto correct

That is normal operation for the STV when the key is turn on. I would recommend doing a fuel flow test, https://www.vstrom.info/Smf/index.php/topic,3981.0.html and https://www.vstrom.info/Smf/index.ph...c,11603.0.html, to rule out one of the possible causes.
Some possible solutions, https://www.stromtrooper.com/dl650-d...starvaton.html and https://www.stromtrooper.com/dl650-d...w-powaaaa.html.

I will do that as well, thank you for the advice. I’m not sure if I did a good job articulating my troubleshooting though. I was pretty sure the butterfly opening and closing was part of the normal operation when the bike is turned on. I put that in my post to illustrate the fact that when I turn my bike on it does open fully and close the way that it should. However, when I pull back the throttle slowly the butterfly stutters and stalls at a out a quarter turn of the throttle. I am guessing the fly should be open 100% when I pull the throttle 100% but it only opens about 25%. I very well could have fuel flow issues as well, but keep in mind that this test was performed after removing the fuel tank and the airbox - and it seems to me that the butterfly’s are acting funny which is why I am thinking it is an electrical component or sensor.

Appear to be a high pressure fuel pump plugged issue.

do a search on external fuel filter bypass.

As Gert suggests do the fuel flow test before worrying about anything else.

When you changed the fuel did you look into the tank? Any rust?

Thanks everyone for the guidance so far. I did look in the tank and didn’t see any visible rust but I would agree that it is likely that there was some junk that possibly made its way to the fuel filter, particularly after all of your advice. I will definitely perform a fuel flow test once I get the bike back together and chase the fuel as that is a very likely cause.

Before I put the airbox on, I am still curious about the normal operation of the butterfly’s on the air intakes. If you have time, take a look at the video linked below. You can see the butterflies open all the way and close when I turn the bike on as part of the normal startup procedure. Then I roll the throttle on slowly and then back off slowly. If you look carefully you can see the throttle cable moving as I roll my wrist. The butterflies are “stalling” at about 25% open and never open fully despite me consistently rolling the throttle back. Perhaps this is normal operation when the motor is not running (as I have the bike apart) but I would like to confirm that before I put that airbox back on as I anticipate that being a huge pain. Any advice you can provide would be great, thanks for all the advice so far!!


https://youtu.be/vftkrVxgZXI