Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Low rev splutter surge in the rain/wash

I'm sure someone will be able to help... I rode in the rain for the first time in ages the other week and noticed that on entering a village and dropping revs that the bike spluttered/surge when I went to increase the revs. I was having to clutch it to get the revs high and then dump the clutch otherwise it just kept surging/spluttering.
I noticed a similar thing happen the other day when I washed the bike.
After washing I started it up, which was fine and normal, but on blipping the throttle I got the same surge/splutter. After 10 mins or so idling, swtiching off, returning to it and starting it seems fine and no splutter/surge.

Ideas?
Cheers

possilbly got water in your coil connections.
can use some dielectric grease and make sure your connections are tight.
stv

Do you have pod-style air filters? When I put the K&N pods on my bike it did exactly that in the rain. Bought some Outerwears waterproof covers and I have no issues in the rain anymore (well, at least not THOSE issues in the rain).

Hmm no, no pods.
I'll check the coil connections.. I'm guessing that due to it hapeening in the rain its something that is geting splashed due to me not running fenders

It was recently brought to my attention that if water gets into the kickstand switch it can cause ignition problems.

No fenders? You would benefit from a complete electrical dielectric grease dousing. Including removing the ignitor/cdi and using an 'electrical friendly' silicon chalk, run a bead along where the CDI mates up to the holding plate.

Re Ian's notes: The plug for the side-stand switch is located about midway up your down tubes. Ideal location for a proper soaking when running without a front fender.

Yes even smear the dielectric grease on your battery cables. (You'll be tightening them up anyways).

re Keith's note in another thread: When you are dousing the coil connections, make sure the coil connections on the plug wire snap tight onto each coil. If not, back the boot down off the plug wire and use pliers to compress the connector(s) a bit more until they snap tight onto each coil.

Moe's suggestion of using dielectric grease on EVERY connection cannot be overstated... especially if you're running with no fenders! And do up that CDI the way he suggested too... it's a MUST! Great weekend project!