Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech drowning out

total newb, who's been creeping around here for a couple of months leaching info, but i haven't found this covered. In november i bought a '07 BA and almost immediately took a roadtrip from dallas to key west to see if the bike liked me. trip was great except for when i hit rain and then the bike just sorta stopped. after letting her sit for 15 or 20 minutes she would crank back up and then die about 2 miles further down the road. thought at first it was electrical, but then decided it was water in the tank. drained tank-no water.read a story about this year model drowning in rain, but can't figure where the water comes from or how to stop it. Getting ready for a seattle trip and i know i am going to hit rain and would prefer not to wait on the side of the road for whatever it is to dry out. any help would be appreciated.

Find the tube that goes from your tank vent down between your carbs and lets out under the bike near the back of the motor. Cut it at an angle so the cut is facing the back of the bike.
If you have the CA evap crap on the bikenloose that as well.

The hose i told you to cut seems to suck up water or muck and causes a fuel starvation effect.
I also removed the ca evap canisters from karens (my gf) 07 and that resoved it.

Not a bad idea to lube all our connectins to keep em dry.

Hello Kevin and welcome to the forums.

Could you give us a bit more info? Does the engine just die quickly or sputters slowly to a stop?

Some ideas for you.
1. The vent for the tank sometimes plugs with water in heavy rain. The vent hose runs behind the engine on the left hand side. One fix is to trim the end of the hose at a 45% angle to prevent water from getting up the hose and plugging it. A quick check to see if this happens is to open your tank fill cap which gets rid of the vacuum and see if it starts.
2. Electrical issues in the rain have been a bit of bother for some. Make sure all your electrical connections are tight and sealed with dielectric grease to prevent water from getting in. Check your kick stand switch for water contamination. The coils under the tank should be checked. The wiring under the seat and behind the fusebox are all prone. Grease up the fuse box also. This will prevent glitches from happening in the future.

Young Z forgot to mention loosening the gas cap a little as well. As Gregger said, it breaks the vacuum lock and will run fine. You should be able to do it while riding. I taught Z that trick (that I had previously picked up somewhere here) many years ago. It sounds like what you experienced is exactly what happened to us a few years back.

Definitely spend a little time with a small tube/bottle of dielectric grease and hit those fuses and electrical connections.

thanks for the info. it is definatly a slow stop-like im running out of fuel. and it only seems to happen in a moderate to heavy rain.

Probably the vent line as already stated.