Alright folks, just looking for some suggestions on what I should look at first and to see if anyone else had this issue. Have on 05 883xl, and have never had an issue. Fired her up last night, had the choke out full for about 30 seconds pushed it in and just warmed it up with the throttle. Drove for about 2 miles and I was coming up to a red light and downshifted into 2nd gear, and was in the process of braking and then the bike just died on me. Yes I had the fuel on so that isn't the issue. Tried to start her up and it took a good ten minutes but she finally fired back up and I took it straight home. It was late so I didn't delve into things, gonna try today after work. It had 3 day old tank of gas, that was probably half used, so I don't think I got a batch of bad gas. Just looking to see if anyone else had this problem or for some advice as to what I should look at first. I do have a manual so I will be checking it out under the troubleshooting section today. Could it maybe be the plugs or plug wires? Battery terminals are tight as well. Thanks for any help in advance..

 

I had a similar problem a few mornings when the temp was around 30 degrees. i finally figured out that it was because I pushed in the choke too soon. Even after 25 miles, the engine would still run like crap and die if I let off the throttle. I would pull into a convenience store parking lot and cut the engine off, wait about ten minutes and fire it up and it would idle normally and run fine the rest of the way home. It took some trial and error to determine how long to leave the choke out, but when it's cold, I wait three miles before I push it all the way in.

 

I'm not sure if this would be the first thing to check, but it could be a clogged filter. Stuff in the gas gets pulled into the filter when riding, eventually clogging it and the engine starves. You stop, the stuff breaks loose, or even floats away and comes back down when you run it (if your almost empty).

How many miles do you have on it? Have you ever stored it for extended periods with less than a full tank of gas in it?

 

Thanks for the reply guys, I rode it last night and this morning and didn't have any problems. I did store it over the new england winter for about three months, with a full tank, but I drained it and added new stuff, if it happens again i'll pop off the filter and see if it's clogged, though it shouldn't be as I swapped out the peanut tank for the 4.5 gallon before the end of the riding season last year. who knows!!! The manual offered a lot of different causes, so if it keeps happening i'll just take it all one step at a time.

 

Next time before you put it in storage, add fuel stabilizer, definitely help. I bet you had a stuck float or clogged carb passage, I don't too worry about the tank but the carburetor.

 

Hey this may seem a bit too obvious...but this time of the year with high humidity and wet weather, its real easy for water to form in the fuel.
My car ran into this similar problem..went away with a fresh tank.