I just got my 05' Sportsman 700 back from the first 20 hour check-up. Went out trail riding with some buds. Went through a puddle (not deep, just high splash) and when we came to a rest area, my bike just died out. I tried to start it up, but it wouldn't stay idle. So, I did what anyone would do and adjusted the idle throttle screw with little success. I then adjusted the throttle cable, and this seemed to work. When I got home, I pulled the plug on the right side of the bike and found a black residue, which is apparnetly OK according to the dealer where I got the bike. Put that back on and went for a ride to see how it ran. At high speeds (over 50mph) the engine was missing, but very infrequently. So I went home and took out the same plug, cleaned it up again and put it back in. Now when I ride it (around 45 mph) the bike looses power, but quickly regains it. I am going home today to follow all of the troubleshooting issues in the manual, but I am wondering if anyone out there may have suggestions. I am going to check the gap on the plug I pulled, and I'm going to put new fuel in as well. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated. Or is anyone has run into this before, what rectified your situation?

Thanks,

Brian

 

I dont know if this is your problem but if you go into a pond or puddle fast some water could splash up into the PVT breather ducts and get the belt wet causeing it to slip and the engine sputter.

If this happens pull the drain plug on the PVT cover (red) and draiin the water, put in nuetrel and rev to dry it out. If water comes out the drain hole this is your problem most likely.

Jim

 

You may have got the ignition wet and now fouled the plug ,

Often cleaning is'nt good enough , relace them and give it a try !

 

Thanks for all the ideas guys. I actually figured it out, someting very simple and sometimes easy to overlook. After all that, when I first took the seat off to check the airfilter, the foam piece that is wraped around the air box air vent (runs up into the top of the gas tank) was positioned too close to the air vent opening, preventing proper airflow. I feel like an idiot, but we all overlook simple things sometimes.

Thanks again!

 

I did that before.
Good thing i read it here on the forums before and it helped me figure it out fairly quickly.

Jim