I recently got a 2002 Kodiak 400 4x4... it was running rough, so I changed the oil, sparkplug, cleaned the carb, and airfilter... it's been running pretty good since then... however, after about an hour of riding it (kinda hard), it starts to slowly drop the idle speed, and then eventually just dies... and then refuses to restart, although turns over just fine...

I accidentally noticed that the metal cylinder inside of the storage box under the seat gets really really hot - if I let it sit for about 15-30 minutes, the metal cylinder cools down - and then the bike starts again and runs fine for a while... I hear the cylinder clicking when I hit the start button, so I am assuming it's a Starter Relay or Solenoid of sorts...

what I don't get is this: if it's a Starter Relay, then how come the starter works and spins just fine? this issue seems to be almost like voltage drops or lack of spark or something... so, does the starter relay also control other circuits somehow?

 

not a single idea, huh?..