[Royal Stargazer]

I started my bike this morning with no trouble, and she ran strong for the first quarter mile or so before she started bucking and sputtering. Soon it got so bad I thought she was going to stall right on the road. We were about a mile in at that point.

I decided first to just take the surface streets in to work instead of the highway, but quickly come to my senses and decide to nurse the bike home. She sputters and pops as we crawl back home.

Now, last night I fueled up at an unfamiliar station. I'm positive that I'm just dealing with a case of bad gas, but I did check the battery cables as I've heard stories about the negative cable giving out. Everything there was solid.

My question is - what are my options? She idles fine, should I just idle off some of the gas and top off with some tasty nonoxygenated fuel?

[Vince]

     Bad gas is normally dirt and/or water. Before making this diagnosis you should first change the plug. Use an NGK BPR6ES. 80% of the time this will fix the problem. If you are one of the 20%, then you must drain and flush the gas tank and refill with fresh gas. Don't worry about ethanol free. The main issue with ethanol is its affinity to water. It's not an issue on a regularly used vehicle.
     A lot of water or dirt in the gas may require the removal of the injector to dump it out. Worst case would require replacement of a clogged injector, but usually running a fuel system cleaner such as sea foam will take care of any residue.

[pmanaz1973]

Vince - Just curious, why a BPR8ES and not a BPR6ES?

[Rattlebattle]

Same thought occurred to me, though I use an iridium one anyway. Won't dirt in the fuel clog the feed side pump filter? I've never understood why the pump doesn't have a replaceable filter like my Beemers used to have. A ploy to force you to buy a whole pump assembly, or does someone know a way round this eg an alternative fuel pump. Just curious.

[tenacres650]

did you completely remove the battery and check them?

[Royal Stargazer]

I was going to ask about the plug recommendation, too. I've been using a BPR7ES for quite some time.

I did completely remove the battery, and the wires show no sign of breakage, no weak spots, or damage.

[Vince]

     OOPS! sorry. I sell lots more 8's than 6's. Just went on auto pilot. Use BPR 6 ES

[Ice]

 I use the BP6ES in my Iron Barrel. No need for the BPR6ES resistor plug when the spark plug boot already has one integral to it.

 Might be worth checking to verify if your UCE machine has the resistor plug boot or not.

[Arizoni]

I'm guessing about 98 percent of the "bad gas" is due to water and water being what it is will start to mess up the injector if it is left in there.
The fuel pumps usually have a filter that can stop dirt but water passes right thru them.

If I'm right it would be a good idea to syphon as much fuel as possible out of the tank, remove the tank and then invert it to get rid of the rest of it.

While the tank is removed, work the fuel hose down to drain out as much fuel as possible.

Then reassemble everything, refill the tank with good gas and go for a ride to get the good gas thru the injector.

If your at a filling station and you notice a tanker filling up the stations underground tanks, go find another station.
When they refill the tanks it mixes up any water that has collected at the bottom of the tank into the gasoline.  It takes quite a while for the water to resettle on the bottom.

[Royal Stargazer]

Everyone, thanks for your help. I ended up having a fresh BPR6ES plug just laying around, changed that out, and got her started.