Lost a cylinder this morning

[Guest]

So I was headed to work, rolling along just as happy as a pig in the mud, and the bike sputters like it's running out of gas. I reach down and switch to Reserve and wait for it to come back alive, and I drops a cylinder. Running like crap, but running still. I limp on into town on one cylinder, let off the gas for a red light, and the dead cylinder comes back alive and the bike runs like a champ the rest of the way to work.

Is this a carb issue, or electrical?

[Steve]

Is this a carb issue, or electrical?

Yes, it probably is.


Carburetor problems don't suddenly fix themselves, so my vote is "electrical".
Look for a loose connection on a coil or an ignition wire that is rubbing on something and shorting out.

.

[Ric]

I'll do that tonight, thanks!

I've always thought electrical issues happened instantly(bulb blows, fuse blows, CDI box goes out, etc), that's what made me wonder if it was carb related since it acted like it ran dry of gas before dropping a cylinder.

By the way, I just swapped vehicles with my wife and got the kids from daycare - bike ran like a champ. I even noticed I was accelerating up hills in 5th at lowish rpms that I couldn't top in 4th without keeping the rpms up with the stock mufflers.