Howdy,

Been reading a few things here since I got my bike a couple months ago and found the service manual and owner's manual to be great.  I got a 2002 LS650 and its my first bike.  Took the safety course and found a good deal on Craig's list and picked it up so I'm still a fairly new rider.

Replaced wheels and had oil changed the day after I got it and its been running great up until this past week.

Took it down to Houston on the 2nd (about 4 hour ride) and it ran great the whole way down.  On July 4th, it wouldn't start like normal so I leveled it out (driveway on an incline) and found fuel level to be fine and such.  Switched to RES, still no go.  Put it in PRI and it started up.  Switched back to ON/RES and it died after about 20 seconds.

Also, it started backfiring like crazy when idling (and dying) and when letting off the throttle, which it had never done before.  I slightly adjusted the idle screw and it no longer dies when idling and the backfiring seems to have stopped when idling as well.

I read some threads on here but I'm not gonna lie, I am not familiar at all with working on my own vehicles other than basic stuff.  Cleaned out air filter, replaced the fuel line hose (it had a small leak) but I found this hose loose and don't know what its for and am thinking it may be an issue?  Pics below show side and location of said hose (sorry if they are big, I didn't edit them and my camera is on biggest reso it has):







1.  What is this hose?

2.  Should it be clamped off or attached to something?  

I live in apartment complex and I'm not able to work on the bike here though I can take it to a friend's house this weekend and open it up if need be.

I can run it as it is but I don't like that the bike isn't running like it should and would much rather fix it instead of ignoring it.

Thanks in advance for the help and sorry for butchering any technical terms.

noobness kicking in here - petcock is the switch with pri/on/res ?

Awesome thanks guys.  found the "nipple" and put it back on.  Runs perfectly normal again!  Now I can re-adjust the idle back to normal but I'll do that tomorrow.  Also have to get some kind of clamp for it (as I'm sure there's supposed to be one on it) but I'm sure those are easy enough to find at the hardware store.

Thanks for the help - greatly appreciated.

I noticed the zip tie and slash muffler. looks like someone did a little work on it, which is fine. A four hour ride is a great test for any bike, since you likely encountered all types of roads and traffic. I change my own oil, and you can, too. It will cost about $15 if you use Suzuki filter and brand name motorcycle oil. There is a post in technical section. A set of allen wrenches will cost about $10. Still cheaper than a dealer. If it will run four hours it will run forever, more or less. Welcome. Nice ride. I think you did good. Ride safe.

your petcock...


your petcock on drugs...


now which one do you have?

better yet it is even more basic. Connects to bottom of the tank and has fuel line going out. Does not have the 2 inlets you show on the top of the petcock.

WTF is that? kinda looks like a HD petcock

and you gotta plug that port, a little rtv and a screw will do fine.

AZSGT wrote on 07/11/11 at 20:46:23:

you could stick a whistle in it.