2008 S40, super clean, 1350mi.

I started it up and idled it to warm the night before.  All good, no sign of any problem.  Purred like a kitten, throttle response normal.

Start it up in the morning, runs fine for 3-4 minutes, getting warm, and rpms just start slowing down until stall.  Hard to start, and wont stay running without throttle input.  Engine note sounds deeper than usual.

I did treat the gas before winter, tank is full.
I have a stock petcock, and have a raptor brand new on the shelf, was planning to do soon, just not today.

Visual inspection is all good.  All hoses on carb connected, no leaks or weeping.  This bike looks almost showroom clean.

Was running last season, no problems.  Bought it about 3 weeks before winterizing.

I am thinking either the petcock crapped out on me or a bit of gunk got in my idle port.

What do you say?

Ethanol really does a job on the diaphragm in the stock petcock. If you have a raptor it may be best to fit it now. :'(

George Palickar wrote on 05/03/18 at 09:36:52:


Don't do that....it isn't good for the engine.  At idle the S40 has very little oil pressure, and when leaned over on the sidestand the right cam lobe is starved for oil.

It is best to get your gear on, get on the bike, turn on the petcock, pull out the choke, turn on the ignition, pull in the clutch and start the bike.  Keep the rpm up around 2,000 rpm.....push in the choke if your bike will let you - then ride off slowly and allow the bike a few minutes to warm up before you start getting aggressive with the throttle.  The bike warms up faster and has better oil pressure when it is ridden.

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1447331708

Yup, it was on a smart battery tender.  Full o juce when I went to fire it up.  

So, last night for kicks I figured that I would try to start it again.  I rotated the percock through the full range of motion a few times.  Opened the  gas cap and looked in the tank,  it's full and clean as far as I can see.  Bike turns over a few times, fires up and runs fine.

So either the percock is playing games with me or the gas cap is.  I took the gas cap apart, cleaned it by spraying the little ports with we and blowing it out.  Started up again, and all is well.  I am going to drain he tank Chuck the old gas and put on the raptor

I will take the advice and not idle the thing for so long.  I don't tend to leave it on the side stand though, I usually just sit on it while it warms bit.

Thanks for all the help fellas!

So many here have experienced a similar problem. Regardless of miles, that stock petcock is a menace. Glad you figured it out and straightened it out. That makes you a bonafide steely eyed SavageMan! It's a real shame that such an otherwise reliable ride can be thwarted by such a funky little device. I wonder if riders in other countries have this problem? On the other hand, Yamaha must love us!