I WAS RIDING WITHOUT A PASSENGER ON AN INTERSTATE HIGHWAY AT NORMAL HIGHWAY SPEED (65-70 MPH) AND THE EXHAUST SUDDENLY POPPED A COUPLE OF TIMES AND THE ENGINE DIED WITHOUT WARNING. THIS IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AS A VEHICLE FOLLOWING ME COULD COLLIDE WITH ME AS I SLOWED. THE FIRST TIME THIS OCCURRED I WAS ABLE TO MAKE AN EMERGENCY EXIT TO THE SHOULDER OF THE HIGHWAY (ON A BRIDGE). PANICKED, I STOOD UP, POPPED THE FUEL CAP OPEN, CHECKED INSIDE THE FUEL TANK FOR GASOLINE. THE TANK WAS ALMOST FULL. I MOVED THE FUEL VALVE TO THE RESERVE POSITION, BYPASSING THE NORMAL FUEL FLOW. (***IMPORTANT: "I STOOD UP.") I SAT BACK DOWN TRIED TO START THE ENGINE AND IT STARTED AND RAN WELL UNTIL THE ENGINE DIED AGAIN SUDDENLY SEVERAL MILES DOWN THE ROAD. I THOUGHT THE FUEL TANK AIR VENT MUST BE PLUGGED BECAUSE EACH TIME THE ENGINE DIED I WOULD OPEN THE FUEL CAP, ETC. AND IT WOULD START AND RUN FINE. THE PROBLEM CONTINUED SEVERAL TIMES AT HIGH SPEEDS OVER SEVERAL DAYS. I FINALLY DISCOVERED THAT UNDER CERTAIN DRIVING CONDITIONS FUEL DID NOT FLOW FROM THE FUEL TANK TO THE ENGINE (CARBS). I COULD NEVER REPEAT THE ENGINE FAILURE UNLESS I WAS SITTING ON THE MOTORCYCLE. I EVENTUALLY REALIZED THE REASON FOR THE SUDDEN LOSS OF ENGINE POWER WAS SIMPLE. THE RUBBER FUEL LINE FROM THE FUEL TANK TO THE CARBS WAS ROUTED OVER A FRAME MEMBER AT THE REAR OF THE FUEL TANK AND THE SEAT SAT ON TOP OF THE RUBBER FUEL LINE. I COULD DUPLICATE MY ENGINE FAILURE BY SITTING FORWARD ON THE SEAT, THEREBY PINCHING THE FUEL L
2007 Kawasaki EN500C7F
Routine
Owners filed 1 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the fuel/propulsion system. No safety recall has been issued.
What fails
| Component | Reports | Crashes | Fires | Injuries | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel/Propulsion System | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
What owners reported
Newest filingsFuel/Propulsion System
Filed Feb 27, 2014500 milesTX
1 of 1 complaints, reproduced as filed.
Reading this record
No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.
Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.
Most recent recall on file: none. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.