Engine cuts out

[KURT44]

2012 Voyager, 63,000 miles, engine cuts out going up through the gears. Once at speed I can give full throttle and no hesitation. Going up a hill in 5th or 6th under load, runs fine. Bike is Ivanized. Any thoughts? Fuel filter?
Put new plugs in last year. This just started last ride and this morning.
Thanks for any thoughts.

[BrokeAss]

Sounds like the symptoms of a faulty TPS, or a faulty gear position encoder.

[KURT44]

I was wondering about the gear indicator. Has been acting up more than usual. Shows wrong gear quite often.

[redjay]

I think a few guys had the gear position indicator replaced under warranty, usually because it hesitated showing the right gear. Didn't know it caused an engine problem though. Usually after having the indicator replaced the problem came back after a while if I remember correctly.

[BrokeAss]

From the factory, the fueling map is different for every gear. Ivan's tune is purported to remove said programming and allow full power in every gear, but Neutral is not a forward gear. If the encoder is malfunctioning and the bike intermittently believes it is in Neutral, perhaps a lower rev limiter in Neutral (seen it on a lot of bikes, it's not good to blip a motor with no load on it) will cause what feels like a loss of power during acceleration. Just a theory, of course, I'm a flipper, not a master mechanic or a Kawasaki engineer, but I've diagnosed encoder related performance issues on other bikes.

[DragonLady58]

Just for shits and giggles, shake your key while your going down the road....if it cuts out, switch needs replacing. Check your coil feed wires also....and your pickup wires under your left hand engine cover....
I'd check your whole harness....

[Ponitail]

In September of 2015 there was a safety recall that affected 2009-2015 Voyagers, and 2011-2015 Vaquero's. It was listed as an ignition switch wiring inspection. The problem actually involved the wiring between the frame and fuel tank rubbing through the wiring jacketing and shorting out or causing a fire. If you haven't had this done, it is something you should check into. Mine was repaired on 10/7/15.

[TX1700]

Just to make sure there's no water in the tank, put an oz or 2 of "Heat" in the gas tank. It will disperse the small amounts of water. Flat roads the water could be at the pickup point for the fuel pump and up hills, it could be at the back of the tank or the front! Temperature changes can cause condensation and you could have small amounts in the tank or riding in a downpour rain! All the rest of the advice is good also.

[DragonLady58]

Originally Posted by TX1700

Just to make sure there's no water in the tank, put an oz or 2 of "Heat" in the gas tank. It will disperse the small amounts of water. Flat roads the water could be at the pickup point for the fuel pump and up hills, it could be at the back of the tank or the front! Temperature changes can cause condensation and you could have small amounts in the tank or riding in a downpour rain! All the rest of the advice is good also.

+ on the water in the tank. If no heat, add some Seafoam....if that's not avail., pour about 1/2 bottle of isopropyl alcohol in the tank....that will mix with the water so it can be burnt by the engine....
When we were saving bikes down in Katrina, when the seafoam ran out, Isopropyl was the tool of choice to keep shit running in the water logged places along the coast....
Shops ordered it by the case....
Cases of Isopropyl and drums of diesel fuel saved a lot of bikes....and engines in general along the coast....

[smokier]

Kurt44, great thoughts and suggestions above. I had a bad kick-stand switch once on my 1500 classic. It presented in a very similar sounding way. ENGINE WOULD randomly cut out, basically the switch was intermittently telling the system "KICK STAND DOWN, TRANSMISSION IS IN GEAR". If I recall correctly, I pulled the two leads to the kickstand switch and connected them together - bypassing the switch until the replacement arrived.
Something to check, hope you get it figured out soon.

Downside of course is that safety feature is disabled until new switch is installed.
Ride safe,
Smokier

[KURT44]

Thanks for replies. It`s not bad gas-has clean throttle body-Wire recall was done. Dealer just called and doesn`t really have an answer other than new throttle body. Says you can`t buy TPS separate.
Have to check out kick stand switch when I pick it up.
On the bright side, I just bought a 2016 Triumph Trophy SE, so still getting to ride. Oh! and I have a Vulcan 900 too.