I was out for a ride this weekend after a recent engine rebuild on my 2002 Sportsman 700. The bike rode beautifully for about 75 miles or so – I was purposefully driving without refueling because I had never actually ran out of gas before. I did notice that when I fully released the throttle when I was going wide-open that it would back-fire once and while (I read that this is likely a seal gone on the exhaust), but again, this only happened when I would take my thumb off without a gradual release.

Anyways, the bike was showing classic signs of running out of gas (loosing power, sputtering)…but when she finally ran out, there was a funny smell and a bit of smoke as she died (almost smelt like a belt, BUT i checked the belt and it was fine). For the life of me, I can’t get the bike to start up again. Spark plugs still have spark, she tries to turn over but just wont catch.

Any ideas? I would expect a diesel to have these issues but not a gasoline. Has anyone had a similar experience?