That was a consideration, and the tank was emptied and refilled with fresh, ethanol free gasoline. That seemed like the cure, for a mile or so. But that's the way it was for just about everything I tried. I remove and clean the air filter, remove the gas tank and inspect all the hoses and then everything seemed okay until I got out of the neighborhood. Then the bike had the top end rebuilt and it seemed good for a day of riding on pavement. But the first weekend I took it off road, after approximately one to two hours of riding, it stalled once out of nowhere, but then started right back up. Several minutes later, I did a small jump and the engine just died when I landed. In the last few weeks that I've been house bound due to injury and illness, I went back and watched the video that was shooting on that last ride. I had double take mirrors and they were folded down, obscuring my view of the dash. When the bike stopped after that jump and then did nothing when I hit the starter button, I looked behind the mirror and saw the low fuel light. I thought I was out of gasoline. My buddy rode on to get his truck. After he left, I got off the bike and rocked it around and could hear sloshing, so I got back on the bike and tried starting it. Nothing. At. All. I opened the gas tank (venting issue?) closed it and then tried again to start the bike. Absolutely nothing. And when I say nothing, I mean no starter turning the bike over or anything like that. The only thing getting power seems to have been the dash. I fiddled with the kill switch some, kickstand up and down a few times, shifting through gears and back to neutral, rocking the bike. Eventually, spontaneously, there was power and the bike started right up. I gently rode it up to the front of the property, getting there right as my buddy was getting in his truck. We loaded the bike in the back of his truck and took it to a station. It took only 1.5 gallons to fill it, meaning the low fuel light had probably only just come on right before the engine died.
The next morning, I tried to ride and was getting all the symptoms it gave me before the top end rebuild. Looking back on that video with some distance and time removed from the incident, there was clearly some electrical gremlin. That's why every time I fiddled around under the seat, whether getting into the airbox or changing the fuel, or checking the spark plug, I was moving wires. Some electrical contact was closing a circuit completely until vibration from the motor at higher revs or bumps in the road or trail broke the circuit or made it weak. Obviously, the mechanics who worked on the bike moved things around too. But the off-road riding broke the circuit again. I think the electrical paths to the starter, fuel pump, and ignition system was compromised, maybe from when I washed the bike. But, even if that was the case, that started after just a mild rinse off with a standard garden hose to get the really big mud off the wheels, tires, fenders, and skid plate. It wasn't pressurized water, meaning it could have also been started just as easily if I'd ridden in the rain. I think I was just unlucky with that particular bike, and maybe I was equally unlucky with the quality of the mechanic at the dealership I bought the bike from. Who knows?
Anyway, here's the clip from the last ride. I edited out about a minute or so of swearing and carrying on as I was trying to figure out what was happening. After the bike dies, watch my right hand as I go for the starter and all that. I didn't even think about all that at the time. But the distance and time removed makes it all much clearer to me. I never even watched that video until after I'd given up on the bike (mostly due to how I felt I was being mistreated by the dealership). The flame out is at 4:20. No, that was NOT intentional!