I noticed this once or twice on my way towards Portland and during the 3-Flags Classic, but it got much worse during my Kansas journey. Thursday night when I turned off I-70 and onto I-135 southbound towards Wichita, I was bucking a headwind and couldn't hold the speed limit with my cruise control. It's always disconnected if the throttle had to open past a certain point, but up until this started, that was almost always when going up a fairly steep grade at speeds of 75-80mph. But Thursday, it wouldn't hold 70 and when I tried to take over manual control, I realized that if I opened the throttle past the point which is usually good for 70-75mph on level ground, the bike would start to miss and slow down. That got really bad in the strong winds I was in Monday afternoon and evening and was bad today until I got to Colorado and the wind quit. Even with no wind, a speed of more than 70-72 would cause the bike to feel like it was missing until I backed off the throttle. Then it would accelerate up to about 70-72 again, but that was the max.
I've been thinking about what could cause this and my first guess is bad spark plugs. I guess it could be something else in the ignition circuit. I'm inclined to think it's not bad gas -- that was my hunch when it happened in Oregon and on the 3-Flags Classic because it always seemed like it happened after I'd filled up. Not this time!
What else could it be? What would you check first?
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
I've been thinking about what could cause this and my first guess is bad spark plugs. I guess it could be something else in the ignition circuit. I'm inclined to think it's not bad gas -- that was my hunch when it happened in Oregon and on the 3-Flags Classic because it always seemed like it happened after I'd filled up. Not this time!
What else could it be? What would you check first?
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!