Advice for recent issue with 09 FE450, Acts like it ran out

OK, here's the deal, I was in a desert race Saturday, had gone approximately 40 miles when I took a low speed spill going down a hill. I fell to the right. The bike was still running after I went down and then it died before I got it picked back up. After I got it picked up, I hit the button, it started and I took off. I went maybe 30 feet and it sputtered and died like it ran out of gas. I immediately hit the button again, it started and ran for a couple seconds and died again.

From this point on, it would turn over but would not fire. I looked at the gas tank and there was probably 3" of gas in the lower portion of the tank. It didn't look like it was low enough on fuel to be a low fuel issue. I looked at the FI light and there were no blinking errors. I removed the gas cap and there was a fair amount of pressure built up. It still wouldn't start. I messed with it for about 15 minutes before I gave up and started walking back in. After it cooled down, I checked the fluid level in the radiator and it was fine. Luckily I was only a couple miles from the finish.

I evenually made it back to the pits and found a guy who was going to retrieve his son's bike that broke down near mine. When I got back to my bike I tried to start it again and it wouldn't start. The guy that took me up to it said he thought it was out of gas. I said it can't be, I can see gas in the tank. I added 5 gatorade bottles of gas to it and tried to start it again. Lo and behold, it started and seemed to run just fine. I climbed on and began riding it back to the pits. Like I said, I had a couple miles to go to get there.

I would say that was the problem, but it died two more times on the way back in, in the same "running out of gas" fashion. After it died, I hit the button and it started right back up.

What does this seem like? A heat issue? It was ~95 degrees. A fuel feed issue? Injector? I'm looking for any advice on what this issue may be.

Well, I think I figured it out. What it turned out to be was the fuel pump detached from the mount inside the tank and was floating around inside the tank. As it would move around it would lose suction and the bike would bog or stall until the gas settled again and the pump could pick up the fuel again. The lower the amount of fuel in the tank the more frequent and severe the problem. This is why I couldn't figure out why it wouldn't start even though I could see a fair amount of gas still in the tank. While I had the pump apart I installed the ProFill fuel filter. So far, it seems that my problem is solved.

This was the first time I had the tank and fuel pump off. I was very surprised when I didn't see the pump after I removed the housing. So much so, that I momentarily convinced myself that I took the wrong piece off. I played with it a bit before putting it back together and noticed that the tangs that hold the pump in the housing don't grab very well. I gently bent them out so that they had more outward pressure than before. I will not be surprised if this happens again sometime. At least I'll know what the problem is if it does happen again, I just won't be able to control the where and when.

It sucked having to walk back in, but as far as not finishing, after I got back to the bike and added gas, I did ride it the rest of the way into the finish. They were surprised to see someone come riding up wearing shorts, t-shirt, and tennis shoes. The guy said " you're obviously not the same rider that started the race". I said I was and that I ran out of gas and went back up to my bike and added gas and finished up. I told them it was too hot to go back to my bike with all my gear on. I still don't know if they are going to give me a finish yet, they said they would have to discuss it.

Thanks for the replies. I would agree that the fuel pump assembly needs to be secured better. I didn't look at it too closely yesterday as I was interested to see if that solved my problems. It is definitely a weakness in the design. I would be interested in a better solution if you come up with one.

As far as the finish goes, I spoke with the pres of the sponsoring club and the pres of the MRAN association and they both felt that I would get my finish. It would be nice since this was a race I planned vacation around so that I could try and get some points. We'll see.

That is a good idea. We have a couple months down time here because of the heat. I think I will try and get this done before the next race.