Dear XTers

I'm a new forum member and from Namibia. I recently swapped my seat on a Honda Shadow for an `09 XT660Z. The bike has 53,000km on the clock, but I've had it for less than 200km, so can give little history. In the last two years it hasn't really been run.

When I got the bike it ran perfectly. A few km down the line it started with mild surges when driving in high gear at low speed. This then disappeared and for a few days it ran perfectly. Until yesterday, when it died on me completely. It started surging strongly in gear, dies when stopped, will idle for a while, then stall, when I manage to get it started. Won't rev from idle and backfires mildly.

It has a full tank of fresh fuel. There are no fault codes displayed and the engine check light isn't lit. Visually the fuel pump seems fine and I can hear it running, but I don't know whether it actually generates pressure. I can keep it running with short spurts of Quick-start (to me this means that the fuel supply is faulty, the ignition system should be ok). It had a service very recently, so the spark plugs should be fine, but I will put in a new one, to be on the safe side. When it idles the idle speed is above 1,500rpm.

Any pointers would be welcome.

Best regards
Arthur