Me again... The new guy. Last weekend I was out on some back roads in Alabama when my bike began stalling out at about 50 mph. I reached down and hit reserve but couldn't get it to fire back up. I drifted off the side of the road and and checked my fuel filter and saw gas in it. I know my bike is good for over 100 miles so I immediately ruled out a fuel issue (I was at 99). I took put all my plugs and cleaned them (I really need to rejet correctly but they weren't too bad). I looked at the fuel cock again and noticed it was in the off position. In my haste when stalling on the road, I switched it off instead of to reserve. I put it on reserve and started it right back up. Next stop... gas station... and I'm switching my philosophy to more fill ups and less "wait until 100 miles."
Today I stopped and picked up my kid's marathon paperwork. The put it in a little plastic bag for me and I'm thinking, "great, I can just stuff it under my seat." So off I went and naturally panicked when the bike died at any more than half throttle. I pulled over in a parking lot and started mulling my options. Odometer only at 60 miles and I was about to lift my seat when I realized the bag I stuffed under the seat was probably blocking the air snorkel under there. Yep...
I always had this fear that my bike would leave me alongside the road some day. I just never imagined it would be my own fault so many times. These two incidents are on the heels of forgetting to turn my fuel cock on two times a few weeks before that!