Motorcycle Repair: Carburetor icing?, kawasaki zzr1200, fuel treatment

Question
Chris,
I have an 04 Kawasaki ZZR1200 that's completly stock. when the weather is 45 degrees or below, the bike feels like it's running out of gas and won't idle, but it's only after I've maintained a constant speed for 5 or 10 minutes, and tried to speed up or stop at a light. If I'm constantly in and out of the throttle it runs fine, no matter what the temperature. I have a 70 mile commute to work. The first 25 miles are open road where I can maintain 70mph it runs fine, but when I slow down for traffic and then accelerate it acts like it's running out of gas. If I have to stop it will die and won't idle.
Thanks for your help
Shawn Dixon  

Answer
Hi Shawn.

This does not sound like carb icing, which would affect the bike no matter what speed or riding situation you are in.  This sounds like a problem with something else on the bike.

Is the air filter due or over due for replacement?  That could be the problem.  Also, you could have something in the choke actuating in the carb at low speed after warm-up.  That would cause similar troubles.  There is also the posibility of some bad gas or perhaps the carbs just need to be cleaned out a bit.  It doesn't sound as if the carbs are badly gummed (if they are at all), but if you start with a bottle of fuel treatment (the kind with jet fuel in it) and run that through a couple of tanks.  See what that does to the problem.  If it get's better, but does not go away, after you have run the bike through a couple of tanks with the treatment (1/2 bottle per tank), then the carbs need a thorough cleaning.  If the bike still behaves badly, as before, then it could be other things wrong.

Start with that and see what you find.

Good luck and ride safe.
FALCON