Motorcycle Repair: bike wont get enough gas, water intrusion, mason jar

Question
  Hi Chris,

          I have a 1986 honda shadow 500 vt. about a week ago i was riding down the street and my bike was acting like it was running out of gas.it starts right up and keeps running. it bogs when i give it gas until i get to a certain point then kicks in. i checked the lines changed the gas,checked the petcock.i was riding it in heavy rain before this happened.Any info would be helpful..thanks a lot for your time

                                 mike

Answer
Hi Mike.
 This sounds very much like you have water in the fuel.  Replace the seal on the gas cap with a new one and chck your fuel for water intrusion.  Drain some fuel from the floats and the tank into a clean, dry mason jar (or similar container.  Water will look like bubbles on the bottom, since it is heavier than fuel.

Good luck.
FALCON