I have a yamaha rhino and it starts right up, you run it for about a half mile it will start to lose power back fire and then shut off. You can try to start it and it just wont fire, you sit for a couple minutes choke it and it will start back up run for a couple hundred yards and shut back off and ideas why it runs so good and then just shuts down?

SOURCE: '04 vl800 shutting down (fuel?)

ITS FUEL QUALITY YOU NEED TO CLEAN OUT YOUR TANK FUEL LINES AND CARB AND USE HIGHER OCTANE FUEL

SOURCE: 1986 Yamaha Radian stops running after 20 minutes

Sounds to me like it could be a few things... pretty interesting that it runs and shuts down...sits for a little while then fires back up. Could be something as simple as a bad ground.. maybe it needs cleaned.. if the ground is making very little contact.. the bike would run bad, and because its direct current it has to flow. The metal in the motor frame etc will hold so much DC current.. but *** soon as it load up the bike would stop sparking. Let it sit for a while, DC trickles into the battery through the slight contact, bike fires back up. OR could be bad venting of your fuel tank, or a partial clog at the pet ****.. the first is pretty easy to check, open your fuel cap and start the bike..if it does the same thing then its not a vent problem. One thing that does happen on the Radian, is the reserve fuel screen inside the tank comes loose, and then everything inside the that has built up over the years either partially clogs the pet ****, or the hose, or both. Take the tank off, pull the pet **** off..if it still has two intact tubes with good screens..you probably don't have any junk in your line..but I would pull the line off and blow through it any way... it could be some type of blockage, when the bike sets the fuel seep through, but when it runs it eventually creates a vaccuum that stops the fuel flow. Those are my two first thoughts... good luck!!

SOURCE: i just purchased a 2003 yamaha 1100 vstar with

if it is still firing on the same cly then clean the carbs they tend to gum up after sitting

SOURCE: HOW TO STRAIGHTEN A BENT YAMAHA RHINO FRAME

I would think that it would be cheaper just replacing the parts that need replacing and bill your friend for it later

SOURCE: Yamaha TW 200 starts but won't run.

If the bike has sat for a long period of time without being run - the gas that is sitting in the carb(s) will shellac.. Then the carb(s) would need to be cleaned and "rebuilt"..