Engine dies only when in gear

[bobganoosh]

Hi Guys - I've been lurking around this board for awhile now and can't tell you how much everyone's knowledge has really helped me out while in a few binds. This is by far the best resource I've found for information on the GZ250. Unfortunately I've finally hit a dead end with my current issue and could really use some advice on what may be causing the problem.

A little background... I live in Phoenix, AZ and own a '03 GZ with about 5-6k miles on it. It has always run beautifully until one scorching hot summer day about a month or so ago. I had just returned from a 30 or so mile ride at speeds of 65-70mph and was heading home on the side streets (45mph) when all of a sudden the bike started sputtering as though I had run out of gas. I quickly switched to the reserve tank, but to my surprise the bike simply shut down. Thankfully traffic wasn't too heavy at the time, so I navigated to a parking lot to try and figure out why the reserve didn't work.

Upon switching to neutral, I try to start her and she fired up right away... (i apparently still had a half tank left). Then the moment I switch into 1st gear, she shuts off as though the side-stand was down (of course, it isn't). And this is where I am completely lost as to what the problem might be.

I removed the tank to see if maybe the wiring had somehow melted and was shorting out, but everything appeared to look fine. My next thought is that maybe my turn signal / side-stand relay had blown, so I checked the turn signals and they work fine, but since I don't have a multimeter, I haven't been able to actually test it. If it's bad, will the turn signals still work?

And this is about as far as I've gotten so far. Am I even headed in the right direction? I'll do whatever I can to help you guys help me (pictures, more detail, etc), just let me know. And of course, any help on this will be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!