We have performed an in-depth concept study of a gravitational wave data analysis method which targets repeated long quasimonochromatic transients (triggers) from cosmic sources. The algorithm concept can be applied to multitrigger data sets in which the detector-source orientation and the statistical properties of the data stream change with time, and does not require the assumption that the data is Gaussian. Reconstructing or limiting the energetics of potential gravitational wave emissions associated with quasiperiodic oscillations observed in the x-ray lightcurve tails of soft gamma repeater flares might be an interesting endeavor of the future. Therefore we chose this in a simplified form to illustrate the flow, capabilities, and performance of the method. We investigate performance aspects of a multitrigger based data analysis approach by using O(100s) long stretches of mock data in coincidence with the times of observed quasiperiodic oscillations, and by using the known sky location of the source. We analytically derive the probability density function of the background distribution and compare to the results obtained by applying the concept to simulated Gaussian noise, as well as off-source playground data collected by the 4-km Hanford detector during LIGO’s fifth science run (S5). We show that the transient glitch rejection and adaptive differential energy comparison methods we apply succeed in rejecting outliers in the fifth science run background data. Finally, we discuss how to extend the method to a network containing multiple detectors, and as an example, tune the method to maximize sensitivity to soft gamma repeater 1806-20 flare times.