Ran out of gas..... sorta

TheBandit181 · June 09, 2005, 12:29:49 AM

I had about 115 miles out of a full tank when it started to buck and die. I had been running it on reserve, but it still acted like "on" as far as mileage goes. I tried switching to "on" to see if the lines were crossed, wouldn't start. I tried prime, wouldn't start. So I called a friend to bring a gas can. I went home drained the tank (to actually see what was wrong) I put in a little over a gallon and still wouldn't start in any setting.
Any ideas as to why it won't run on <2 gallons of gas?

edit: btw I drained from the hose leading to the outer left fitting on the frame petcock, using the search, I found that this should be the "on" fitting. Should gas flow freely from that hose when the bike is off and the hose is disconnected from the frame petcock?

Kerry · June 09, 2005, 01:24:22 AM

Quote from: TheBandit181I drained from the hose leading to the outer left fitting on the frame petcock, using the search, I found that this should be the "on" fitting. Should gas flow freely from that hose when the bike is off and the hose is disconnected from the frame petcock?

As long as

Quote from: TheBandit181Any ideas as to why it won't run on <2 gallons of gas?

* Perhaps the carbs need to be PRImed after running out of gas?

* If the ON and RES hoses are swapped (see the Fuel Hose Routing page) then turning the switch to PRI may not do the job.

* If the hoses are OK, then the PRI setting really should have let you start the bike. If not, then there may be a vacuum leak between the left carb and the diaphragm in the fuel switch.

TheBandit181 · June 09, 2005, 09:20:26 AM

I checked the hoses, everything seems to be connected normally. I tried starting again (set to RES) and it fired right up. I'm glad it started normally, but I still don't understand why I ran out of gas on RES at 115 miles out of a full tank. The tank wasn't empty, I could still see some at the bottom, and after searching I'm reasonably sure that the "bump" was still covered as well.

SWEET-TL1000R · June 09, 2005, 09:30:44 AM

Could it be that your carbs need to be cleaned?

TheBandit181 · June 09, 2005, 09:47:29 AM

I suppose that could be a possibility, however, it runs perfectly aside from this incident. It accelerates smoothly.

Eisenfaust · June 09, 2005, 06:07:36 PM

I have a similar problem.

I *always* run out of gas at 115ish miles. I never, ever, ever have to put more than 2.5 gallons of gas in the tank, but I know its a 3.5 gallon (or is it 4?) tank.

Point being... why isnt it using all the gas in the tank? When this happens, I try on, res, prime, etc... nothing works. Bike just dies.

I'm not having the fuel starvation problem anymore... not since the new motor.

I've checked my fuel lines to make sure theyre routed correctly, they are, at least according to the fiche on ronayers.com.

The bike will run in any fuel-petcock mode, so I dont think theres a blockage in the reserve pipe.... but still. I dont get it.

O_o

TheBandit181 · June 09, 2005, 10:25:11 PM

Sounds like what mine is doing. So, at least, I'm not alone with this problem.

Kerry · June 10, 2005, 08:54:28 AM

Quote from: EisenfaustI never, ever, ever have to put more than 2.5 gallons of gas in the tank, but I know its a 3.5 gallon (or is it 4?) tank.

'89-'00 CA model: 4 gallons
'89-'00 non-CA model: 4.5 gallons

'01+ model: 5.3 gallons

RedShift · June 10, 2005, 06:58:42 PM

Time to experiment. Take the tank off and set it up to drain into a 5 Gallon gas container. See what happens. If it retains a large volume in the tank, your Spigot inside the tank is plugged, and needs cleaning.

It's a pain, but if you approach it logically, there's an answer to everything.

(An by all means, no smoking or spark within 15 feet of where you're doing this.)

Rema1000 · June 10, 2005, 07:09:05 PM

If the hoses are reversed, AND you were riding with it set to Reserve, then it would draw from the upper hose, and would run-out after only 3.5 gallons. The carb bowls would empty.

To get the bike going, you'd need to set the frame petcock to a setting which uses gravity feed, AND which pulls gas from the bottom of the tank. But "Prime" would be connected to the top of the tank; and while "On" is connected to the bottom of the tank, it would not work with the carb bowls empty.

Which leaves one question: why only 2.5 gallons, instead of 3.5? Maybe you're filling the tank, with the bike on sidestand?

OK, so that's asking a bit much: if you fill on sidestand, AND have the hoses reversed, AND were riding with the frame petcock set to Reserve or Prime, THEN maybe I can see running out after only 2.5 gallons.

Eisenfaust · June 10, 2005, 07:48:47 PM

But wouldnt switcing the bike onto ON work like reserve, if the fuel hoses were reversed?

I'm almost positive my hoses are properly routed.

Also, my bike doesnt have a centerstand, so I always fill her on the sidestand.

I'm going to take some pics of my hose routing, and post them this weekend.

I'll also do the drain-spiggot thing into an empty bucket. We'll see.

Note that when I'm running out it looks as if theres still a gallon or so of gas in the tank.

TheBandit181 · June 10, 2005, 09:10:38 PM

My hoses are routed correctly, I triple checked after all this happened. When I drained it into a bucket everything came out, the tank was empty. I did fill on the side stand that time, so I guess that would lower the mileage.

Kerry · June 10, 2005, 11:23:16 PM

Quote from: EisenfaustBut wouldnt switcing the bike onto ON work like reserve, if the fuel hoses were reversed?

It would work like REserve, yes. But the PRIme setting wouldn't do anything once you got down to the REServe level in the tank.

Quote from: EisenfaustI always fill her on the sidestand.

I've never filled mine on the sidestand, so I don't know how much you're missing out on in terms of gallons. Next time I fill up I will try to remember to:

Kerry · June 10, 2005, 11:27:05 PM

Quote from: TheBandit181When I drained it into a bucket everything came out, the tank was empty.

How exactly did you drain the tank? Did you pull a hose (and which one?) from the tank-mounted petcock ... or from the frame-mounted fuel switch? Or did you drain slowly via the float bowls drain(s)?

Unless you used the last method, the fuel switch was removed from the "drain path". I don't know why the PRIme position wouldn't have worked for you, but a vacuum leak may explain poor performance in the ON or RES positions.

TheBandit181 · June 11, 2005, 08:34:07 AM

I pulled reserve, drained directly from tank.

Rema1000 · June 11, 2005, 09:50:31 AM

Try draining the tank from the carb bowl drain (it will take a while). If the bike is not running, then you'll need the petcock set to PRI.

If the tank hoses were reversed, then ON would behave like RES. But PRI would not work when you need it.

Eisenfaust · June 11, 2005, 10:05:47 AM

Seem, my PRI function works perfectly. I used it many times to get the bike restarted after draining the float bowls during fuel starvation.

I have clear acrylic fuel hoses, so I can see the hoses from the tank to the frame mounted petcock filling with, well, not air, but probably vacuum... either way, I can literally watch all the gas get sucked out of them, leaving them empty.

Both the ON and RES/PRI hose will do this.... even when there's plenty of gas in the tank.

I mean, generally, I dont mind stopping every 100 miles for gas, but its kind of annoying these days, when I'm regularly making 120 mile round trips on the bike for work.

Rema1000 · June 11, 2005, 10:34:20 AM

EisenF, if there's gas in the tank, but REServe won't empty it, and hoses are correct... then I'd wonder if your tank was venting properly through the cap. Try opening the gas tank cap, and see if PRI fills the bowls then.

TheBandit181 · June 11, 2005, 06:28:43 PM

When I drained the tank, it did make a hissing noise around the filler cap. What noise, if any, should be made by a properly vented cap?

RedShift · June 12, 2005, 06:50:38 PM

Quote from: Kerry
Quote from: EisenfaustI always fill her on the sidestand.
I've never filled mine on the sidestand, so I don't know how much you're missing out on in terms of gallons. Next time I fill up I will try to remember to:
* Pput the bike on the sidestand,
* Fill to the bottom of the filler neck and note the gallons pumped
* Get back on the bike and straighten it up
* Fill to the bottom of the neck and note the gallons again
* Do the side-to-side sway and fill it up the rest of the way
* Note the final number of gallons[/list:u]
I'll let you know what I find out....

I just got back from a ride and tried Kerry's test. I was able to squeeze about 0.25 Gallons (0.945 Litres) more in between the Sidestand fill and the Straight-Up fill.

Definitely not a lot more. I was surprised that there wasn't a bigger difference. It's possible there was still a bit of an air pocket in there, but not that much more.

Roy...

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Ran out of gas..... sorta