So I ran out of gas today.....

[Budrick320]

So I ran out of gas today.....40+ miles from home in the country and 30 miles from any gas station. But it was cool I was expecting it. I just passed 900 miles today.

  I wanted to see how far I could go before I needed to flip on the reserve. Well it got to 243 miles then it started sputtering and jerking on the highway. I expected that. So I reach down and turned to reserve. But it continued to sputter and jerk until it died. Ok......
  I try to start her up (on reserve) and nothing happens, I put it on prime for about 10 seconds then tried it again, nothing. I tried 'On', nothing, back to 'reserve', nothing.  So now I am on the side of the highway enjoying the view of cornfields and hills in the backround.  

  This is the cool part: Even though I have a cell phone and I have a number of people that I can call, I pray and ask God to send someone within the next 10 minutes.
   So I pull out my bible and I am reading and 3 minutes later a guy comes in a truck. I didn't even signal to stop any cars. We do some small talk, I give him a few bucks for a gallon, he comes back, some more small talk and I am good to go. Angel? I think so. As I was gearing up I could see his face in the right mirror. (He was parked in front of me) And he gave me this weird smile and a wink and left.  

QUESTION: Why didn't it start up on reserve after it died? I filled up with 4.2 gallons afterwards. There should still be a gallon left. Did I not do something right? Should I have left it on prime longer? or started it with prime on?      Thanks for reading.

[Roadstergal]

Which way did you turn it?

[Budrick320]

Up for reserve.

[Kerry]

The fuel hoses attached to the tank-mounted petcock may be switched.  They should run side-by-side without crossing over each other on the way to the ON/RES/PRI switch.

In addition, the longer outlet tube from the tank-mounted petcock should be towards the front of the bike.  Another way to check is to make sure the ON/OFF slot faces the inside of the frame:



Finally, it sounds like you were using the right ON/RES/PRI switch position(s).

[davipu]

I would post something useful.  but coming from me this (. . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  ) is more informative.

[DrtRydr23]

On my 97 turning it to up is Prime, sideways is Reserve, and down is On.  I'm not sure if they changed the switch sometime after 97 or what, but I know when I put my switch on Prime my bike will die, and then I won't be able to start it back up until I turn it to Res or On and let the excess gas flow out of the overflow tube.  When I first got the bike this gave me fits because I thought some of the fuel lines were routed wrong and I would accidentally run it on Prime, but it turns out that I just didn't know what I was doing.  I'm not implying that you don't know what you're doing, but anyone can make a mistake.

Later,

John

[mp183]

Reserve comes on somewhere around 200 miles on my 2002.
At 243 miles you were already on reserve and you just ran that sucker dry.

[Budrick320]

But I only filled with 4.2 gallons, and I never had to switch it to reserve.

[aaronstj]

But I only filled with 4.2 gallons, and I never had to switch it to reserve.

Are you incuding the gas you got to get to the next gas station?

[scottpA_GS]

  This is the cool part: I pray and ask God to send someone within the next 10 minutes.
   So I pull out my bible and I am reading and 3 minutes later a guy comes in a truck. .

LOL.. Did the guy in the truck look like Michael Landon?

If God doesnt answer your prayer in 30 mins.. the next one is free  

[Budrick320]

My Bad, Total brain fart!
Yeah aaronstj, I forgot to add the gallon that the guy helped me with.
But I am still wondering why I didn't have to switch to reserve after so many miles.??

[Budrick320]

Thanks Kerry for the useful Info, I will check it out tomorrow.  

[airbrush]

make sure your fuel hoses are not pinched...thats what was wrong with my new '04....had no reserve at all...after taking the tank off I found the reserve hose to be pinched against the inner frame, now all is well.