reserve fuel

[HaydenH]

ok, so I've run out of petrol before but wasn't sure if I'd done something wrong as this was all the time on the 'on' setting.
so am trying to figure out if the fuel chicken it buggered, before i do any long distance touring and not realise i don't have any 'reserve' petrol.
so far i've got 360km on this tank without issue, and it still runs fine on both 'on' and 'reserve' settings.

this is for a 2006 F model.

my question is, of the fuel pick-up (inside the tank) at what point does 'on' draw from and where does 'reserve' draw from.


the fuel level is about where the white dashes are. the right hand side of this pic is towards the front of the bike.
i know the pipe connections under the tank have the 'on' pipe forward and 'reserve' pipe back most (ie: left side in this picture) (see bikebandit to confirm this)

any help appreciated.

Cheers.

[Dr.McNinja]

This is in the wiki,


The "ON" side draws fuel from a large portion of the tank (80-90%). The "RES" setting draws fuel from a much lower part of the tank, towards your junk. If you notice, everything in the tank converges on the point closest to the seat because of the way the tank was designed. That little hump is where it draws it from.


You can just leave your bike in "RES" if you wanted. It doesn't hurt it. I don't know if you'll lose some of the fuel from the "ON" section, but somehow I doubt it.

[ghostrider_23]

If the PB Blaster doesn't work, try transmission fluid. I had a master cylinder on my 72 Chevelle that was giving me trouble and I try everything. Then my neighbor stopped by and put some transmission fluid on it, waited 1/2 hour and ShaZam, the brake lines unscrewed.

[mister]

Hayden,

The idea of touring is not to get the maximum distance out of each tank full before refilling.

You said you ran out of fuel before. Was it in the On or Res position when this happened? If ON, did flicking to Res then help you out? At what distance did you run out?

Depending how I ride I'll hit reserve around 300, 330 or 360. 360 when I spend a lot of time in 6th at 80kph, 300 when I spend a lot of time in the 5k to 6k range in lower speeds - such as riding around at 60kph in 3rd gear, 80kph in 4th, etc. 330 for normal riding between these two styles.

Regardless of this, I tank up when it gets to around 300kms. And at this I am usually putting in 12-14 liters (depending on ground slope, how high up I fill, how I have been riding those kilometers, wind for the week, etc.

So when I do a long ride (500km for the day), I'll be stopping every 60-90 minutes. Even if you went two hours between stops, besides being very fatigued, you will have traveled Under 200kms due to Average Speed. Tank up at that point. Not only will you replenish your fuel, it gives you a few extra minutes off the bike. And you'll never need to push the limit of your reserve 

Michael

[HaydenH]

The aim isn't about stretching the tank range. It was to reliably ensure that the reserve is actually working I case I screw up the odo reading while on a distance ride. It's more of a self assurance thing.

Last time I ran Out I was on 'on' the whole time ( or so I believe) buthadno reserve fuel. The bikehassince been restored to stock height so wasnt sure if that might have been the issue.

In normal instances I fill up at about 300km give or take.

[adidasguy]

Your primary and reserve hoses could be reversed. Some diagrams have it backwards.
How do I know? Followed one diagram - been there, had it happen.
When testing a tank and fuel valves, I carry 0.5L bottle of gas - just in case they're backwards.

[Dr.McNinja]

Your primary and reserve hoses could be reversed. Some diagrams have it backwards.
How do I know? Followed one diagram - been there, had it happen.
When testing a tank and fuel valves, I carry 0.5L bottle of gas - just in case they're backwards.

On my 2006 model they're marked fairly clearly on the hose things under the tank.

[adidasguy]

There is an "R" and an "O", but hoses can still get accidentally reversed.
When I replaced one tank, I put in only 1/2 gallon. Put to ON and ran out of gas in a block. Switched to RESERVE and bike came back to life. That way I knew I had them correct. I did carry a small bottle of gas just in case. And since I drove around the block a few times as a test, I was never far from the bike cave. Always good to really test it just to give you that extra confidence.

[HaydenH]

ok, just so i am absolutely sure (because this sounds like its against the diagram i have).

this is my actual routing on my bike:
from the Tank the 'R' hose (foremost) goes to the bottom most chicken on the fuel tap (ie: when the tap is turned 'on' it points directly down at this pipe). The other hose from the tank (assuming theres an 'O' as i can't see that side - rearmost) goes the right (rear) most chicken on the fuel tap (ie: the tap would be pointing to this pipe when in a 'PRI' position.)

does this mean it's been reversed?


Just for clarity i'm just using the fuel tap direction above as a pointer. i am actually switching between 'ON' and 'RES'.

btw, just hit 400km from this tank (from full). i'm just waiting for her to chug and die but she just keeps going. lol

cheers all,
HH

[burning1]

As Adidas guy mentions, the hose routing for the fuel can be confusing, and even worse, the fuel pickup from the tank will sometimes be installed backwards, meaning that on and reserve are reversed from what the hose diagram shows.

The more fuel proof method for making sure you have the hoses connected to the correct part of the pickup is to look at the length of the tubes coming out of the pickup. The longer of the two is reserve, and connects to the back of the petcock, towards the tail section of the bike. The shorter is your main pickup, which connects to the outside edge of the front of the petcock. There is a fuel outlet from the front of the petcock, behind the main fuel inlet that connects to the carbs, and a small connector that connects to a vacuum source on the carbs, which controls a fuel shutoff.

The bike can run with the hoses misconnected, but will not work the way you expect.

I had the misfortune of discovering that my fuel pickup was reversed during my first race weekend... Wondering why I was sputtering and stalling when there was obviously fuel in the tank. *sigh*

The "ON" side draws fuel from a large portion of the tank (80-90%). The "RES" setting draws fuel from a much lower part of the tank, towards your junk. If you notice, everything in the tank converges on the point closest to the seat because of the way the tank was designed. That little hump is where it draws it from.


You can just leave your bike in "RES" if you wanted. It doesn't hurt it. I don't know if you'll lose some of the fuel from the "ON" section, but somehow I doubt it.

This is a little misleading. Both on and Reserve draw from the same part of the tank, and in fact the pickup tubes are right next to each other, just the inliet for the on hose isn't at the bottom of the tank - it stick up a little, so it can drain the tank completely. On will drain most of the fuel from the tank, while reserve will drain the tank all the way empty... Idea being that you ride with the gas in on, then switch to Res when your bike starts sputtering. The process gives you enough warning to get to a fuel station.

It's entirely possible to run the bike full time in the reserve or prime position, but doing so provides no benefit in range, and when you run out of gas you are stuck. If you don't want the hassle of using reserve, just fill up your tank more often. I usually go by the odometer anyway (actually, I open the gas cap every 60 miles or so, but most people don't have my use cycle or fuel economy.)

[HaydenH]

who would of thought a little tap could get so confusing. Picture Time!!



A - goes to the long leg on the fuel pickup withe the letter 'R'
B - goes to the other pickup leg
C - goes to a point mid tank (on the underside obviously)
D - goes to a connection rear and centre of the fuel tap and i believe is the vaccum (is a smaller, less rigid tube)

the blue reserve and on are just re-labeling the switch markers.

good, bad, reversed??

[mister]

Ain't no way you'll get 400km in the On position without hitting reserve.

Res and Pri use the same petcock in the tank. ON uses the higher one.

I would say you have your fuel lines mixed up and are about to run out of juice completely.

Refill your tank. Swap the lines around coming from the tank. Set it to ON and try again.

Michael

[slipperymongoose]

I get to about 400 then I flick it to reserve.

[mister]

I get to about 400 then I flick it to reserve.

Shut up, I'm trying to make a point

Michael

[slipperymongoose]

Sorry gotta thumb u there

[gsJack]

Here's the whole picture of GS fuel hoses for all years, the hoses actually cross on only the 01-02 models and if they cross right behind the clutch cable you may have a very limited range of only about a block from home as I did one day.   

[HaydenH]

ok, i'm stumped. it appears that i don't have a reserve function at all. just checked the tank when i got home and the tank is pretty much empty, to the point where i can see metal not covered by petrol anymore. which i'm thinking is well below when a reserve would kick in.

but the bike itself is still running in both 'on' and 'res' positions.
I've decided that i'll probably do some testing this weekend. any hints though?

currently my setup looks like the 01-02 setup, however the fuel pickup faces the other way. it still has the 'R' at the front, but the filters are also at the front unlike the diagrams.

i thought i'd do the following (drain tank first):
test the fuel pickup first (probably the easiest)
-take off the tank. fill it with 5 litres, and allow fuel to run out of the taps underneath, see when they stop. i think the reserve is about 4L so the 'on' tap should stop draining pretty quick while the 'res' keeps flowing.

once i know the pickup works then i'll refill with 5L ish and re-attach the tank to the petcock using of the diagram that gsJack put up (thanks). i'll then go for a ride and make sure that she does conk out after the 'on' portion is used. if she doesn't then i'll know there's a petcock issue.

[mister]

Um, just swap A & B around and do your test that way. You already know how it is this way - almost bone dry - so just swap A & B and do your 5 liter thing. No need to go to the effort of filling, refilling, emptying, etc. Not yet. Throw in 5 liters and go for a ride where you know you should easily fall below the line.

Only then would you need to take off the tank and do your other thing.

But even still, I question why all this bother. Just refill every 300km and you're sweet 

Michael

[HaydenH]

But even still, I question why all this bother. Just refill every 300km and you're sweet

i know, and that's been (and will be) my normal approach. I plan to do some longer distance trips in the future though and its just a peace of mind thing to know that even if i bugger the odo readings and have no idea what fuel is left (i know, i'll generally just top up but still..) that the bike will give me a little warning before leaving me stranded who knows where. or worse, start faltering while i'm in a sticky situation.

i realise there are several things that would need to happen (fuel low, buggered odo reading, middle of know where, riding at 100% of limit etc) but it's a mindset things.
i like to know that everything is working right.


edit: switching pipes works but whats worrying is that the bike is still running on both settings when I'm positive that it at least one shouldn't have fuel.

[the mole]

Assuming from the pic of your fuel valve that you have an 04 or later bike, your hoses are reversed. So like the third diagram in Jack's pic, the hose you have marked as 'A' should go to the rearward (short) tail on the tank and the one marked 'B' should go to the forward (long) tail.