Gas tank reserve doesn't 'work'?

[Palm9]

Hi!

Ran out of fuel on my 2005 GS500F the other day after 377 km (235 mi). The fuel petcock was in the 'on' position (pointing down), so I flipped up on reserve position, but nothing changed!? It was completely empty. As I finally got to a fuel station, I was only able to fill 17 litres in the tank, It was my understanding that the GS500(F) comes with a 20 litre tank, and a 4 litre reserve.

What could be going on here?   

[Jimbob]

Did you open the fuel tank to check that it was empty?

[lucas]

The reserve fuel line might be kinked.

When you ran out of gas did you try switching to prime?

[Suzuki Stevo]

The hoses from the Fuel Chicken sound like they got inverted, the hose from the back of the Chicken goes to the front/longer fitting on the tank...as long as the On/Off selector on the tank has to be reached via a long screwdriver from under the tank, in other words the fitting on the tank may be inverted also.....confuzed now?? 

[lucas]

Yeah good thinking, if they were reverse this would happen.

Had the reserve worked prior to this occasion?

So many questions!  No answers yet though

[Big Rich]

Wasn't it Adidas that had a problem with the reserve hose getting clogged before? I think he said he would flip the valve from "on" to "reserve" shortly before getting gas  for 2 reasons: to clear out any sediment / sludge from the reserve line, and to make sure the valve was easily moved.