So I met up with a couple of friends today to head out for a ride, and shortly after we hopped on the highway the GS began to sputter a bit.  I hastily felt around for the fuel tap but didn't find it quick enough and decided to pull over onto the shoulder.  Just as I got onto the shoulder and started gearing down, the bike died.  Fine, I stop and switch it to reserve.  Then the damn thing didn't want to start!    There was gas in the bottom of the tank, too.  Not a lot, but some.

I tried it on prime and res again, with throttle and without..nothing but cranking.  Fark!!  I call my honey on the cell while my friends try to bump start it.  One of them is a Harley rider, so it was quite amusing seeing him get on the GS and be pushed down the road..:lol:

A nice British fellow on a KZ stopped to help, too, which was really nice.

Anyway bump starting didn't work either, and said HD friend ended up going for gas at the next exit.  We put it in and try starting it.  Nope.  Then my other friend gave it a try and VROOOOOOM!!!  Yay!!

We get back on and ride off to the gas station to top it up.  I'd never reached this point on this bike until now, and I was dreading it because the tank was rusted when I bought the bike and we cleaned it out as well as we could but it should still be replaced sooner or later.  I wasn't sure the reserve would be there for me, and know I know it isn't.  Meh.

BTW, I had 268 kms on the tripmeter.  Lesson learned.  

I know exactly how you feel.  :x Just yesterday I wa on my way to get gas and of course my bike starts acting sluggish and jerking so I reach back and switch it over to reserve and it still dies on me. So I coast over to the side of the road and put it on PRI for about 10 secs or so and switch back to reserve and still nothing.  So push it about 200 ft to a parking lot and keep trying but still nothing. Not wanting to kill my battery I stop and prepare for about a 3 mile walk to the nearest gas station. Needles to say my day sucked and I now know that my reserve is also a POS :x  Lesson learned fill up the tank when I get about 150 miles or so.  Also not a single person stopped and asked if I needed help. Some people just suck  :nana:  No one on this board  just everyone else

My honey thinks there may be a problem with my fuel tap.  I do want to get this sorted out before next season.

that's not good...especially on QEW... :x
glad to hear that it's as simple as the reserve line though...

Yeah..Dave working at a Suzuki dealership will definitely be a bonus.

Jen,

You don't happen to ride a burgundy/red gs500, do you?  I see one parked on Lakeshore, just past the EX (where the street car tracks are, just west of Bathurst) every morning on my way to work.  It's an older gs500 with a fairing kit (the whole body).

Hope everything works out for you.  I bought my gs in Newmarket.  The service guys are really helpful.  Not sure if that's anywhere close to where you're located, but if it is, check it out.

Two things:

1) When the bike is already out of gas, you should set it to PRI

at least until it starts up again.  Then you can turn it back to RES if you like -- to see if your reserve is really all gone.  If you try to start the bike on REServe after running out of gas it can take excessive cranking to get fuel to the carbs.


2) 268 km is ~168 miles, which is certainly possible before hitting reserve on a '92.  On my '99 (same size tank) I usually hit REServe at about 180 miles (~290 km).  Then again, I use various tricks to make sure the tank is FULL when I gas up, some of which you may not normally do.  :dunno:

If your trip meter had been significantly higher I would have suspected that your ON and RES fuel hoses were switched at the fuel tank.  That might still be the case depending on how full your tank was and what kind of mileage you usually get - but I doubt it.  Just make sure that your main fuel hoses match the diagram on my Fuel Hose Routing page and we can forget about that possibility.  Also, make sure that the longer of the two outlet tubes from the fuel tank is towards the front of the bike.[/list:u]

Quote from: sys49152Jen,

You don't happen to ride a burgundy/red gs500, do you?  I see one parked on Lakeshore, just past the EX (where the street car tracks are, just west of Bathurst) every morning on my way to work.  It's an older gs500 with a fairing kit (the whole body).

Hope everything works out for you.  I bought my gs in Newmarket.  The service guys are really helpful.  Not sure if that's anywhere close to where you're located, but if it is, check it out.

Nope, not me - my GS is red but naked.

Thanks, Kerry - though I have confidence that my mechanic husband hooked them up properly, as he's been a certified motorcycle mechanic since 89.  My lil GS will be getting worked on this winter, though, to get rid of a few bugs we found since it was cleaned up and run for a bit.  New tank and new carbs, to start.

(Read the background story on my GS here.)

The fuel lines might be backwards.  RES where the ON line goes and vice versa.

Will check it out, thanks.

Guess what happened to me on the way to work today?  I hit REServe with 168 miles on the trip meter!  What a coincidence, eh?

I turned the fuel selector to PRI for about 10 seconds (while riding) until the bike quit "bucking", then turned it to REServe and rode the remaining mile to work with no further symptoms.  I've got a date with the gas pump on the way home this afternoon.

Quote from: JeneratorThanks, Kerry - though I have confidence that my mechanic husband hooked them up properly, as he's been a certified motorcycle mechanic since 89.

Given that 168 miles is not unreasonable "before REServe" (see above post) your hoses are probably OK.  But even a certified mechanic can get something wrong if most of the documentation available to them shows things backwards:

From the Clymer manual

From the Haynes manual

From BikeBandit.com

From Ron Ayers[/list:u]In fact, the ONLY diagram I know of that shows the fuel tank petcock oriented in the "real life" direction is the one on my Fuel Hose Routing page.

Gotcha...I will have him check it, just in case.

Edit:  I just called him and he said he saw the diagram in the Suzuki service manual that showed the petcock backwards as well and he recalled saying 'WTF?' when he saw it.  He assures me my lines are connected properly.  We'll investigate further this winter.

Quote from: Jeneratorhe said he saw the diagram in the Suzuki service manual that showed the petcock backwards as well and he recalled saying 'WTF?' when he saw it.

Here's the only reasoning I could come up with:

"OK, we need to do a

Fuel chicken diagram.  Let's see...most of the stuff we need to show is on the left side of the bike, so we'll draw the diagram from that perspective.  But the configurable part of the petcock under the fuel tank is on the RIGHT side.  Hmmm.  I know - let's just spin that part around 180 degrees so people can see the ON/OFF slot."

"Uh, that's gonna confuse people.  Mark my words."

"Well, what choice do we have?  If we show the petcock in its actual orientation from the left side then people won't know there's any way to switch it off."

"Yeah, I see what you mean....  Well, we do our best.  Print it!  But mark my words...."[/list:u]Couldn't they have used an inset diagram, or included some explanatory text?  Sigh.

Yeah, really.

Hey Jen,

When I first got my 500 I ran out of gas and couldn't find the reserve.  I pulled in the clutch and coasted to a stop.  Then I switched over to reserve and she started right up.  No problem.  Now, I learned to switch is while riding.  When I get to 200 miles on the odometer, I fill it up.  Haven't needed the reserve again.