Good morning,

I went to ride on Friday night and I live in the mountains.  I can normally go 211 miles on a tank of gas.  When I was trying to go across the mountain the bike would bog down and die.  I added a little bit of oil friday night before I left.  My mileage says I have only gone 178 miles.  It runs fine down hill and I put it on reserve and went up my drive fine.  Any ideas on what could cause this?  I am so aggravated.  It still has gas in it,  could it just be that it is too low on gas and when I go up hill its not getting the gas?  any help would be appreciated.  I took the bike home and parked it because I can not afford to break down on the side of the road.

Thanks,
Rick

You may have a partly clogged fuel tank vent, you may have some wear that is giving low vacuum, you may  have a cracked vacuum line to petcauk, you may have rust or other debris in float bowl,  you may be low on fuel, you may have faulty fuel selecter valve.

prs

Brand new bike,  garage kept, 5700 miles, laid on its side on time but not for more than 5 seconds and didnt hit the ground.  Any of this help?

i had about 1/3 a tank of gas.  i was at 178 miles.  normally i dont have to fill up till about 211 miles

Well, first things first. Put some gas in it!
You won't always get the same milage per tank so fill it up and report back before we figure out if its something else. Its also hard to tell how much gas you have because the GS has a long flat tank. 1/3 looks about the same as near empty. The fact that putting it on reserve fixed the problem makes me think its just a little low on fuel.

thanks a lot.  i was just really concerned and more or less pissed off because it was a beautiful day in chattanooga on friday and i wanted to ride so bad and then that happened.  but it seems like the consensus seems to believe it may just be the fuel.  I will try it out at home tonight and check back.

thanks.

one more question,  the dealership told me to use high octane gas. Am I wasting my money.  I am thinking about lowering my bike and I would like to get a little more torque in the lower gears.  any suggestions there?  Are the lowering links hard to put on.  I am a pretty technical guy but wasnt sure how involved it is. 

87 octane is all you need.  and drop to a 15 or 14t front sprocket will get you more torque.  i havent done the dog bones so ill leave that to someone who has  but i think there are just 2 bolts that you take out and put the new bones back in

i just dont understand why dealers tell you to use high octane.  not like they are making money off of it.  how hard are the sprockets to change

to do sprocket if its your first time prolly 20 mins total including taking bike apart putting it back together and readjusting your chain.

Josh is right that regular gas is all any engine with 9 to 1 compression needs.  Running premium in this bike only wastes money, increases emissions, and can cause cold starting problems.  But dammit Josh, stop telling everyone to gear down!  I took one ride on this bike and knew it wants to be geared a little taller!

Unless all you do is ride around town doing wheelies, gearing down sucks!  You know I use 17 and 39-tooth sprockets and I wouldn't use anything else on this bike, especially for long rides.  I can still get lower gearing if I need to, Josh.  It's called 3rd gear!

Yes, you can do wheelies in second gear, but that's all you get.  I get mileage, smoothness, less chain, sprocket, and engine wear, less rear tire wear, less engine braking, and more top end!  I've understood these things before you were born.

If your GS is your toy to practice wheelies on, gear down.  If it's transportation, you gear up or leave it alone! 

i removed my post sorry im not in the mood to fight bills right on everything his bike is perfect and im just a baby to bikes