pain switching to reserve?
 

hey, i'm wonderin if anyone else has trouble when switching to reserve.
For example, if i'm riding along on primary (ON) and run out of gas, and switch to RES. Takes for ever to get bike started again, and it doesn't help even if i'm still rolling and switch it while going lets say 45mph. I have to come to a complete stop, and crank forever till it starts again.

my friends ZZR just swaps and rolls no issues :( (yes he's carbed)


thanks!

Clos

You are probably waiting too long to make the switch. At the first stumble you have to switch. It takes a while for the bowls to fill up when completely empty, especially at 45 mph.

KongBastard

what's weird is, it happened to me cruising the streets at 30 mph, did a u-turn and it died at the light, same thing, takes forever :( i thought it might be a weak pump, but i did some searching and reliazed their supposed to be so they only pump when the carbs need it to. hehe.

You shouldnt wait tell the bike is stopped running before you switch it takes about .4 leters to file the bowls back up on the carbs the bike well start to bog (starts to suck the slitest air)a little before it runs completely out of fuel that is the point in which you should switch.
you well only have about 1 to 1.5 minutes in shich to do this at lowe speeds say
30-45 mph. the faster you go the shorter the time.

+1 on that. I switch at first sign of engine stumble. I look at the odometer to verify as well.

How many miles (or kms) do you guys usually get from a full tank before hitting reserve, assuming mostly highway cruising at legal speeds? My gf ran my bike dry the day after we got it, at about 220 km on the tripmeter, but I have no idea how much gas was in it to start with. The guy I bought it from said it was almost full but I didn't check because it was raining heavily at the time.

I also ride my gf's ZZR, and had to hit the reserve unexpectedly last weekend. Normally I can get around 400km from a tank, but I did some highway driving into a 50kph headwind which really taxed the little 250's capabilities -- it ran dry at 298km. Pretty brutal fuel efficiency reduction :icon_doh:

i just keep mine full and avoid that issue, but something weird with my fuel switch, it can run itself dry without even switching to reserve, the only time i let her empty.......it stumbled, switched to reserve, it ran like another 50 feet and died, shook the tank.....no swishing....so it had run itself bone dry....but no warning til empty......weird, as then when i refilled the tank. used the choke and she started up almost right away, well fired...ran a lil stalled.....then filled the bowls, but it didnt take long.....but now i just keep it full and just not worry,

but just so i can avoid a problem.....is that the sign of a bad fuel valve? or maybe a good pump?

Are you starting with the petcock in the right position? Straight up is regular, down is reserve.

KongBastard

I would pull the valve off and see if the tube is there and not broke off or cracked.

to answer both questions, yes i run it in the on position, when the guy repainted it he was atleast smart enough to label the positions

also i have a set of side covers from a parts cbr i bought with it they also show the positions they way you say them , and labeled the same on both side covers

as far as the visual inspection, i dont see any damage, if i turn the valve to off it stops flowing

weird like i said, but i just avoid running out of gas, ill check it out more soon, as its getting close to off season, i planned on freshening her paint, and restoring the red stripes so ill pull the valve out and look it over