is that a problem because it's running out of gas??

[frankwir]

Hi, everyone,

I am a new rider with a GZ250 (year2007, about 1k miles only, but I am the third owner). I ride it between work place and home, which is about 10 miles only. The speed I ride varies between 15-55mph.

Although I only ride about three weeks, I found a problem which happened three times on road:
In high speed (about 40-50mph) the bike got stalled (the engine got choked for a few seconds and then lose power): it feels like the bike is running out of gas.

After I pull off the road, I can't get it started right away. I have to wait for a while (about 20 or 30 seconds) then it can be started, and if I ride in a lower speed it's OK (I didn't ride for long to test it though), but if I reach to hight speed, it got stalled again.

This morning when I came to work it happened again. And I have to switch to the fuel reserve to get it started this time. Everytime after it happened, I went to a gas station to pump in some gas, then it runs OK.

It sounds like the bike is running out of the gas. But the strange thing is, everytime the maximum of gas I can put in the tank is around 2 gal, and as you know, the fuel capacity of this bike is about 3.4 gal, which means there is still more than 1 gal of gas in the tank when the bike lost power. And when I open the tank, it certainly has some gas still in it! It seems that there is something prevent the gas from flowing to the engine after consuming about 2 gal of gas.

Have anyone here had the similar experience? This bike has been sitted for about a year with very few ridings by the 2nd owner. May I ask your help about what is going on? Should I do some carb cleaning? Many Thanks.

[Sarris]

The petcock that goes into the bottom of the tank has a screen on it.

It sounds like you may need to drain the tank and clean the petcock screen.

Here is a blow up view for you to look at: Petcock (http://fiche.ronayers.com/Index.cfm/Module/Main/TypeID/26/Type/Motorcycle/MakeID/2/Make/Suzuki/YearID/48/Year/2007/ModelID/7561/Model/GZ250/GroupID/358482/Group/FUEL_COCK_)

:)

[Easy Rider]

It sounds like the bike is running out of the gas. But the strange thing is, everytime the maximum of gas I can put in the tank is around 2 gal, and as you know, the fuel capacity of this bike is about 3.4 gal, which means there is still more than 1 gal of gas in the tank when the bike lost power. And when I open the tank, it certainly has some gas still in it! It seems that there is something prevent the gas from flowing to the engine after consuming about 2 gal of gas.


Not an unusual question for a new rider. Do you have an owners manual ?
Did you read it ? If not you should......get one and read it.

What you describe is EXACTLY how the REServe function is supposed to work. It gives you a "warning" when you have a little over a gallon left.....whereby you have to switch it to reserve to continue and use that last gallon. If you realize what is going on and switch it quick enough, you may not even have to stop.

If you reset your trip odometer and fill up that 2 gallons or so when it reaches 120 miles, you may never have to switch to reserve again. If you forget and leave it on reserve......then when it runs out it REALLY IS EMPTY and you're screwed. :cry:

[frankwir]

Hey Sarris and Easy Rider,

Thanks so much for your instant replies! I will check the petcook screen by asking the mechanics later, but I think what Easy Rider told me is right - that's exactly what had happened. I thought the reserved gas (0.9 gal) was not included in the total 3.4 capacity...actually it IS, obviously, there is only one gas tank....I feel so embarrassed but glad that the mystery is solved! So it's totally normal. I need to watch up the odometer in the future and regulate pumping the gas...

Thank you so much guys. Appreciate the help from both of you!

BTW, the pre-owner doesn't have the owners manual when I purchased the bike from him, but I had a free downloading (a PDF file) from the Internet. It doesn't tell me the "reserve function" in detail and it is actually a group of poorly scanned pages, doesn't look like an official version... My co-worker told me that I could ask the manufacturer (Suzuki) to mail me a copy for free, is that true? I will try that anyway. Thanks again!

[Easy Rider]

My co-worker told me that I could ask the manufacturer (Suzuki) to mail me a copy for free, is that true? I will try that anyway. Thanks again!

No not free but only about $18 thru a dealer.
There is a copy on here for download; maybe it's better quality.

[frankwir]

Thank you for the info! I will check with the dealer.
Have a nice labor day weekend!

[Viirin]

Think this scenario happens to everyone with their first bike

[burkbuilds]

Sometimes it happens with your 2nd bike. When I had the GZ, I always reset my trip odometer and like Easy suggested, I simply filled it up based on the mileage before I ever got to the reserve limit, thus, I kinda forgot all about the reserve function. When I bought my Vulcan new from the dealer, they were getting it ready for me at the end of the day and they only had about a gallon of fuel at the dealer, which they put in my tank while I watched. I drove out of the lot and on my way to the gas station, the bike sputtered and stopped. I pulled off on the shoulder and tried to restart, to no avail. I remember thinking that I'd just watched them put a gallon of fuel in the bike, and I'd only gone a few miles, so there was no way I could be out of fuel, something must be wrong with the bike. Can you say "brain fart"? Of course, it still had about 8/10ths of a gallon in the tank, I just didn't have the tank on the reserve setting. Took me about an hour to figure that one out. Some days, the old noodle just isn't working very well I guess. Kinda embarrassing though. :whistle:

Oh, and welcome to the forum! :)

[mrlmd1]

You bought a new bike and the dealer couldn't even give you a tank of gas to go out the door? Asshole. What was he saving, $3-4 ? Hard to believe they had less than a gallon of gas at the dealership - what were you supposed to do, carry it home? He could have siphoned some out of his car or sent someone out with a gas can to get it filled up.

[burkbuilds]

Well, in his defense, it was the end of the day, after closing time, he stayed late to get the bike ready for me and there was a gas station directly across the street that I could have gone to instead of traveling 10 miles to buy non-ethanol fuel, which was my goal. I was ready to get going, and didn't really want him to fill up my tank with the ethanol gas from across the street.

[Water Warrior 2]

Same story here. New bike and just enough gas to get to the pumps down the street.

[Fish Baseball]

yup, I can agree it happens with the 2nd bike....riding the VL250 around, expecting to get same sorta mileage out of a tank as the GZ (usually round the 290-300 mark) hit 240km and the new bike is coughing, spluttering and loosing power. Pulled over to the side of the road, cursing out the dealer i brought it from.....and then switched it to res. Powered straight up, and rode smooth as Vodka. Felt like an idiot until I read this post. :2tup:

[5th_bike]

This morning when I came to work it happened again. And I have to switch to the fuel reserve to get it started this time. Everytime after it happened, I went to a gas station to pump in some gas, then it runs OK.
[...]
Have anyone here had the similar experience?
Yes, I always run the bike until it does that, but I manage to get around 2.7 gal. in each time. You probably have the California model, which has a smaller tank. You can fill the tank until the gasoline touches the rim of the cylinder inside the tank, that fits the gas cap and lock.

[frempath]

Had similar problem with a car, except no reserve so I had to walk a couple of times. The embarrassing part was that my parents own gas stations and I didn't have to pay for gas. No excuse but being young, stupid and too lazy to pump gas when the needle pointed to "E". The walks did teach me to learn fuel mileage watch my trip meter. Handy for bikes like ours that don't have a gauge.

frempath