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I've hot reserve on my GZ250 many times in the almost 17,000 miles I have put on it. How the bike acts depends on a lot of factors. On the straight and level at highway speed it just quits. A lower speeds it may sputter a bit before it dies. The bike can act very strange depending on conditions. Reserve is just another fuel outlet that is lower in the tank. Imagine two tubes sticking into the bottom of the tank one much taller than the other. The tall one is where the gas goes when the petcock is in the on position (normal). When the gas level gets close to the top of the pipe things start to get interesting. If you lean hard to the right the gas level drops below the top of the tube. Do this enough and you will not get enough gas to keep it running. Riding on a rough road may cause enough gas to slosh around to keep it going longer or possibly surge as it starves for gas and then gets a little as the gas sloshes over the top of the tube. Most of the time the bowl of the carburetor and fuel lines hold enough gas to get you past short periods of sucking air, but if the conditions are just right the GZ250 cna act pretty strange.
Some of the stranger things I have had happen:
Once I hit reserve just as I started the bike. It would start and idle but stall if I tried to move it.
On what passes for a twisty road around here, the first sign was losing power when leaned over into a right turn. When the bike was vertical or leaning left it was fine. This lasted for about 3/4 mile before it finally died.
I used to ride until I hit reserve and go looking for gas. Now days I make damn sure I reset my mileage to zero and when it gets to 150 miles I begin to seriously look for a gas stop. When I'm on long trips I start looking at 100 miles. Gas stops can be very far apart in the areas I like to ride in.
I don't like hitting reserve. Imagine pulling into some fast moving traffic, twisting hard on the throttle trying to merge smoothly hitting reserve and third gear at the same time. Its not a good feeling.
I suggest that you practice switching to reserve while riding. You might think that it will be easy to reach down and switch to reserve but it may not be as easy as you think. My wife says she can't do it.
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