Switching to reserve.

[greenhorn]

So today I suddenly lost power on my GZ. Deffinitely an OH crap moment for me. I had no cell phone & no cash & was out in the middle of nowhere.

I stopped, tried to turn it over but nothing. Not wanting to run the battery down, I thought, well I better check things out.

I am not mechanically inclined but know enough about the GZ to know there is a reserve setting. I sat back on the bike, swished it around a bit & there sure seemed like there was enough gas in the tank for me.

But I switched to reserve & she started right up. Made it home.

So I am wondering, what have been your experiences with how much gas will require you to tun to reserve? I haven't filled the bike up yet to try it out, but is that normal? Does it just STOP (lose all power) when it is time to put it to reserve?

I'm hoping nothing else was wrong.

Mary

[Moedad]

It might sputter for a second or two first, but yeah, losing power is exactly what happens. The gas you heard sloshing in your tank was your reserve fuel. Do you reset your odometer every time you get gas? If you do that, then you will know when it's getting close to time to either get gas or switch to reserve. For me that is somewhere around 185-190 miles depending on how I've been riding.

[bonehead]

I do the same as Moedad, reset trip everytime I fill up. For me thats around 150 mi. Mine just starts cutting out, and thats when I know to swith to res.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by bonehead

I do the same as Moedad, reset trip everytime I fill up. For me thats around 150 mi. Mine just starts cutting out, and thats when I know to swith to res.

OR......you can put in about 2 gal. when it gets to 120 miles or so.....and then never have to worry about it stopping in heavy traffic. :roll:

P.S. Make sure you switch it back OFF reserve after you fill up!! :cool:

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

So today I suddenly lost power on my GZ. Deffinitely an OH crap moment for me. I had no cell phone & no cash & was out in the middle of nowhere.

So.....aside from the discussion about fuel tank capacity......what ELSE did we learn from that little incident ?? :poke2: :shocked: :biggrin:

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by Easy Rider

So.....aside from the discussion about fuel tank capacity......what ELSE did we learn from that little incident ?? :poke2: :shocked: :biggrin:

1) Take cell phone along

2) Make sure I have a little cash

ummm uhhh and make sure I have enough gas to start with!!!

and...

3) Put the tool kit back in so someone else might be able to do something 'cause I sure can't

4) Read up on, get educated about the most common causes for a break down so I feel more able to take care of things myself.

5) Be aware that "nice" roads can also mean that no one other human being may be closer than a couple of miles from me ( nobody passed by the whole time!! ) .

6) When my husband puts the gas can next to my bike, it may just mean he has a hunch. O_o

Mary :whistle:

[alanmcorcoran]

One last note: Gas mileage on GZ's can vary considerably, so be careful if you are going out into the boonies not to depend 100% on past history. Some of it has to do with highway/city, some with how fast you decide to go, but I also found the condition of the carburation/air/valves/emission sstem (basically the whole combustion part of it) can have a significant impact on gas mileage. When I first got the GZ, I could go 180-190 before hitting reserve. Then something went wrong with my carburator or valves or emisssions or god knows what and I started running out at 140 or so. (Was a big surprise the first time it happened!) After I got the problem fixed, the mileage went back up again.

[mrlmd1]

If it starts to sputter and die while you're riding and you think you're out of gas, you can reach down and switch it to reserve and not stall from lack of fuel. It'll get gas and keep going - very good when you can't pull off to the side of the road. Practice finding the valve without looking at it and know where it is when you are riding. Figure you have 40-50 miles to go before you completely run out, depending on how you ride.
To avoid being totally dead without fuel, like was said before, be sure you set it back to run when you fill up and reset the odometer so you have some idea of what's left for travel in the tank. Fill it every 150 miles and you will never have a problem running out.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

When my husband puts the gas can next to my bike, it may just mean he has a hunch. O_o

Minnesota.......where the husband's are all above average !!! :crackup