low on fuel....just gotta know what you have and what your bike uses...always check before a ride...and the best thing to do is fill up, reset trip, and ride, and keep an eye on the fuel....when it looks too low, look at ur trip...thats your safe point...

your reserve just pulls from a lower part of the tank.

 

The above is a good, non-silly answer to your question. I would just reset the trip counter when I filled and then I knew I had about 150 miles until I was hitting the reserve. Your miles will be different. It is just something you get to know as you ride more.

 

Ahhhh- you're from South Carolina. That explains it! How about LOOK IN THE TANK! (OK- you know I'm just sticking a finger in your ribs) That's it, though. If you can't see, throw a lighted match in there and you'll find out how much gas is left. (Oh dear- I can't stop myself... Do not do that. don't even hold a cigarette.)
Use a flashlight if you have to, or use the Old School slosh test. Shake the bike from side to side and listen.
Assuming you carry at least 2 gallons of gas and get around 50mpg, check your odometer when you fill up and assume you can go 100 miles.

The petcock has 2 tubes, side-by-side inside the tank. When running while "ON", the longer tube is getting the gas. When the level drops too low for that tube, you switch to "Reserve", which is the shorter tube.
If you still run out of gas, lower the bike way over to the left side. There's usually a little gas left in the right side, and you'll slosh enough over to the left to get you another 10 miles or so.
If your bike uses a fuel pump- forget that last paragraph.

 

Dude. If you look in...dont see gas...its time to refill. Its not that difficult(for us northerners)

 

Well that is something you have to learn to gauge on your own....but it may take running out of fuel and using your reserve once or twice to find out how many miles you can get out of one tank. Kind of estimate how much your tank holds and the number of miles approx your book says you can get per gallon, when you get close to that amount (you can actually stop and swish the gas back and fourth to hear how much is in the tank). Always zero out your trip counter at each fill up.

Remember the gas mileage will be different at 50mph than highway at 65-70mph...I just automatically stop at a certain amount of miles because sometimes gas stations are not as plentiful in certain areas....I would rather top off at a parkway rather than worry about where the next station will appear.

Your book will tell you about how much you will get with a reserve, when you actually run out of gas and stall, stop and turn the petcock and it will usually get you to a station.

 

Carry a string with a washer through it and dip it in and see how far the gas goes up the string .

 

If I have to reach down to switch it over to the reserve, I know it's time to spend another $10 on gas.

 

How do you know if you're running low?

"Bwwwaaaaaa...Bwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwww........"

 

Well on my bike I have a fuel gauge, and if I ignore that I have a low fuel light, if I ignore that... I am pushing a half ton Harley lol. Different bikes have different set-ups. If you have a petcock with off, on, and reserve run it until you have to switch to reserve then hit the next gas station. If you have a trip meter, reset mileage after every fill up and you'll know how far you can go before your pushing.

 

Nothing happens

You WILL learn what your bikes sounds like when it runs out of gas! Your bike will start to sputter and then start to slow down. This is when you should have reached under the fuel tank and flip it over to "RES" or reserve. Hopefully you have not bee riding with it in reserve.

Don't plan on any long trips until you get an idea of how far you can travel on your bike before your switch over to reserve.

I start looking for a gas station right after I flip mine over. I have run out of gas trying to get that last two miles out of my tank. When I take a trip I keep an eye on my trip odometer and my map. If there is not going to be a town around the time I would be flipping over I will stop and get tanked-up.

 

Those are valid questions, everyone here was a newbie at one time or other; hopefully some of these posters had someone more patient to answer their questions than they have been.

Like a few of the good reply posts have said, reset your trip meter at each fill up. I have gauges on my bikes but I trust the trip meter more than the guages. Get used to what your average mileage is and go by that.

Another repeat, be certain to NOT run the bike on reserve until you need to. If you ride on reserve and the bike sputters....you'll be pushing the bike.

Good luck, ride safe, and don't hesitate to ask...we are all still learning. :thumbsup:

 

resetting your trip is the most popular answer from surfing the net. I just got my first bike the other day, started looking at my car (I'm junking it) and I'm just gonna take the dip stick from my cars transmission fluid thing and carry that with me until I know exactly how far my bike can go on a full tank. I'm still wondering why I have yet to see anyone else say to do that.

 

Probably wasn't mentioned because it is totally unnecessary.
The washer on a string would be more convenient, but just do the odometer thing and use the reserve if you need to. That's why it's there.

 

Dipstick. Washer on string. Both kinda stupid if you ask me. If you can't see the fuel and are using ways to measure....JUST FILL UP!!!

It's not rocket science people.

What's next?? Cutting a slit down the side of the tank and putting a site glass in to see the actual level??

 

What's next?? Cutting a slit down the side of the tank and putting a site glass in to see the actual level??

Actually, that sounds pretty cool to me, but I imagine it wouldn't be all that workable of an idea.

I think I like the way I do it best. the slosh trick, or, when i am riding, if it sputters and have to flip to reserve. They both work well enough for me.

 

The dip stick will work well... if the bottom of your tank is flat and level. However, most motorcycle gas tanks are much lower in the back than in the front where the filler tube is. If you probe with a dip stick or string and washer in the filler tube at the front of the tank you will not get a correct reading of what is in the tank. In fact, you could touch the bottom of the tank and find no gas at all... but there could still be more than 2 gallons at the lower back end. On most gas tanks with a reserve, the tank is designed to still have about a gallon of gas when you have to switch to the reserve. This gives you 40-60 miles depending on your MPG and how much reserve the tank has. The best way is to look up how much gas your tank holds. Fill it full and check your odometer. Go 100 miles then fill full again and calculate your MPG. Then multiply your MPG by how many gallons your tank holds. Leave a safety margin, and you will always know how far you can go. Whenever you get fuel, always fill it and reset the trip meter, and check your petcock to make sure it is in the on position and not reserve. You will always know how far you can go, and have the reserve for emergencies.

On a side note: not all gas gives exactly the same MPG, bio fuel, methanol, and other additives will effect mileage. In addition, riding habits (racing, high rpm, or babying it) and conditions will also greatly effect MPG.

If your really worried about running out of gas, they make portable fuel containers and fuel cells for motorcycles. Pick one up and carry extra gas if it gives you peace of mind. Worrying about something all the time on the bike takes the fun out of riding it.

Ride safe, ride fun

 

I was just asking a couple of Qs

 

And you received several answers.
Some of them rather smart a$$ed, but overall the questions seemed to be pretty well covered.
6 months to a year from now, you will look back at your question and laugh.