Virago fuel pump

[copracr]

My wife rides a 96 virago 535 and her fuel pump went out. I verified power and ground to the pump so I know its toast now. THe replacement part is way expensive so I was wondering why it needs a fuel pump at all? The tank outlet appears higher than the carb inlets so why shouldnt it work as a gravity feed? My 1100 pulls way more power/fuel than her little 535 using just gravity so should I try it?

[FJ111200]

I would mate. I ran my FJ1200 without a pump when it packed up and had no problems. I reckon half the time the manufacturers do things because they can. I suppose it cuts down on fuel leakage, but hey we live with that on our XS's.

[rpgoerlich]

Those carbs lay on their sides. Only thing I can think of is on high demand they might run low on fuel as they don't have large float bowls.

If you try to run with out the pump, make sure you block off the return line so you don't have fuel leaking when it's sloshing around in the tank.

[FJ111200]

Only thing I can think of is on high demand they might run low on fuel as they don't have large float bowls.

Then you could run the fuel tap in the PRIME position.

[rpgoerlich]

Have you tried to used the reserve switch on the handlebar to turn the pump back on? It's used to get you to the station when fuel level drops below the sensor.
You might check the sensor in the tank if it turns on and you have a full tank.

[LoHo]

Some Viragos had a pump that circulated the gas back to the tank due to vapor lock issues with the carbs caught between two hot cylinders. I have an XV500 with a simple vacuum-driven fuel pump and a complex double nipple petcock that recirculated the gas back to the tank.

[copracr]

Tthanks for the help guys. I routed the fuel line to the carbs and blocked off the returns. It starts and runs but i haven't got a good test drive on it to see what happens. Its 30 degrees outside so i'm not going fast any time soon.