fuel petcock question

[650mark]

my '80 xs1100sg special has two fuel petcocks and the original"octopus". all works just fine but i want to know if, when the bike gets low on fuel and i have to go to reserve, do i have to turn both petcocks to reserve? also my tach has a fuel light, is it supposed to illuminate when the level gets low?

[jwhughes3]

Yes and yes.

The tunnel in tank prevents one side from draining all the way so you lose out on that capacity otherwise.

The light should come on with about a half to 3/4 gallon to go.


John

[650mark]

thanks for the info john. i bought this bike about 3 months ago but haven't been able to ride it while waiting on a new stator that just arrived yesterday. went for a ride this morning before it gets too hot(it will be 113-115 here in phoenix today) and i'm really impressed with the power this thing has. next question: the bike runs like new but the shifting is a little "cluncky". bike has 13,600 original miles and all new fluids and i noticed that if i kinda pre-load the shift lever just before i shift it works a lot more smoothly. is this normal for this bike? will full synthetic oil make it shift better? thanks

[ViperRon]

Some synthetic oils have been known to cause clutch slip and you don't want that. There are several threads here recomending certian oils and explaining the oil specifications. Do a search on oil it will give you a novel of information. The transmission on these bikes are known for their cluncky operation it is the nature of the bike.

[CatatonicBug]

The famous quote is that these bikes "shift like a Russian tractor". If you're more familiar with newer bikes, the XS will definitely feel "clunky". You do need to shift with conviction, but as long as its not jumping out of gear, everything sounds normal.