Ran out of gas - on the freeway!

[eddielo]

So I'm going NB on 101 Gilroy to San Jose when I notice the red light come on. Ok, it's telling me I'm low on gas. NOT! It suddenly stopped running and I put it in neutral and pulled over to the side, fortunately under an over pass for the shade as it was hot. Got off the bike and opened the gas cap and sure enough, it was dry. I put the valves on reserve and drove to the nearest station, which was *not* near. Filled up and continued.
So, what's the purpose of the low gas warning red light?

[WMarshy]

I think its kind of obvious... how many miles did you go before you recognized it was on? Once the light comes on just reach down and throw the petcocks on reserve and proceed to the nearest station. I wish my 79F had the light because then I would know if Im dipping into the reserve or not. As of now, I ride with them on prime and have the vac operated petcocks blocked off. When I ride the bike keeps running until its completely dry, no hiccup to let me know I need to switch to reserve. I have to watch my total miles and start looking for gas at 150-160 miles to be safe.

I know when I had reserve I had at least 3/4 of a gallon (about 30 miles give or take).

[Tat2demon]

Mine starts to run like crap when it gets low. Haven't run it dry yet.

[Prothec]

. . . So, what's the purpose of the low gas warning red light?

If you forget to switch your petcock(s) back to ON after filling up, the red light is your best friend.

[BA80]

That red light means switch to reserve and start hunting a gas station. Normally I can go about 20 miles on reserve...............unless your fighting a headwind.

I was coming back to Tulsa from Ivan's in Wichita 3 weeks ago and had just tuned off of I-35 onto OK-412 which is a tollway. No place to turn around and the next gas is 40 miles. I had about 50 - 60 miles on that tank so I figured I'd be OK. I neglected to take into account the wind.

As soon as I had passed the LAST gas station and gone about 5 miles, on came the light. Switched to reserve and slowed down trying to conserve fuel. Didn't work. I,m sitting bone dry in the middle of nowhere Oklahoma.

Luckily I was only about 10 miles from Maximan's place in Stillwater so after a few phone calls and about an hour I rounded him up and he brought me a gallon or so and I made it to the next station.

WHEW! Thanks Cody.

NEVER underestimate the power of wind!

[DGXSER]

The red light is controlled by the sensor in the tank,which responds to fuel level. I find their sensitivity "adjust" over the years, so the light may or may not come on at the fuel level it was intended to from the factory.

Yes, the red light means "Switch to reserve before your engine starts stumbling, And find fuel.....NOW!!!".

And keep in mind that PRIME is the same as having your petcock on RESERVE, only it bypasses the vacuum valve if you still have one. So, you may find your have no reserve when the engine starts stumbling. If you get your petcock components swapped around, left and right levers on the opposite sides body, ON is actually PRIME. Found that out on a lonely stretch of I-74 a few years ago riding with a fellow XSive. His bike ran dry, fortunately we could double up on mine to get fuel. Time we were done, we both needed fuel.

[Diskman01]

On my 78, a PO replaced my petcocks with some cheapo universals.. The tag is flipped on the valve so last year, I too ran out of gas. RUN was reserve. lolfail.

I gotta replace those anyways. They really are cheap ones...

Congrats on running out of gas tho! I have been a member of that club 2 times on my various bikes..

[BA80]

And keep in mind that PRIME is the same as having your petcock on RESERVE, only it bypasses the vacuum valve if you still have one.

Actually, prime is the same as on as far as reserve goes. The reserve will get the last half gallon or so left in the tank after it gets to low for the on or prime settings. I thought the same thing until I was just recently working on that green tank.

When I was trying to get it patched and putting fuel in it to test only the reserve position would let all the fuel drain back out.

[oldyam80sg]

I rode the bike to Florida back in 1993 with 2 pickup trucks with 20 gallon backups on each truck.I rode with a bunch of Harley guys,a BMW and me.They were also towing a trailer just in case someone broke down.The fuel light would come on constantly and then i would signal the pickups to stop and fuel me up.Made for an interesting trip as i had the smallest gas tank in the group.

[DGXSER]

Actually, prime is the same as on as far as reserve goes. The reserve will get the last half gallon or so left in the tank after it gets to low for the on or prime settings. I thought the same thing until I was just recently working on that green tank.

When I was trying to get it patched and putting fuel in it to test only the reserve position would let all the fuel drain back out.

Interesting, I purposely tested this on my first SH years ago, and confirmed that PRIME drained it dry. Even looked over the fuel path on the petcock to confirm PRIME and RESERVE feed from the same inlet hole, just to different outlet holes. On the Special petcocks anyway.

[BA80]

I just worked on mine a week ago. Maybe yours is different.

[Rasputin]

Prime will drain the tank the same as reserve. It just comes out different spigots on the petcock. I just did a test with my petcocks off the bike and the different ways one can blow thru it are different but each will drain it down to empty.

[BA80]

Try putting them on prime instead of reserve when you run out of gas.

[Rasputin]

Try priming your bike when it needs it with a low fuel condition. Works the same way.

[BA80]

I have....................