Extra petrol

[skelstar]

I have a 17l tank, and my bike has a fuel gauge (no reserve). Yeah, it has a great range consequently, but my paranoia has a shorter range .

[MSTRS:Me]

I have a 17l tank, and my bike has a fuel gauge (no reserve). Yeah, it has a great range consequently, but my paranoia has a shorter range .

500 odd ks & you are worrying??? Sheesh.

[zadok]

I have a 17l tank, and my bike has a fuel gauge (no reserve). Yeah, it has a great range consequently, but my paranoia has a shorter range .

No reserve. That's unheard of. It isn't a seperate tank if that is what you think. It is all part of the main. There will be a tap for you to change it to 'reserve' for sure.
My guess is you will get about 400km on a tank easily.

[Str8 Jacket]

I have a 17l tank, and my bike has a fuel gauge (no reserve). Yeah, it has a great range consequently, but my paranoia has a shorter range .

No reserve?!! Are you sure? . . . .

[Motu]

Back in the good old days there were pumps at every small town,the local store had them out front.I rode all the back roads I ride now,but they were even backer back roads then,my bike had a 7 litre tank and I never ran out of gas.

Now the oil companies are plucking the pumps from every small station,all the small back country towns are ghost towns....no Post Office,Telecom,Power Board,Railways - and no pumps! If you travel the main roads you are OK,but if you like to wander in the out of the way places fuel becomes a big issue,that's why adventure bikes have bigger tanks than trail bikes.

[vifferman]

No reserve. That's unheard of. It isn't a seperate tank if that is what you think. It is all part of the main. There will be a tap for you to change it to 'reserve' for sure.

No, it's not unheard of, and there may well be no reserve position.
The "reserve" is, in any case, just a shorter pipe on the intake to the fuel tap, so when the fuel gets to the top of the longer pipe for the "On" or "main" position, the bike splutters, and switching to "Reserve" allows the last few litres (and assorted crap) from the bottom of the tank to be used.
Many bikes nowadays have a tap only for turning supply off when the tank needs to be removed for maintenance, and this tap isn't even accessible except if the tank is lifted.
My last bike had no reserve, no fuel gauge, just a RedLightOfDoom (actually the Reddish LED of Warning and Admonishment). So, I had to use the odometer as a fuel monitor, and the RLOD/RLWA was secondary reminder, which I ignored anyway. This once resulted in me having to push the bike a couple of kms, where due to the remarkably sucky nature of the v-twin engine, it had made negative fuel - the tank took 0.3 litres more than its capacity.

[Blackbird]

You can actually get small fuel cells for extra range, but I don't know much about them except that they have greater safety features than conventional containers. I've seen them mentioned on the Iron Butt Association website: http://www.ironbutt.com/about/default.cfm . These are the US-based endurance riders.

I'm with the other guys though - after 300 km or so, it's nice to get off the bike for 10 mins and gas up to repair the wear and tear on the body.

Have a go at the Grand Challenge 1000 miles in under 24 hours ride in October. That will teach you a lot about range and what your body will take, haha

[zadok]

No, it's not unheard of, and there may well be no reserve position.

Well, you live and learn. Must be rare but.

[skelstar]

No reserve?!! Are you sure? . . . .

Pretty sure. I realise its not a separate tank, but Im guessing that if I have a gauge then I dont need a reserve tank. Just like a cage.

[Beemer]

My Beemer doesn't have a reserve tap - it's fuel injected and a light comes on when you are getting low - it has a 15L tank and the light comes on when it gets down to four litres. On the economy run our club has every year it wins hands down, did 31kpl last year and about 28 this year (but my husband was riding it this year...). The Goose also has a 15L tank, with 3.4L in reserve - it did about 24kpl on the economy run, but it isn't fully run in yet so I expect that to get better.

If you have a range of about 450kms on a tank, I wouldn't worry too much - there is bound to be a service station within that distance! I usually fill mine up every time I head home from a ride, that way I know it has got plenty of petrol when I head out and I don't have to stop. I zero the odometer and tend to fill up about every 300kms so I never run out.

[vifferman]

Pretty sure. I realise its not a separate tank, but Im guessing that if I have a gauge then I dont need a reserve tank. Just like a cage.

I think that's the philosophy behind it. With older bikes, there was no fuel gauge, so the bike spluttering as the fuel level reached the top of the main feeder pipe gave you advance warning that your fuel was getting low.
I suspect most of the current bikes that still have fuel taps with a reserve position are models that have been around a long time with only minor upgrades over the years.

[Eurygnomes]

Can you switch from ON to RESERVE while riding? It's happened to me twice now (that I"ve felt the sputtering) and both times I've not known whether to pull over. I coudl check my manual...but that's at home and I'm not (more's the pity) right now.

[vifferman]

Can you switch from ON to RESERVE while riding?

You may actually need to do it while riding, especially if you're on the motorway. Good idea to practice doing it while sitting on the bike, even if it's not going. Otherwise you may find you switch it to "Off" instead of "RES".
Can be a bit dodgy though (depending on where the tap is) - can look like you're playing with yourself while riding along, especially if the easiest way to reach the tap is between your legs!

The VFR750 had a big knob thingo (technical term) on the lefthand fairing, connected to the tap via two cables (push and pull). Made it easy to see what you were doing.

[Lou Girardin]

There's bit of a gap in fuel stops between Lake Dunstan and Tekapo. Being on reserve for 30 odd k's and no town in sight is a worry.

[Ixion]

Can you switch from ON to RESERVE while riding? It's happened to me twice now (that I"ve felt the sputtering) and both times I've not known whether to pull over. I coudl check my manual...but that's at home and I'm not (more's the pity) right now.

I always switch on the move, always have. Just wait till it splutters, most don't just stop dead suddenly. Reach down and switch over (or turn the other tap on it you have the two tap system - I prefer that one m'self)

It's a pain that bikes have such small tanks. There is no reason why most bikes could not have a 10 gallon tank, especially the ones that have fuel pumps anyway. There are a lot of places in NZ where fuel stops (OPEN fuel stops) are more than 200km apart.Bloody fuel company oligopoly, pulling all the tanks out of the general stores . hate them