Bloody fuel gauges

[ynot slow]

went to work yesterday,fuel said in red no movement at work,went to come home gas station accross road.checked gauge still above empty,will get home.about 5k down road splutter fart stop.turn fuel to reserve no go,checked tank yep little bit in it.wait couple minutes,check tap on res,lean bike over bit to compensate for road incline,no go.phone she who must be obeyed,bring petrol please,put gear on again,flick lever to prim and voila starts,flick to reserve ride into next town(3km),phone home say don't come,fill up and on way.talk about annoyed.obviously when riding and getting power surge i couldn't turn fueltap over to reserve fast enough,thought prim was for priming fuel,seemed to work,next time i'll fill the bugger before it gets low lol.oh well you learn.

[Daza]

Your bike has a fuel gauge?

I thought no bike had em fuel gauges (well except them Goldwings maybe??)
i know some bikes have a low fuel warning light. (Although mine doesn't even have that! would be nice.)

So how quickly does the bike run out of fuel before you can switch it over to reserve in time while riding?

So how does the fuel tank/ reserve actuall work? Is it one fuel tank with two fuel lines, being one upper and one lower? Or is there a lower compartment in the fuel tank?

[scumdog]

Your bike has a fuel gauge?

I thought no bike had em fuel gauges (well except them Goldwings maybe??)
i know some bikes have a low fuel warning light. (Although mine doesn't even have that! would be nice.)

Got one on one of my bikes, seems to work ok although it takes ages (210km) to go down to 1/2 tank then 80km later it drops to 1/4

[Disco Dan]

Got one on one of my bikes, seems to work ok although it takes ages (210km) to go down to 1/2 tank then 80km later it drops to 1/4

yes they are not very reliable devices on bikes....

mines sit on full then will suddenly drop to half way, then sit on the red.

I have worked out though that the more I ride, the faster the gauge moves...

FYI - There is two fuel pipes, one is longer than the other. The shorter one is your standard fuel line and the longer one is your reserve. Usually 2-3 litres.

- I would not advise using your reserve if you can help it... prone to sucking up bits of rust and muck and 'blocking things up'. Depends on your bikes age etc though...

[Kickaha]

Your bike has a fuel gauge?

I thought no bike had em fuel gauges (well except them Goldwings maybe??)
i know some bikes have a low fuel warning light

My bike has one and it was made in 1981, it is also reasonably accurate although I tend to use the trip meter each fill rather than rely on the guage