Getting that last gallon of gas, /7

[melville]

I had a curious experience today. I flipped to reserve on the way up Siskiyou Summit northbound, and I would expect about 50 to 60 miles on reserve on this bike (Edgar, the R100/7 from my Idiot thread).

10 miles later I'm over the top and headed down the 7% grade, about 10 miles away from refueling. And it starved out! I probably stuck with trying to see if it would keep going a bit too long, as I was only going 55ish when I gave up and pulled the clutch lever to coast down the hill. Big trucks go down this slope at 40ish if they're loaded. Civilians in cars go about 70. So I was kinda between speeds but managed to find a safe space in which to coast down to the first exit. I was planning to call my son to rescue me with some gas, but once I was on the flat and off I-5 I hit the starter and after a couple tries it fired right up!!!

I made it to the gas station a couple miles away and the bike barely took 5 gallons, and that was stuffing it. In the past I've put as much as 5.8 gallons in at a fill with none of the drama I had today. What can I do to fix this? Never go over the pass on Reserve? Shorten the Reserve straws? I'm happy to hear any and all suggestions.

[gspd]

In the top pic the gas level is over the pickup straw
In the lower pic I just rotated the tank 7 degrees forward.
The fuel level stays horizontal regardless of the tank angle.
Look where your .8 reserve supply ended up.
The solution: turn around and go back up the hill
I suppose if it was a life and death situation you could pull the front of the tank out of its support and prop it up with something like a piece of wood or a scrunched up T-shirt and continue downhill.

[Rob Frankham]

In the top pic the gas level is over the pickup straw
In the lower pic I just rotated the tank 7 degrees forward.
The fuel level stays horizontal regardless of the tank angle.
Look where your .8 reserve supply ended up.
The solution: turn around and go back up the hill
I suppose if it was a life and death situation you could pull the front of the tank out of its support and prop it up with something like a piece of wood or a scrunched up T-shirt and continue downhill.

Absolutely right. The only viable solution is to avoid running on reserve when there's any doubt about the nearest petrol station. When I lived in the South of England, where petrol stations are plentiful, I would happily run onto reserve in the sure knowledge that there was a fill up nearby. Moving to rural Scotland where fuel stations are few and far apart, I try not to run more than 150 miles (UK) before filling.

Rob

[Kurt in S.A.]

Take the tank off and tilt it so that the remnants on one side of the saddle are combined with the other. Now you'll have enough gas above the reserve straw to make it a little farther down the road.

Kurt