Triumphrat

Newbritrider · 03-30-2007, 10:59 AM

The past 3 days on the New Jersey shore have been great for riding. Let the fun begin.

I have a quick technical question about how the bonneville uses gas from the regular tank vs. the reserve tank.

If I fill up the gas tank, and only run the bike on the regular tank, will the reserve fuel become "old" after a while, or does all the gas mix together when you refill the tank. Probably a really stupid question but thought someone a little smarter than me might know.

Maybe I'm just paranoid but about 1 month after I bought my 2001 bonneville from a guy in PA, the carbs clogged and I had to spend about $650 to get it all fixed. Now I run fuel stabilizer all the time and never want to have that problem again.

Happy riding.

Loxpump · 03-30-2007, 11:06 AM

Only one tank and the gas is the same.

ohiorider · 03-30-2007, 11:12 AM

There aren't two separate tanks, therefore all the gas mixes together. The petcock has two fuel pickups. The normal position pickup sticks up higher into the fuel tank than the reserve pickup. When the fuel level goes below the normal pickup and the bike begins sputtering, by turning the lever to reserve, you're switching to the lower pickup, which, because it is positioned lower in the fuel tank, provides "reserve" fuel to the carbs. Summary - there is only one fuel tank on your bike.

Bob

russd01 · 03-30-2007, 11:13 AM

No it will not become "old". It is the same tank. When you switch to "reserve" what you are really doing is switching to a withdraw tube that sits lower in the same tank. Imagine your petcock as having two tubes that come up from the bottom of the tank. The main is longer, so it runs out of gas sooner when you gas level gets lower. When you switch to the reserve you are switching to the shorter tube that sits lower in the tank and therefore still has gas.

Hope that helped.

- David

russd01 · 03-30-2007, 11:14 AM

Hmm.. I guess I don't type fast enough. Ohio beat me to it

SpeedyPete · 03-30-2007, 12:00 PM

Quote:

On 2007-03-30 09:14, russd01 wrote:
Hmm.. I guess I don't type fast enough. Ohio beat me to it

That's OK Russ - you still had the right answer. Good work and gold stars all around.

Newbrit - save the stabilizer for next winter, you don't want that gunk messing with the oil on the cylinder walls. That would be worse than a carb clean. Now get back to the boardwalk will ya!!!

P

KingBear · 03-30-2007, 12:21 PM

Biggest problem - runs out too soon

Newbies, be sure to reset your trip odometer every time you fill up. You should hit reserve around 130-145 miles.

Olderyoungster · 03-30-2007, 12:24 PM

It might make ya feel better.....
- if -
you go out and buy some Seafoam (marine) additive and add about four ounces to a FULL tank of gas. Run her out, run her hard a few times, run her about 15 miles beyond switching over to reserve.

(I do this to everything I own about every 2,000 miles. It just..... makes me feel better.)

lindsayt · 03-30-2007, 12:37 PM

Quote:

On 2007-03-30 10:21, KingBear wrote:
Biggest problem - runs out too soon

Newbies, be sure to reset your trip odometer every time you fill up. You should hit reserve around 130-145 miles.

Right. When I'm going on nice, long rides I get 130-145. But in town I get maybe 100. I've been shocked at what a difference there is between in-town and country-cruising mileage. Course, I live in the urban core and spend a lot of time doing the stop-and-go thing, and my commute is really short so I spend as much time warming up the bike as riding it on my daily commute. Still, 100 miles to reserve is annoying.

I only have 1500 miles right now - I'm hoping that with more miles the mileage will get better in town.

MAR · 03-30-2007, 01:18 PM

I always get about 105 miles before I go to reserve regardless of the type of riding it is. Yes this is annoying!! I usually avoid going to reserve altogether. I read on another post that it runs empty after about 15 miles because there is only one peacock and there is fuel left on the other side of the tank.
Anyone else experience this?