Triumph Rat Motorcycle Forums banner

Ran Out of Fuel

3K views 23 replies 13 participants last post by  NorthernThrux 
#1 ·
couple of weeks ago riding along with the fuel cock switched over to reserve and I ran out of gas.

my own fault, I knew I was pushing things but I miscalculated.
any way managed to roll to a safe spot and pushed the bike another 50 yards to a nearby park.

had in my mind that it would be no problem as all I have to do is lay the bike over to the left and slosh the remaining fuel that is trapped in the right side of the fuel tank pocket

well nothing happened. except for nearly getting a hernia.
the tank was bone dry. zip, nothing, not a drop. had the bike right over onto its pegs. seems that all the fuel on the right side gets syphoned over to left side some how. damn.

end up walking about a mile and a half to a service station then back. by the time I got back was in a sweat and had a roaring stitch, so not much fun

I have heard of some saying that you can slosh fuel over from the right side, but now I reckon thats a load of crap.

is the tank designed in such a way that all fuel is consumed?
 
See less See more
#4 ·
I ran out of gas (I, too, miscalculated) on my 2010 Bonneville T100. The fuel pickup is on the right side (when facing forward). I leaned the bike to the right side to get all possible fuel on the left side over to the pickup. It got me another 5 miles or so, but alas, about 4 miles short of a gas station. I did the same trick on my '71 Honda CB750K1 back in '73, only the fuel tap was on its left side (when facing forward). The two events were 38 years apart.
 
#7 ·
funny thing though, where I left the bike was a young girl in a Hyundai who had ran out of petrol too. I got her to fend off the dingos with a big stick while I was away getting fuel for both of us. :)

The carb'd bikes have a small rectangular well in the tank and the petcock is located in the bottom of that well. And fuel can freely move from side to side because there is no internal ridge at the rear of the tank.

So when you're dry, you're dry and there's no escaping the dingos !
that makes sense. as you say fuel can move freely from one side to the other. sounds like a myth that you can slosh fuel from one side to the other. this myth is busted!
 
#6 ·
The carb'd bikes have a small rectangular well in the tank and the petcock is located in the bottom of that well. And fuel can freely move from side to side because there is no internal ridge at the rear of the tank.

So when you're dry, you're dry and there's no escaping the dingos !
 
#12 ·
That can only work on these bikes if you happened to be going down hill or if you have replaced your front tire or rear shock such that the bike was tilted forward. Otherwise the way the tank is built, you have a clear passage between the sides at the back of the tank.

I should say my bike had the tank sightly tilted to the right for some reason. I had to bend the rear mounting tab to even it out.
 
#10 ·
it had done 295 Kilometers. not sure how much it took as I filled up a 5 litre container, shared half with the girl who was also stranded then rode about 10 kilometers before I filled up again

once did 299 kilometers and the fill up took exactly 16 litres. must have been on the verge of running out back then as it has a 16.6 litre tank
 
#14 ·
Not many dingoes in the south of Aus less you go to the Zoo. Mind a Roo will make a mess of most things. So back to the story sure i am not the only one wants to hear about the sheila in the Hyundai!!!!:D
looking back, it was very funny.

I could see her in the distance standing besides her car as I was pushing my bike along the side of the road. she looked a little distressed so we obviously struck up a conversation and realised we were both in the same predicament. apparently she ran out of fuel a couple of minutes before me and happened to roll to a stop there.
she looked about 18 and only had her car and licence for a couple of weeks and didnt understand that when the gauge reads empty that means time to fill up, same as I didnt realise when on reserve better fill up

it was an urban area along the Yarra Boulevard for any one who knows Melbourne, so no dingos, kangaroos or anything like that but there were lots of fitness fanatic joggers, and push bike riders around. not one offered to help or anything. I think they considered us a nuisance for blocking their path

she was a uni student from out of town and didnt know the area so I offered to walk to the nearest service station. luckily she had a container in the boot. I suppose she thought I looked like a trusting fatherly figure to her.

once got back we shared the fuel and I told here where the service station was. she went in one direction and I went the other way and filled up about 10 kilometers distant. I had an appointment and was an hour late and that was that
 
#13 ·
Interesting thread. I have 'run out' of fuel in my '10 Thruxton twice. In the first case I was able to coast downhill to the fuel place, but it only took 14.5 litres to fill; there was audible sloshing from what was left in the tank before I filled up, so obviously the fuel pick-up is higher than the lowest point in the tank. The second time I was forced to do the 'slosh over' trick..... and I assumed that the internal fuel pick-up was on the left, so leaned the bike over to left. This enabled me to limp the 15km in to town.

But if the pick-up in the tank is on the right, maybe I should have sloshed to the right....???

PS. The bike is pretty consistent on when I need to start worrying about fuel. Both times I had done close to 290km.
 
#16 ·
Bonza - lovely little urban ride the yarra boulevard. Slight shame about the speed limit being 50!!

I'm envious of your economy - riding mosty city, I'm switching to reserve at about 150ks - and haven't ever pushed much past the closest fill. Haven't done a lot of 100+ trips that weren't 'spirited' yet so I have no idea of a hume freeway type range.

Anyone know how much fuel we have left once you've switched to reserve (I don't have a book)

RIch
 
#17 ·
Anyone know how much fuel we have left once you've switched to reserve (I don't have a book)

RIch
I'm not sure exactly how much fuel, but I was riding on a freeway about 85-90mph. I hit the reserve near a small town, but figured I was pretty close to yet another small town closer to where I was headed so I would push it...As I was coming to the exit that I'd planned to stop and fill up at, I made the fatefull decision to try and make it to the following exit a few miles further, which was the one I would take anyways. Of course after I was literally 100 yards past the exit, I ran out of fuel. Almost exactly 30 miles (48.2 kilometers) from the time I'd hit the reserve. I had to leave my bike on the shoulder of the freeway with cars and trucks buzzing by at 75mph. The station owner wouldn't lend me a jerry can, so I had to buy one, walk to the bike and put some fuel in, then walk back and leave the can with owner (didn't have a cargo net or any straps w/ me at the time). Since I couldn't carry the can with me, I gave it back to the owner and asked him if he'd keep it as a "loaner" for others in my situation.

Since then, I have always made my way to a filling station as soon as I switch over to the reserve - Lesson learned (the hard way) :).
 
#18 ·
I ran out of gas in the same place several times, just after leaving work, on the Kansas turnpike with my old xs650. twice I laid it over and sloshed enough to get me to a station, then it squit working that way and was bone dry. I found that the plastic "stick" in the tank where it picks up the main or reserve had disapeared.
I have also done the laying it over trick on my 06 Bonnie. worked well enough to get to a station.
Dont know why it didnt for you.
Cliff
 
#22 ·
Mileage!

I tend to get about 225k before spluter have had it as low as 208k i once went 275k but i was not to happy about the situation have yet to run out!
Northern Thrux. There are a few places around in Melbourne that hire bikes. I suggest that you need to ride the great ocean road (probably the best bike road in the world) and the otways. May is good because all the tourist have gone with there bloody camper vans and there are less police!
I suggest also that if you want a blue pick on a dingo as an oka Aussie sheila can be a handful and thats fair dinkum!;)
 
#24 ·
Northern Thrux. There are a few places around in Melbourne that hire bikes. I suggest that you need to ride the great ocean road (probably the best bike road in the world) and the otways. May is good because all the tourist have gone with there bloody camper vans and there are less police!
I suggest also that if you want a blue pick on a dingo as an oka Aussie sheila can be a handful and thats fair dinkum!;)
Thanks for that route recommendation mate. Will definitely do it. As for the sheila, I'm bringing my own ball and chain ;)
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top