Empty Fuel, But Not Empty

[poanoi]

This is disturbing, i got a Virago and when i have around 3 liters left,

the engine no longer works, it doesn't get the frickin fuel.

How do i fix this thing so it keep drinking until actually empty, as in dry ?

[necronx99]

Have never looked at a virago but bikes typically have a 3 way fuel switch

Down is "on main", horizontal is "off" and up is "reserve", the last 2 or 3 liters in the tank.

If you make a habit of riding into the reserve you typically get stuck sooner or later.

[VocalNeal]

1100?

There is 3 litres left in the tank after you actually run out of fuel or there is 3 litres left after the low fuel light comes on?

When the low fuel light comes on the bike will continue to run but not 100%. This is your signal to press the reserve button on the handle bar. This turns the full pump back to normal until you actually run out.

Maybe you reserve button is not working or something else is wrong with the fuel pump system.

http://www.drpiston.com/fuel_systems.html

Edited June 16, 2012 by VocalNeal

[poanoi]

Yes 1100,

and yes, something has been wrong with that button for years,

but i always had plenty of time after the light came on to find a gasoline station.

But no longer, now i got 400 meters from light come on until engine die,

tho i still got 3 liters or more left.

I used to leave it at reserve, now i dont really remember what is what on that tiny electric switch that doesnt work anyway

Edited June 16, 2012 by poanoi

[poanoi]

@VocalNiel: I think you might be right: Upon a closer inspection, the switch was OFF.

not easy to tell when most of the paint of the letters are gone

[VocalNeal]

Maybe best not to leave it on and use the 3 litres as back up? Same goes for the 3-way petcocks. I for one have run out completely because the petcock was on reserve instead of "On". Luckily that was at rush hour and a fellow employee spotted me, went to a gas station and came back with 1/12 litres of fuel in a coke bottle

Edited June 17, 2012 by VocalNeal

[billd766]

My Virago 535 has a problem in that when I switch over to reserve more often than not it doesn't switch over.

Unlucky for me I don't have a low fuel light and around 125 km on the odo trip meter I am looking to fill the tank.

Both fuel tanks (top and bottom) have a total capacity of 13.5 litres which includes 2.5 litres as a reserve.

Cruising around 120kph I average about 16 kpl and the furthest I traveled was about 165 km and by then I was down to looking at Lao Cao for fuel if I couldn't find a gas station.