reserve fuel switch?

[kimble]

Out on bike and bike stopped as in it thought it had no fuel (fuel light on).I checked and there was some fuel in the tank but could not find how to get it on reserve?Anyone got the answer,any bike iv'e had before had a fuel tap to turn to reserve but nil on my vmax.

 

[Mr. Max]

Put your hand on throttle and extend your thumb to the left, switch is right there

 

[DMAN999]

^ Exactly !

 

[Redbone]

The switch operates like this:

-> tank full of fuel = switch to the "ON" side

-> tank low on fuel/ red fuel light on = switch to the "RES" side

A good habit to get into is resetting your odometer to "0000"and turning the switch to "ON" while filling the tank.
The bike will begin to stumble the same time the red fuel light comes on, this is when you should switch it from "ON" to "RES".
If you leave it in "RES" and don't notice the red light when the bike stalls, your walking. I use 20 miles as my limit of how far reserve will take me.

 

[kimble]

OK now i know where it is,I never thought of looking there as any other bike iv'e had that was the lights on/off.I should have realised that it being an import to UK that has lights on all time there was no lights on/off. So thanks for pointing it out to me folks.

 

[D-Max2012]

I don't know if anyone explained how that works to you. You don't actually have a separate reserve area inside your fuel tank. There is a fuel pickup unit inside the tank. When the fuel get to a low level, it send a signal to a control unit to disable the fuel pump (causing the bike to stumble and die out). It also send a signal to illuminate the low fuel lamp on the dash panel. When you flip that switch, it re-enables the fuel pump. That's why Redbone stated "If you leave it in "RES" and don't notice the red light when the bike stalls, your walking.". if that happens, you'd be completely dry.

 

[MaxMidnight]

Not wishing to sound cheeky but if all else has failed then there is always the owners manual to fall back on.

If you don't have one then it's available here.

 

[kimble]

Not wishing to sound cheeky but if all else has failed then there is always the owners manual to fall back on.

If you don't have one then it's available here.

No i didn't have one and the haynes manual was useless.The owners manual explains it all.Thanks again.

 

[Mr. Max]

Have to say, that when I was on my first rides with my max it first scared me half death with oil-light in hard acceleration (that is normal, tells you that your boost is working..) and then it died on the side of the road.. I thought that I had just blown my savings for nothing, and then I found that reserve switch. Boy I was happy that it fired right up and oil light wasn't glowing.

 

[antiquedave]

I take it that its not a problem for the oil light to come on sometimes ?
I have a sidecar on mine and the oil light comes on if im pushing though the corners !
It is just a level indicator but still a bit disconcerting !

 

[MaxMidnight]

As you say, it is a level indicator mounted towards the front of the sump. As a result during hard acceleration (or hard cornering with a chair?) it will often flicker.

Only worry if it lights up on a strait at constant speed.