reserve switch

[sidwin]

so my bike usually goes about 80 miles before the fuel light comes on. today at 85 i saw the light begin to shine so i flip the switch to on. i feel the bike being hesitant and said perhaps i hit the switch too soon so i flipped it back to reserve then back to on. the throttle comes back to normal then about a mile down the road i feel the hesitation again. this time i'm going 35 mph and getting worried so i flip the switch back to reserve and then back to on. bike starts going again and i refill. I put 3.1 gallons in her and she's full the rim.

It almost felt like the switch wasn't properly working. Has anyone had that problem before? how should i go about about fixing it?

Thanks,
Sid

 

[Rusty McNeil]

If I'm reading your post correctly you run it in RESERVE all the time and put it to ON when you want reserve?

If so that is backwards....But not uncommon since the whole switch is labeled sorta weird

ON is the normal position, you move it to the left/RESERVE when you want to bypass the level switch and force the fuel pump back on........

I usually let mine start stuttering before I put it to reserve just to check the system and makes sure it's all working right, the reserve switch merely forces the fuel pump to come back on after the low level switch has cut it off, there really isn't a "reserve" of gas, the whole thing is just an early warning system designed to force you to notice your low on fuel. If you leave it in reserve all the time sooner or later you'll not notice the red light and then run it bone dry on the side of the road......

 

[gamorg02]

If I'm reading your post correctly you run it in RESERVE all the time and put it to ON when you want reserve?

If so that is backwards....But not uncommon since the whole switch is labeled sorta weird

ON is the normal position, you move it to the left/RESERVE when you want to bypass the level switch and force the fuel pump back on........

I usually let mine start stuttering before I put it to reserve just to check the system and makes sure it's all working right, the reserve switch merely forces the fuel pump to come back on after the low level switch has cut it off, there really isn't a "reserve" of gas, the whole thing is just an early warning system designed to force you to notice your low on fuel. If you leave it in reserve all the time sooner or later you'll not notice the red light and then run it bone dry on the side of the road......

i thought i was the only one who did that, let it start stumbling before i switched it, just to 'check'... haha great minds rusty!

 

[sidwin]

i guess i left it on reserve the last time i had to use it and forgot to switch it back to on.

and when it started stuttering on the interstate, i freaked out and flipped it over... i thought i was going to be pushing that whore to a gas station

 

[SpecOps13]

Sounds like something that would happen to me..

 

[Woody]

that's why you always reset the trip meter. that way you don't have to worry about a dummy light.

 

[dannymax]

I read a post once (think it was Busters) that said it doesn't matter where the switch is....ON or RES, when the engine stumbles just switch to the other position and it will automatically go to RESERVE mode.

I've never been in the position to verify this however. :confused2:

 

[dannymax]

Took a little searching but I found it....Post #18 in the following thread.

http://www.vmaxforum.net/showthread.php?t=4217&highlight=reserve+switch&page=2

#18

10-20-2008, 07:16 AM
Buster Hymen

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Re: The V-max fuel reserve (guage) explained.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lankeeyankee
Here it is simply put..

First I will explain left and right..
Hold both of your hands up in front of you arms extended palms away 4 fingers closed together and thumbs horizontal..
Which ever hand your thumb and index finger make the L thats going to be your left for future reference..

Fuel Switch Right
Low Fuel Indicator Comes on
Move fuel switch to your left, if you get confused and have to refer back to the hand trick I taught you, please pull over cause chances are you cant ride with no hands.
Once you established left and right set the fuel switch to the left. and look for gas within 30 miles.

Good Luck
Fuel switch reads 2 selections
ON
RES
I dont see how this confuses anyone but hopefully this will help..

Lefty Loosey
Righty Tighty
:clapping:

Actually it gets even simpler than that, it doesn't matter what position the switch is in. Switching it to the opposite position will re energize the fuel pump and you will be on your way. This isn't set up a as a "normal" reserve.

 

[Rusty McNeil]

If I am on Reserve, having switched there from "ON" when it started sputterring.......
Now it's running fine........
Then I switch it back to "ON" and after the fuel bowls run dry it starts sputtering again and runs out of gas.
UNLESS I put it back to reserve.....
After going back to reserve it's all good again.
I've repeated this process mulitiple times when on one "reserve session" guaging how far the fuel bowls will carry the bike.
In my experience it clearly does matter which position the switch is in, and the wiring diagram is pretty clear on that too

 

[tugla]

ya not too sure man :ummm: think it does matter. ive run the bike dry a few times pushing my luck and the times i did have it set correctly, running it on "on" then flip to res got me a little further. the times i forgot(first few rides of the year lol) had it on res the hole time, when the light comes on then i flip to the" on" it dies within a few hundred feet. back to res doesnt do too much as ive run her dry anyways. wire diagram should clear that up........maybe.

 

[Auggie_1970]

I had a similar experience that I had to keep cycling the switch from on to reserve in order to make it to the neares station. I then tore the switch open that weekend and cleaned it and used some electrical contact cleaner on it from Radio Shack and its been working fine now...knock on wood, shit now that I've said that I'm going to be stranded by the road now.

 

[alorio1]

I rode my bike 2 decades before I knew which way to position the switch:rofl_200:

 

[sidwin]

she was on reserve then starter sputtering, so i slid her to on.... 1 mile later started sputtering so i slid it left then right... made it another half a mile and sputter put gas in.

so even if u have it on reserve, she'll still sputter when fuel light comes on and u have to flip her to on then back to reserve for her to acknowledge and go on reserve.

thanks,
sid

 

[Rusty McNeil]

she was on reserve then starter sputtering, so i slid her to on.... 1 mile later started sputtering so i slid it left then right... made it another half a mile and sputter put gas in.

so even if u have it on reserve, she'll still sputter when fuel light comes on and u have to flip her to on then back to reserve for her to acknowledge and go on reserve.

thanks,
sid

That could make sense

 

[Redbone]

I believe my fuel switch works correctly, here is my full to empty tank procedure; once the tank is filled up I turn the lever to the right to "ON" and reset the odometer. After I have run through the main portion of fuel my red light starts flickering then goes solid red at which time the engine starts to sputter. I then need to flip the switch to the left to "RES" to get the engine to run normally again. If I move the lever back to "ON" the engine sputters and the engine would stall out if I left it there.

 

[VMAX NV]

I haven't had the bike that long and still freak out when it starts sputtering. Then I see the red light on, flip the switch and all is well...

 

[Rusty McNeil]

I believe my fuel switch works correctly, here is my full to empty tank procedure; once the tank is filled up I turn the lever to the right to "ON" and reset the odometer. After I have run through the main portion of fuel my red light starts flickering then goes solid red at which time the engine starts to sputter. I then need to flip the switch to the left to "RES" to get the engine to run normally again. If I move the lever back to "ON" the engine sputters and the engine would stall out if I left it there.

+1, Exactly

 

[sdt354]

+1, Exactly

+2. After ON RES and sputtering I'm walking soon after.
Steve-o