Bike shut off coming home
 

I was riding home last night, when my bike started loosing power and sputtering a little. I just swapped in a Suzuki R/R so i thought that went bad and my battery was dying. Only a few miles from home so trying to make it, then going through a small town it dies completely, i turn around and drift down to a gas station, checking battery, R/R feels not too hot.

Then I switch my odometer to "Trip" and see that I'm at 155 miles!!! well theres my problem I was out of gas....lucky me I died at a gas station!

Now my question is how did I run out of gas but my warning light never came on? I've never had the tank off so i don't know which side the sensor is on.

Not one word of a lie I ran out of gas on my way to work this morning, had to push my bike just under a mile to the closest station, what a pain in the ass! That's weird your light didn't come on, perhaps your float is stuck or you have some frayed wires. I just upgraded to a digital gauge and left out one important LED...the gas one! lol Start by checking the wire connections from each end of the circuit. The fuel gauge processing board is located underneath the tachometer in the cluster (you can access from the back), check from there to the tank.

look in the little cluster of elect connectors under the seat directly behind the tank covered in a clear plastic sack. The plug for the reserve sensor may have come disconnected. There are couple of tests you can perform, but I had to replace mine. Discipline yourself to reset your odometer each time you fuel and you always know how far you have left before you need to plan a stop for go juice.

My warning light only worked once.. since then it hasn't. I just go by trip meter and keep the odometer on the trip setting. Haven't run out again since.

The 1999 that I am working on also has a non functioning low fule light. I have read the threads on that issue, I will get to it. Does anyone know if the indicator light is a regular bulb or an LED? Thank you. JB

It's a LED... And for the above posters... The older model VTR with a single warning light doesn't have a float, it has a fixed sensor, basicly a resistor that senses if it's submerged or not... They usually die if the tank is left empty/the bike is sitting... Replacements from Honda are very cheap, in the neighbourhood of a new bike or soo... So I just replaced the resistor with a generic replacement, works fine... Unfortunately I can't give you any pointers on how to get one... US vs Sweden... Sorry...

+1 on the trip odometer reset at fill-up. This is the first bike I've owned with a gas gauge and low fuel warning. Used to be you would be running 65 on the freeway and it would start bucking...time to flip to reserve.

Except on my '83 BMW R100RS, when it ran out of gas on the freeway, it would just shut down. I'd then check my mirrors for tailgaters while flipping to reserve.

The nice thing was, all 3 of my previous bikes would go 200+ miles before hitting reserve.

What did you have to replace? The Sensor? where did you get it/how much?

In the 5-6 weeks I've had my hawk the light has come on every tank for idk 10-15+ tanks maybe. Is that an easy job with the tank off? I have a list off things I'll be doing soon once I get my CCT's so maybe I'll tinker with that too.

Guess that means I better put some gas in my tank, that is if it's not too late already..... :shock:

To replace the sensor with a OEM one, there is 4 bolts and a cable to unclip once the tank is upside down... 30 seconds...

To repair the one you got, you need a new sensor and soldering skills/equipment... To me that's a no-brainer, but might be different for others...

The reason it likes to die, is the gas residue acts to increase corrosion once things gets air that has been submerged for a long time... Probably fine for you, it takes a good while...

OK great conversation and all but WHO CARES!!!! I wanna know how the hell you made it 155 MILES!!!!!!!! My fat ass makes it to 95-105 and the light of death pops on.:eek: Lucky bastages.

Haha I was told hi compression pistons increase MPG...When it was working my light would usually come on between 120-130 miles.

So do inaccurate Speedos... Which I think is more common than VTR1000F bikes getting 150 miles to a tank prior to the working low fuel light coming on. :D

That said, for those that are getting that kind of mileage,, I'm just being jealous.. as at 98 mile, I'm heading to the gas station or pushing.:eek:

Well that is good to know. My new mid pipe showed up today though, so I get to go fix something either today or tomorrow and it's time to fire her up for a little bit anyways so it sounds like I'll be ok. ;)

My best ever was 119.6 But the last .6 doesn't count since they where me coasting down a very long slope to the station being completely out...

And yeah, I knew where that station was in advance...;)

Thanks nath981 you found the problem. I had my seat off and check the connectors, sure enough found one that was barely inserted and came right apart. Plugged it back in and couldn't wait to drain my tank. I've never been to happy to see my RLOD come on at 106 miles!

you're welcome. That's what's great about a forum like this. we can often help one another and save them a lot of aggravation, and even if sometimes we can't, it's comforting to know that there are people trying to help someone else. Glad you got it working again.:D