Reserve sensor coming on early
 

New-to-me '98 bike, and I noticed the low fuel light come on after a few short trips. I had read about the limited range of the early tanks, but this seemed a bit extreme. So I fueled back up immediately after the light came on to see how much had been consumed before the sensor was triggered. Took just a bit over 7L (1.8 gal), so less than 1/2 tank. From what I understand, the light is not supposed to come on until there's only .7 gal left.

Is it as simple as bending the float rod? And is there a reason why it would have been that far out to begin with? Only thing I can think of is that the PO didn't like being warned too late so made an adjustment himself?

Has anyone else had this issue?

If it is only out of adjustment, then yes all you need to do is bend it to get it to the proper position.

The other thing that can happen to them is if the tank was left empty for a long period of time it can cause the sensor to go bad. It has been a while since I have dealt with a bad sensor so I don't remember off hand if the failure mode was the light didn't come on or came on early, so sorry for that.

If I remember correctly, the white stopper on the sensor arm should make contact with the bottom of the tank while in place. You SHOULD be adding right about 3 gallons when the light first comes on.

Thanks. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm thinking I'd have to bend it down? Seems like it currently has a slightly upward bend, but that just might be and illusion from the refraction.

And how the heck do you get your fingers down in there? Maybe I have to rig up some sort of hooked tool to grab underneath the rod further towards the float while I press down on it closer to the pivot point so that I can get leverage?

You can pull the sending unit out from underneath the tank by unbolting the for bolts that hold it in place. After that, it's a matter of toying with it to get it out. Just remember how you took it out so you can put it back in because it's a really tight fit.