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So I ran out of gas. I was like what the heck is this sputtering, I had just shifted so was assuming something was up. It only took about a second for me to know what was going on. I definitely was not going to try and change it over without stopping, so I stopped and switched it over to reserve. Got up a hill immediately and it was still sputtering like crazy and died. I figured maybe the hoses are up front or something so going up hill would be no good. I got it turned around and down the hill, started and ran a bit but stuttered and died shortly thereafter. Got it a bit farther before giving up, and also was now at a point I could leave it somewhere... fortunate about two minutes from home so mom grabbed me and we got some gas...

My question is this. The GS500 petcock has "ON", "PRI", and "RES". I read that if you go from on to res immediately you will have no problems, but if you physically run out of gas you need to run on pri first. My question is this, I did not mess with the pri option as I did not know what it was. I sort of ran out of gas, but sort of not. My concern is mostly that I could get it started and moving, and it would stutter and die. Do I have a problem, or would running it on pri for a bit have made the difference?

I know nothing about engines but it would seem odd that it would start without priming, but then NEED priming?

I hope that made sense, I just got back from a super long ride in fairly cold weather and still cannot feel my fingers, so not going back to edit any confusing parts .

PRI just lets the gas flow freely through the petcock to the carb whereas ON and RES need the engine running to create a vacuum to let the gas flow through the petcock. Tipping the bike over to left might have gotten you a little further down the road but it sounds like you just pretty much ran it out of gas. Also kinda sounds like the RES "circuit may be clogged up which would cause it to not be effective. If you did run it all the way empty then once you put gas back in it wouldn't hurt to put it on prime for a few seconds to get the carb bowl filled back up.

My problem is that I am sure it was on "ON". Then sputtered and I stopped, I think it died without me killing it when I had pulled over and stopped. I switched to "RES", got up the hill and it sputtered the whole way and died. I turned around, got back down the hill sputtering, a little farther, and it dies. Started one more time and made it about fifty feet and it died again.

Would switching it to "PRI" have kept it running? Or is there something wrong. Because obviously my reserve, at that rate, did not get me anywhere close to a gas station .

I think fireguzzi gave you the answer already: something in the reserve position is clogged up.

jstark47 wrote:I think fireguzzi gave you the answer already: something in the reserve position is clogged up.

Yea I saw that, just wanted to provide a little clarification as I think my first post was a little more complicated than it needed to be .

I guess I should probably try and get my hands on the fancy mechanic manual for the bike and take a look at it. From what I have read elsewhere about upgrading/modifying the petcock, it sounds like it shouldn't be too hard to look around for a clog.

Thanks guys!

It's pretty simple once you get it taken apart. Just dont tear the diaphragm inside there. Get some carb cleaner and shoot it through all the little holes you can find. Blow em out with compressed air too if ya can.

And yeah, that first post was a little funky.

You can also put it on reserve while on a full tank, if it doesn't stall out then it's not clogged. Don't forget to take it off reserve at the end of your experiment, especially if it doesn't stall.

Make sure your fuel hoses aren't reversed where they hook to the tank. If the on line is hooked to the res connection on the tank it will use all the gas before you turn the selector valve to reserve and you'll be out of gas rather than just low on gas.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/ ... lcocks.jpg

Flesher wrote:You can also put it on reserve while on a full tank, if it doesn't stall out then it's not clogged. Don't forget to take it off reserve at the end of your experiment, especially if it doesn't stall.

Good point, I will have to try that tomorrow!

gsJack wrote:Make sure your fuel hoses aren't reversed where they hook to the tank. If the on line is hooked to the res connection on the tank it will use all the gas before you turn the selector valve to reserve and you'll be out of gas rather than just low on gas.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/ ... lcocks.jpg

Thanks Jack. That was one of the first things that occurred to me actually, having read about it before. I will have to check that first, seems more likely than a clog anyway?

Ok following the image Jack provided, a bit of bravery on my part I got the fairing off and tank unscrewed and sure enough it looks pretty clear to me that they are reversed. Will tackle getting them switched later, hoping my buddy's dad who does all his own mechanic work will volunteer to assist. I suspect the only difficult part is getting the tank drained?

I did break one little plastic clip in the process, the tiny one on the front left fairing connecting lower to upper, can't tell if it will matter or not (there is a screw about an inch away holding them together?). But that was apparently the only issue, not bad . I build computers and worked construction, but for some reason you get me around an engine and I go all unlucky.