What happened? Ran out of gas but reserve tank didn't work?

I guess I rode my bike pretty hard cause I didn't make it near what I usually make on my 1980 maxim 650 which is usually about 120 miles on a tank. I could tell I was running low so as I was driving I flipped over to the reserve tank( I think I did, I'm pretty new to bikes) and kept riding to the next service station, I drive maybe a mile and it died. Wouldn't start til I pushed it to the station. Why wouldn't my reserve tank work? Or maybe I dont know how to flip to reserve? There are 3 settings reserve(all the way left) on ( middle) and all the way to the right, which is what I drive with all of the time. Insight please

 

Petcocks are not all the same.

Look at the Selector On the Petcock.
It's "Vee-shaped" and usually has an Arrow on it.

Point the Selector to the Position stamped on the Faceplate.

FUEL / ON = Normal operating position. Fuel is supplied when engine runs.

PRI = Prime Fuel drains to Carbs without engine running.

RES = Reserve. Supplies Fuel from lower level of Petcocks Feed Tube held in RESERVE.

 

Re: What happened? Ran out of gas but reserve tank didn't wo

All the way to the right, that is, towards the back of the bike, is 'prime'. If you run on prime, you are bypassing your reserve tube and using all your fuel. When you run out, you're out.

 

Re: What happened? Ran out of gas but reserve tank didn't wo



There are three positions: ON PRI RES

ON is normally with the lever pointing straight down

PRI (prime) pointing to the side -- typically right

RES (reserve) pointing straight up

These petcocks are vacuum operated on both the ON and RES positions, but flow continuously on the PRI position, so fuel will fill the float bowls in order to provide fuel for starting the engine.

If yours was pointing to the right, it was probably on PRI, and I believe this bypasses the RES circuit, so there was essentially no fuel left when you switched to reserve.

 

if that long tube falls off there is no reserve

 

PRI=RES without the vacuum operation.

Plus what Polock said.

Petcock tech: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=25058.html

 

Thank you!!