On bikes with a fuel petcock that essentially divides the tank into portions, you use the Reserve setting when the Normal setting stops drawing reliable fuel. And you make plans to visit a gas station in the near future.
Was that too obvious an answer? I don't know of another reason.
no fuel gauge,
no way to know when you will run out of gas.
most bikes.. reserve is 1 gallon... small bikes might be less.
Honda has been this way since the 1960's.
Run on Main till engine stalls... then move lever to reserve.. wait 30 seconds then restart ..
after Filling up tank... move lever to Main. or next time you Will be out of gas.
and its NOT a separate fuel tank.. One tank.. but a 2 step drain.
Some people switch over to reserve and forget to move the petcock back to 'ON'. It doesn't hurt anything, but it takes away your warning / safety net. If you forget and you are on reserve, if the bike starts to sputter due to a lack of fuel, you get a free gym membership! >
Just to add, this will never happen if you get into the habit of turning the gas off every time you stop, and back on when you are ready to start again. If you don't make that a habit, it's easy to forget to 'reset' the petcock to the 'ON' position.
Good to practice switching over to reserve in case you need it.
Water may collect at the lowest point so switching to reserve for a few minutes at highway speed
May burn the impure fuel. I get to use reserve a few times per year.
I can hear the change in exhaust tone before the flameout takes place.
Going uphill or downhill when low may leave the main port uncovered and have an unexpected switch to reserve.
Sometimes when getting low on a multi-lane road with traffic lights I switch to reserve.
Once past the busy place I switch back to main to see how overly cautious I was....
Dude-57 and Chuck, I understand why there is a reserve, what I wanted to know is if you never use the reserve position, is there some fuel that never flushes thru or a pocket where contaminants can settle. Good idea about flushing the water build up. Water will collect in the lowest place and maybe it is possible to have a water reserve, which if you break down in the desert you have something to drink. LOL. Thanks guys.
Yes sounds like you already know it is good to run on reserve sometimes. As others say just don't forget to switch back before you run completely out. You could also drain the bottom of your tank ever so often instead. Old gas will slosh around and mix but water/contaminates will settle back to the bottom.
Took my bike for a service the other day and the mechanic switched it over to reserve without telling me. Needless to say I ran out in peak hour. The nearest fuel station was 400 yards uphill. Pushed it fifty feet and when I stopped panting and wheezing I walked to the gas station and paid the extra for a fuel can. Threw the can away after fuelling up, but it was $14 well spent.
When I had bikes with petcocks, I would flip it to reserve 2-3 times a year and just run it for a few miles to clean out any moisture and flush out the reserve hose and filter. Don't know if it actually did any good, but it made ME feel better!!! And I was fortunate to never forget to take it off of reserve and back to the regular setting. I've gotten spoiled with the low fuel light now, but I rarely run the tank that low anyway.
I do the clean out now & then also, just to make ME feel better.
Switch to reserve when cruising, flip lock cover over to remind me, Run a few miles then flip back to normal...
Have no idea what, if anything it does. But it make me feel like I am doing something important and good.. lol
Get that sludge/crud/water off bottom of tank???
It has become a habit, but I run on reserve the first 100 miles after a fill up. I use my trip meter as a gauge and never go over 130 miles on a full tank of gas.
When I need to switch to reserve I always flip the key flap around to remind me I'm on reserve. I never fill up until after going to reserve so it is a habit to switch back after.
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