82 1100ez vacuum petcock question

[wilsonsandy07]

so the petcock on my bike has RES/ON/PRI options. does reserve actually do anything? when i had the tank apart i noticed the petcock doesnt have multiple legs or anyting inside the tank just the one piece with the screen. how does switching the lever to reserve actually pull fuel from a different place?

i have searched the forum quite a bit and checked out the manual but didnt really see a super clear answer other than what options there are to set it to

[KiwiAlfa156]

The RES position does absolutely nothing. It's been put there by Suzuki to annoy riders who run out of gas and have to push their bikes to the nearest gas station. Sometimes small queues of Suzuki riders with empty tanks form at gas stations, looking sullen, exchanging knowning eye rolls, forlorn head shakes, while muttering to themselves.

[wilsonsandy07]

makes sense i recently joined tha club as well after thinking res would save me lol

[KiwiAlfa156]

makes sense i recently joined tha club as well after thinking res would save me lol

Sorry Dude, I couldn't resist. RES works as advertised, the plastic screen is actually a two level fuel inlet.

If it isn't working the tap is faulty.

[wilsonsandy07]

So no info on how it works then

[Rob S.]

RES works as advertised...

If it isn't working the tap is faulty.

Of course. The only complaint I have is that it's a very tiny lever, and very hard to turn to RES while cruising at highway speeds. Only needed it once or twice in 6+ years.
Better too tight than too loose.

[Big Block]

Ha, ha. Yep the fuel intake is 50KM lower on the reserve portion. A couple of coughs and you better turn it to res and search out a gas station. Reminds me I have to fix the trip meter on my own EZ.

[rphillips]

Wilson, the "on" inlet is sticking up off the bottom of the tank a couple of in. so when you run out, there's appx. a gal. of gas still in the bottom of the tank. The inlet for res. is level with the bottom of the tank, switching to RES, lets you use that other gal. that didn't come through the "on" inlet.. Many think there is a RES. tank, but that ain't right. If the inlet tube for "on" is too long, it will make you need to go to RES. sooner, with more gas left for the RES.

[1978GS750E]

Ha, ha. Yep the fuel intake is 50KM lower on the reserve portion. A couple of coughs and you better turn it to res and search out a gas station. Reminds me I have to fix the trip meter on my own EZ.

Yeppers! I tested mime accidentally while at Brown County. Looks like I could have gone about 35-40 miles after switching to reserve. Luckily, I found a gas station after about 18 miles. Only put in 4.87 gallons!

Let us know how the trip reset mechanism works and what the failure point is as I have one that just became inoperable also!

[tom203]

”…..Many think there is a RES. tank, but that ain't right. If the inlet tube for "on" is too long, it will make you need to go to RES. sooner, with more gas left for the RES“

And different petcocks have different inlet tube lengths…my 650L original petcock would need to go into RES quickly . The georgefix replacement has shorter “ on”tube which works better for me, especially on long downhills.
sadly I don’t remember the pn of the petcock that I got.

[Big Block]

"Let us know how the trip reset mechanism works and what the failure point is as I have one that just became inoperable also!'

Mine was simple, I just dusted it with a bit of air and sprayed a touch of WD40 in around the drums. Mine was just gummed up.

[rphillips]

Aw shoot, confused again. Block did your trip meter quit or the trip reset quit? You said it just quit, then seemed to imply an easy fix with air and WD40 around the drums.... My trip reset quit last yr. It seems it almost wants to work, numbers wiggle a little when pushing the button, but will not connect enough to reset the numbers.

[Big Block]

Yes, mine would not reset. So a different problem most likely. I got to mine, wiggled the drums to make sure they were free which they were. The little fingers on the reset mechanism were moving and touching the drums but the drums would not reset. Then I gave a little burst of air and a touch of lube. I didn't find a mechanical issue like broken parts or anything. You may have a gear not meshing possibly, I would check it for being gummed up just the same though. I carefully took it apart on the bike. I didn't pull the headlight to unplug the harness and pull the cluster off the bike. Finicky but patience prevailed. I have another speedo but I didn't want to use it as it only has shows 25k on it rather than the real 57K.