Silly question about gas level

[Skyboy8950]

So, since on my gs650gl I have a gas gauge and a petcock with a reserve position, do I still have a reserve? I would assume that the gas tank is empty when the gauge says so, but I'm not willing to test that out. So if there is a reserve, how big is it? Sorry for my ignorance, but I'm new to all this...

Thanks for the help.

[chuckycheese]

Yeah

Yeah, you should have a reserve even though you've got a gas gauge. If you want to figure out how much reserve you have, run it until you need to switch over to reserve. Fill your tank right away and take note of how much gas you're able to put in. Subtract that amount from your tank's capacity and you'll know how much gas was left when you switched over.

You can then figure how many miles you have left on reserve as long as you know how many miles you get to the gallon. When my gas gauge says "empty", I've still got almost half a tank....which makes the gauge pretty much worthless. One of these days I'm going to take out the sending unit and bend the arm so it will be more accurate.

[Steve]

Yes, there is still a reserve. On my 650, the tank is about 3.4 gallons, total. 1 (or so) of that is reserve. The first 2.4 gallons will get me about 115-120 miles down the road before having to switch to reserve.

Like chuckycheese said, the gauge is a nice touch, but don't rely on it to tell you how much gas is in the tank. I think mine is about halfway through the red zone when the switch to reserve happens.


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[rphillips]

It should be shown in the owners manual, or a repair manual. The "L" models, I think, have slightly less res. than the other models. Would think, appx. 3/4 gal.