No reserve man!

[Guest]

83GS1100E

When I purchased this bike back in 2004 from the beginning the reserve setting on the fuel Petcock never worked. The bike would start to bog, and then I knew I had about a 1/4 mile before I was dead. You could move the lever over to reserve but nothing would happen it would soon stall out. Still with a significant level of gas, but will not run. Once the tank is filled, starts fine and down the road I go, but only with about 100 -110 mile range.


I figured this was a simple thing take the petcock off and clean it up and insure it’s working. Well 5 years later I have finally got around to it. It’s an aftermarket non-vacuum style made by Pingel. It’s really a beautiful item made very well. I take this thing off and it’s still like brand new and is working fine. It has Off/Res/ON, because it was non-vacuum I always shut it off anytime the motor it not running. To buy this new it would be over a $100. Tank is nice and clean too. No junk floating. This bike has been garaged kept in California since it was purchased


Any suggestions on other causes?

The only other problem I have had fuel wise was an in line fuel filter was clogged.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Are you saying that the Reserve setting on that petcock has never worked properly since you purchased the bike? Any valve can fail. A new OEM petcock is half the price.

If your gas tank and carbs are clean, inline fuel filters are unnecessary and can be too restrictive, causing fuel starvation.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Sunburn]

Bump





Well, knowing the tank was close to be on reserve I removed the fuel line past the inline filter. I put the hose in a gas can and put the petcock on “on” and it proceeded to drain into the can. While it was draining I moved it from “on” to “reserve” with no change in flow. After it drained about half gallon out it stopped. I moved the lever to reserve and it continued to drain at the same rate. Puzzled, I put it all back together for a quick test.


Knowing the fuel bows are already full I placed it on “reserve” and fired it up. It started and ran fine. After a short period it was clear it was running out of gas. I shut it down and let bowls reload. It started up and ran but quickly started to spit and sputter.





My only resolution is to replace the petcock and the fuel line to eliminate the in line filter.


Anyone?

[KitKat]

in-line fuel filters are not really necessary as long as the filter on your petcock is ok.

my reccomendation is to buy a new OEM petcock, some new fuel line, and you'll be good to go. no in-line filter

[Sunburn]

I've never ran an inline before on any of my bikes, never needed one. This was installed by the Previous owner.

[KitKat]

Honsetly, some PO's have no idea what they're doing or why they're doing it

[BassCliff]

It's not supposed to be this hard

While it was draining I moved it from “on” to “reserve” with no change in flow. After it drained about half gallon out it stopped. I moved the lever to reserve and it continued to drain at the same rate.

Forgive me, I'm a little confused. You seem to be saying that you moved the lever from ON to RES and it stopped after a while. Then you moved it to RES (again? or back and forth between ON and RES?) and it, uh, "continued to drain at the same rate"? Does that mean it was still "stopped" or started draining at the original rate? Was the fuel level low to begin with? My brain hurts.

A new OEM petcock would fix you right up and probably cost less than $50. Then you won't have to worry about it for another 20 years.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Suzuki mad]

Sounds like the reserve setting or hole that allows fuel into the carbs is blocked or miss drilled causing this.

Can you strip the tap and check that the internals haven't been put back wrong or upside down causing the reserve section to stop working? Have you emailed Pingle and asked for technical advice on the tap to solve the problem?

Buying a new OEM tap may not solve that problem as I've had new taps fail on me.

[Baatfam]

A new OEM petcock is half the price.

my reccomendation is to buy a new OEM petcock, some new fuel line, and you'll be good to go. no in-line filter

A new OEM petcock would fix you right up and probably cost less than $50. Then you won't have to worry about it for another 20 years.

Keep the Pingel, save the $50...it is a fine piece of equipment...
OEM is OK, but a pingel...ah, that's sexy....
Unless the Pingel is 40 years old or abused, it should work...

Somethings up...maybe the reserve circuit is plugged? I really don't think the petcock failed.
Also, if did fail, Pingels can be rebuilt...check with the Pingal people about that...they should stand behind their product.

[chuckycheese]

Pingle 101

The way it works is this: Under normal operating conditions, the gas level is above the top of the stand pipe and enters through the top. When the gas level goes below that level, no gas flows through the petcock. At that point, you switch to reserve, which opens a vent in the side of the stand pipe down towards the bottom. Then the remaining gas in the tank enters there until the gas supply is exhausted. At that point, you are truly out of gas.

If there's a problem with the petcock, send it back to Pingle. They rebuild them quickly and inexpensively.

[chuckycheese]

Also

Also, the distance between the top of the stand pipe and the vent at the bottom is what determines the amount of reserve you have. In many case, because of the configuration of the tank, it's too much to be practical.

In that case, you can remove the filter screen and cut an amount off of the top of the stand pipe in order to give yourself a 'reasonable' reserve. In the case of my 750, I believe I reduced it by 7/8 inch which resulted in a reserve of about 25 miles....just right, in my opinion. Before I did that, reserve meant I had way too much gas left in the tank to make it meaninglful, rendering it useless.

[Sunburn]

Forgive me, I'm a little confused. You seem to be saying that you moved the lever from ON to RES and it stopped after a while. Then you moved it to RES (again? or back and forth between ON and RES?) and it, uh, "continued to drain at the same rate"? Does that mean it was still "stopped" or started draining at the original rate? Was the fuel level low to begin with? My brain hurts.

A new OEM petcock would fix you right up and probably cost less than $50. Then you won't have to worry about it for another 20 years.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

While it was on the "on", i moved it over to "res" to confirm fuel was flowing then moved it back to the "on" until it ran out. Then I moved it to the "res" and confirmed it would flow.

[Tom MLC]

I have the same pingel on my GS1000. It is a fine piece of work. Well worth the $$$. Top quality, in my opinion. Sorry to say, I think yours is defective. I suspect the reserve path for fuel is clogged. Something inside this petcock is obstructing the fuel. Check with the supplier for a warranty replacement. Or contact Pingel for repair advice.

[Sunburn]

Update

Simple things made complicated.

The petcock is good to go. Changed the fuel line today and it runs fine on reserve now. Seems the inline fuel filter from the PO was the problem. I guess it flows enough when the tank is full so there is no issues until the tanks get's low then it's too restrictive for the gravity feed and can't keep up. This is new to me, I figured if the inline filter is a problem its a problem and not fail at a prescribed time.


Thanks for your input.



Mark

[tkent02]

Update

Simple things made complicated.

The petcock is good to go. Changed the fuel line today and it runs fine on reserve now. Seems the inline fuel filter from the PO was the problem. I guess it flows enough when the tank is full so there is no issues until the tanks get's low then it's too restrictive for the gravity feed and can't keep up. This is new to me, I figured if the inline filter is a problem its a problem and not fail at a prescribed time.


Thanks for your input.



Mark

Probably a good idea to replace a filter when it gets clogged.
Good to know.