Fuel reserve 2000 carb blade

Luan Pra bang · 29 June 2009, 18:50

FOr the first time ever I managed to run out of petrol last night and it would seem that the fuel reserve on my fireblade is basically useless. The switch has a long pointy bit and a short pointy bit and I have no clue which pointy bit indicates where the switch is pointing to. Turning it in every possible direction made no in roads in to saving me a long hot sweaty push to the nearest petrol station where joy of joys a full tank of petrol still did not let the bike start.
I have three basic questions

1. WHich direction indicates the reserve is on

2. what is the random plastic twidley thingy close to the reserve tap for and does playing with it to find its purpose have any effect on the bike

3. Why after many unsucccesful tries to start my bike until the battery went flat last night, did it manage to start up first time in the morning with no additional battery charging but now it cuts out whenever I let go of the throttle or pull the choke out ?

Sbradley · 01 July 2009, 16:34

I can't answer all the questions, but...

3. There are 3 positions on the tap - On, Reserve and Prime. Because your Blade has a tap that opens when there's a vacuum on the engine end, when it runs out of fuel you need to prime the carbs. Prime on the tap bypasses the vacuum switch and allows fuel to flow to the carbs regardless.

If you could post pictures of the other bits then I'm sure I can help. I suspect the random plastic twiddly bit is the idle speed adjuster, though.

Have you tried phoning (or visiting) a Honda dealer to see if they can give you some advice? Probably not because you've not had the time since discovering the problem (duh) but it might be worth a try...

SB

fivetide · 01 July 2009, 17:37

Note... don't leave it in prime... you'll just let the fuel out.

I would have thought the reserve would be quite decent. My ZX9R apparently has a 19 litre tank but i've never got more than 15.5 in it, even from reserve and it takes about 160 miles to get there.

Usually though a good idea is to reset the trip when you fill up and when you get to 100 miles look for a stop as there is bound to be a petrol station somewhere in the next 40/60 miles. On a long run 100 is a good marker to prevent numb bum and at other times it provides a useful gauge for how far you might actually get before you set off.

5t.

Luan Pra bang · 01 July 2009, 22:21

I usually fill up at 120 on the trip but lost track at some point. My local bike mechanic told me the reserve was constantly on hence why I ran out of fuel and the twiddly knob was the idle thingy and me playing with that was what made the bike cut out.
Cheers for the replies, would have been nice if I had got them before going to see the local bike garage and give him yet another excuse to look at me and shake is head but at`least I amused him yet again.