BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

Has anyone experienced this phenomenon? About 30 miles after my 2004 switches to reserve, the bike will miss for a while like it's starving for fuel. I turn from side to side, trying to slosh the fuel around, then it runs normally - until it does it again in a few miles. This happened on 3 separate tanks of fuel, during my recent trip to the Midwest - irritating... to say the least - especially the last time when in sparsely populated Western Kansas/Eastern Colorado.That time I did make the 15 miles to the nearest station. I found the tank took 4 1/2 gallons so there was still 1 gallon available when this was happening. Also....about a year ago, I parked the bike soon after it went on reserve. In the morning it wouldn't start. It started, after I poured some fuel in. It exhibited charictaristics of an engine that had run out of fuel - needing a good deal of turning over before the gas entered the system. One knowledgeable guy in the local Bemmer club stated that this model has its fuel port in the right side of the tank. When the bike is on its side stand this port is above fuel level. How this would cause lack of fuel on a flat highway, I don't know. Any thoughts appreciated as I now have - in effect - a 4 1/2 gallon tank with 30 miles on reserve.

My '02 1150 owners manual states the fuel tank has 5.3 gallon capacity .When the low fuel warning light comes on, it takes 4 gallons to bring the fuel level to the bottom of the filler hole . I've drained the fuel tank when the low warning light comes on and get a around .5 - .6 gallons .
The fuel tank has an airspace above the fuel when it's filled to the bottom of the the filler neck. If I work at it, sloshing the fuel tank and adding additional fuel until I can't put any more in, it takes about .6 - .75 gallons . This all adds up to about 5.3 gallons .
You can check for your self, when your low fuel warning indication comes on, drain all the fuel out of the tank and measure the amount, put it back in the tank, then add fuel to the bottom of the filler neck and see what the amount of fuel you put in .
Just my opinion, going 30 miles on reserve is just asking to be parked on the side of the road out of fuel .

AZBMWRIDER wrote:My '02 1150 owners manual states the fuel tank has 5.3 gallon capacity .When the low fuel warning light comes on, it takes 4 gallons to bring the fuel level to the bottom of the filler hole . I've drained the fuel tank when the low warning light comes on and get a around .5 - .6 gallons .
The fuel tank has an airspace above the fuel when it's filled to the bottom of the the filler neck. If I work at it, sloshing the fuel tank and adding additional fuel until I can't put any more in, it takes about .6 - .75 gallons . This all adds up to about 5.3 gallons .
You can check for your self, when your low fuel warning indication comes on, drain all the fuel out of the tank and measure the amount, put it back in the tank, then add fuel to the bottom of the filler neck and see what the amount of fuel you put in .
Just my opinion, going 30 miles on reserve is just asking to be parked on the side of the road out of fuel .

Agree wholeheartedly!

Don't assume you'll make it another 30+ miles or one day you'll be remembering this conversation. Not to mention the possibility of overheating the fuel pump when the gas drops below where it's positioned. That pump is cooled by the fuel and it's very expensive.
When my light comes on I'm already looking for a station. I watch the trip odometer as well.

I agree with these guys. When my low fuel light comes on I'm like Pavlov's dog and next stop is the next gas station. Same in my truck I guess. Needle gets to the halfway mark and I'm on the lookout for gas! and on those occasions when it gets to 1/4 or below I start to get fidgety! Probably something to do with the way I was taught to drive.

But in my defense, I've never run out of gas

Bogdan wrote:Has anyone experienced this phenomenon? About 30 miles after my 2004 switches to reserve, the bike will miss for a while like it's starving for fuel. I turn from side to side, trying to slosh the fuel around, then it runs normally - until it does it again in a few miles. This happened on 3 separate tanks of fuel, during my recent trip to the Midwest - irritating... to say the least - especially the last time when in sparsely populated Western Kansas/Eastern Colorado.That time I did make the 15 miles to the nearest station. I found the tank took 4 1/2 gallons so there was still 1 gallon available when this was happening. Also....about a year ago, I parked the bike soon after it went on reserve. In the morning it wouldn't start. It started, after I poured some fuel in. It exhibited charictaristics of an engine that had run out of fuel - needing a good deal of turning over before the gas entered the system. One knowledgeable guy in the local Bemmer club stated that this model has its fuel port in the right side of the tank. When the bike is on its side stand this port is above fuel level. How this would cause lack of fuel on a flat highway, I don't know. Any thoughts appreciated as I now have - in effect - a 4 1/2 gallon tank with 30 miles on reserve.

This is the cause. Don't worry about burning the fuel pump as when the engine quits? you will not have the key in the run position very long because you will be on the side of the road.
When traveling I usually plan for 20 miles or so (conservative 'cause I will usually slow a bit to get better mileage) to the next fuel stop. I carry a 2 ltr fuel bottle in the right side case just to make sure I'm not going to be stranded. Anywhere but out west your never far from fuel.

I have drilled holes in the top of my filler pipe for more fuel when ((about .3 gal) which gives me 5.7 gal when filled to the top. You have to be aware (if you do this) that doing so eliminates the air space at the top of the tank which will cause the tank to vent fuel (fills the vent system) if parked for more than 2 to 3 min in the sun, but gives me the ability to go sometimes 200 miles with out the low fuel light illuminating.

I only fill to the top if I am in the gas and go mode and need max range which doesn't effect the vent system.

fixes:
1) drill holes in the filler neck to allow for usage of the "air-gap" (as kirby suggests) - did that with mine and it's really easy.
2) yes the fuel pump is in the right side, you "should" get about 30-40 miles of reserve, if you sputter to a halt you can get a few more miles with a simple trick - as long as you're happy to lift the bike up as if you've dropped it. You lay the bike down on it's right side (if you're fussy about the engine cases lay it down on your gloves or something), and the tip it over as far as it will go - until the handlebars touch the ground. Then SLOWLY and GENTLY left it back up, do not let it lean to the left - remount and start up, and you'll have a litre or two of fuel to get you a bit further. All you've done is sloshed the fuel from the left side of the tank into the right.

Much thanks, Gentleman. That clears it up. It's that Occam's razor thing, yet again. The engine was acting like it was running out of gas because......it was running out of gas !! My last bike -a KlR- also had a punny reserve. I modified it to give me 1 1/2 gallon of reserve - simple with a primitive petcock. I was sure BMW would provide more reserve for a customer base intent on touring and thus something had to be wrong. Something was wrong - my assumption. I'm hesitant to drill the filler neck and compromise the air gap. At my altitude - 6000 ft - the sun is very strong. Don't know why I didn't worry about drying the fuel pump as I never let my van go much below a 1/4 tank. Guess I'm not accustomed to 2 wheels with a pump.