Reserve
 

I own a 1990 Italian import 3AJ,when the bike goes on to reserve it will give you no warning it is about to until it dies completely.Furthermore when trying to restart the bike it will not even fire until 10-15 minutes have past,this has happened a few times and is the same each time no matter how much button pushing or kicking (it has a kick start fitted) is done.It starts easily either way hot or cold normaly,is this common to all 3AJs or is it something to do with the fuel pump,do i have a problem?

Mine has the same system and problems. But, mostly it announces fuel low in normal by some stuttering, giving me about 10 seceonds to put one fuel tap in reserve. The other one then follows when convenient.

If the engine has died on you, following tricks help:
1. Pull choke, this helps to use the fuel left in carburettor, engine starts running and the fuel pump starts working again.
2. The fuel pump is actuated by the alternating vacuum-atmospheric pressure in the inlet duct. It does have a bypass mebrane that should let fuel through when the engine is stopped by at reserve the level in the tank is too low to provide sufficient pressure to do this quickly. Hence the 15 minutes. Trick: put both taps on reserve. Close taps. Pull off hose form one of the taps. Blow with your mouth into the hose. You push the fuel through the bypass membrane in the pump. Repeat three times. Carburettor bowl is now filled and you can start easily. A tasty trick.

Auke

i think almost every 1VJ or 3AJ rider has similar experiences.
i would advice to dismount the pump, it gives more trouble than it has use.
try the following:
-completly drain the tank
-connect both taps of tank directly to the carb
-fill the tank with some liters of fuel (let's say 5 l) and open the taps (reserve position!)
-open drain srcew on bottom of carbs float bowl and let the fuel drain into a jerrycan (keep bike in upright position)
-when no more fuel is coming out of the carb, check how much is left in the tank. this is what you will loose from the tank capacity when you ride without fuel pump. you will find that it's a very small amount.

regards
klaus

Hi

Anybody done that and knows how much fuel is left?

Peter