DR650 - Safari Tank - Starved of fuel, why?
Howdy. Right so yesterday my bike spluttered cut out on the highway, clearly sounds like it just ran out of fuel. I stop, check my fuel taps are on (which they are), it starts and i ride about 10km and fill up with my riding mates. I have a 30L safari tank, with inline fuel filters, taps on reserve (I always run it on reserve out of habit), at this point the fuel height is AT LEAST an inch above the height of the fuel hose where it turns and goes into the carby.
Next day it happens again, then again 5km down the road, and again, until i make it to a petrol station, fuel up and ride another 100+km with no problem, again it happened when the fuel is about an inch above the hose to the carby. I pulled the hose off the carby and checked each tap was sending fuel. that was fine, maybe SLIGHTLY less when the hose is held at the height of the carby intake.
Now when I first got the tank I wasnt aware of the carby intake/fuel hose height stopping the last bit of fuel from getting in, so on my way back from a trip I ran out of fuel (in my drive way luckily) with not much more than 1-2 inches in each side. On this day I had my girl friend on the back, so was taking it pretty easy. In the last 2 days it has happened at roughly 100km/ph on HWY.
So why now is my fuel running out when I have more in the tank than I used to? Could it be that cruising slower with my GF on the back translates to less fuel flow needed and in that case I was lucky?
I also have a locking cap, which I thought might be the problem as I know they have been known to block air. I took it off and left it only half a turn on after the first time it happened. Still didnt fix my problem as the next day it happened 3 times with the cap only half a turn on.
those who have Safari tanks, how low does your fuel get before you run out?
the bike doesnt have any other issues, like choking or running rough, goes like new, just for some reason I'm not getting fuel in there when it gets low, but not as low as it used to.
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