Reserve Tank MIA

[forestb]

Greetings,

I picked up a new (to me) standard 97 Valkyrie last week.  It was an upgrade from my 883 Sporster and I'm loving the Valk!

However, today I was driving home from work and, with 113 miles on the trip meter, started to lose power...  OK, gas tank is getting low so I switched over to reserve.  Problem was, nothing happened.  It was as if the reserve was bone dry too.  I pulled over and was aided by a passing car that showed mercy on me.  I filled up the tank and got home fine.

But what's the deal with my reserve tank?  Why was it MIA?  Is there some quirk with the Valk reserve tank that I don't know about... or do I likely have a mechanical problem? 

Thanks in advance for any help.  Granted I'm not a mechanically-inclined dude, but I've used the reserve tank on my Sporty and V-Star many times without any trouble... not sure what happened today.

Thanks!
Ben

 

 

[Chrisj CMA]

First, there is no "reserve tank" The "reserve" is simply a funtion of the petcock.  Yours is probably in need of replacement, however, any of the stock petcocks can run all the gas out if the selector switch isnt "clicked" in real good to the "on" position.  if the little ball isint in its little cup...hense the "click" then it will take all the gas, and act like there is no reserve.  But theres no seperate place for reserve fuel just two openings on the pipe sticking up from the petcock, top one is for "on", lower one is for "reserve"  Hope that helps

[John Schmidt]

Are you sure it wasn't in the Reserve position to begin with, sure wouldn't be the first time for a new owner....or even a forgetful experienced owner. There is always the possibility the screen/filter on the petcock feed inside the tank is muddied up with debris, that would prevent you from drawing fuel off the bottom in the Reserve position. Short of that, it's always possible you have a petcock problem, it's probably the weakest link in the fuel delivery system on these bikes.

[mikeb]

i would check to make sure the chrome knob is installed right too could be 180 out

[Bone]

How many gallons did it take when you filled the tank ?
5 gallons it was bone dry.

Do a trial full tank. Set the trip meter to zero. Ride 100 miles if possible. Mine averages 30 to 38 mpg. Fill the tank and figure your mpg average. You should still have over a gallon left in the tank. Then you can estimate closer when you will need reserve. Now you can test ride to see if your reserve works. I'm trying to keep you from being stranded

[frosty]

One new idea is some are putting a elec. shutoff valve powered when key is on. If  petcock failure to avoid gas leaking down when off.

[forestb]

Thanks all for the suggestions!  I'm going to do a trial run in this next tankfull (with some spare gas in the saddlebag) so I can better observe and measure what's going on. 

Cheers,
Ben