I was reminded today about how I should plan as if the reserve in the fuel tank doesn't exist.
Before I left the house this morning, I took my usual look at the odometer and estimated how many miles I had left before I hit the reserve. I knew I was going to need to switch to reserve before I got to work. Since I was running late and I assumed that my reserve would be more than enough to get me to work, I chose not to fill up with gas. Instead, I decided to fill up as soon as I leave work (there are two gas stations a block from my office). I started the bike and took off.
Half way to work, my bike started to sputter. No problem, I thought. This was about where I expected to have to switch to reserve and I figured I still had more than enough in reserve to get me to work. I switched to reserve and kept going.
Well, about a mile down the road, my bike started to sputter again.
Disbelief set in. There was no way I was out of gas!
It must be a fuel flow issue that will clear itself up soon. The engine continued to sputter, so I decided to get off the freeway at the next exit. Lucky for me I did.
Halfway up the off-ramp, the engine died and wouldn't start. I pulled in the clutch and coasted as far as I could. Luckily, I was able to coast to within a block of a gas station before I had to push the bike.
After all this, I hope that I've finally learned my lesson: Always fill up before you think you'll hit reserve, because there may not be any reserve.
