89 VR would not start for a surprising reason

[camos]

While at work last Thursday it rained all day, not torrential but steady and the wind was blowing too. The VR sat in an open parking lot for the day. When I returned after work it would not start, although it tried to begin with. Ran the battery down then a friend came along and gave it a boost but still would not start. Ended up leaving it there for a couple of days.

 

When I returned, first thing sprayed WD-40 into the ignition, kill switch and starter switch before trying to start. When first turning on the ignition, the fuel pump ran to time out so cycled a few times to make sure carbs were full. No go. Checked the plug connections, all were good except one was sitting in a puddle of water. Mopped that out and it still would not start. During the process, every time I turned on the ignition the fuel pump ran to time out. That was a hint that finally got through.

 

The bike was parked on the side stand and on a slight incline, about 1 foot in 10, with one bar on the gauge. So when it clicked that the fuel pump was clicking too much I put the bike on the centre stand and it fired right up. It appears there was not enough gas getting to the fuel pump. Rode, with no problems, about 15 km before the fuel warning light came on and another 5 km before stopping at a gas station. Put in 15 litres, tank holds 20 litres.

 

I'm still baffled by this. It's quite possible there initially were starting issues with getting soaked but it would appear the big one was fuel starvation even though there was approximately 6 litres in the tank at the time. I guess the combination of being on an incline and leaning over on the side stand was enough to move the fuel away from the petcock, which I should add was on the reserve position.

 

We live to learn.

[Ozlander]

I assume you don't have the reserve tank turned on.

Mine has been on since day one. If I have 1 bar, I have gas, on the side stand and off.

[bongobobny]

No, he stated the reserve was on. I would remove and inspect the petcock from the tank, betcha you find the reserve tube is toast...

[camos]

I assume you don't have the reserve tank turned on.

Mine has been on since day one. If I have 1 bar, I have gas, on the side stand and off.

Gotcha!!!

Look at the end of the last sentence in my post.

 

No biggy...

 

Yeah, it's always on reserve.

[Flyinfool]

I have to wonder if you some issue going on inside of the tank.

 

With one bar showing in reality you have at least 1/4 tank of fuel remaining.

 

My 88 has no issue running on the side stand with the bike pointed up an incline, and the warning light on. If that incline was causing an issue then you would have a fuel starvation issue during acceleration which can slosh the fuel back a lot farther than that incline.

[camos]

I have to wonder if you some issue going on inside of the tank.

 

With one bar showing in reality you have at least 1/4 tank of fuel remaining.

 

My 88 has no issue running on the side stand with the bike pointed up an incline, and the warning light on. If that incline was causing an issue then you would have a fuel starvation issue during acceleration which can slosh the fuel back a lot farther than that incline.

So far there has been no indication of a problem with the tank but, yes, what you say otherwise is exactly what I think as well which is why I'm throwing this out on the forum. Was hoping to be able to change the fuel filtre today but got caught up in some yard work that had to be done. Perhaps next Sunday I can get to it.

Until then will just have to see how things go on my daily commute.