Typical low fuel level symptoms for WRR?

Hi all,

I am working on diagnosing an issue with my WRR. Today was a long ride as I was only able to open the throttle 5-10%, anything more and the bike bogged and lost power. Returning to 5-10% throttle and it ran pretty good. My fuel level was a bit lower and we were running on gravel however my low fuel light hadn't come on until we got down the road another 30kms or so. I was then able to ride 50km on the reserve before the bike was definitely out of fuel.

My initial questions are, what are the typical symptoms of getting low on fuel with the WRR on gravel/trails? Ive had intermittent bogs before but the fuel light hasn't come on, other times I have ridden hard with the reserve light on and never had an issue. I am in BC, Canada and so high temp fuel pump failures dont happen here confirmed by the bike having issues almost immediately this morning after the bike sat all night but I am curious if it could still be a pump issue. I have an 02/08.

Am I correct in thinking I should be able to ride the bike off-road fairly well on the reserve light? I just have to scratch my head though with today's symptoms, even on flat smooth gravel the bikes performance didn't change.

Cheers

Low or no fuel on bumpy or inclined terrain would likely result in the engine stopping intermittently as fuel sloshes away from the pump, or stopping the bike completely. IMHO it's unlikely that low fuel would require the engine to run slowly for an extended period. Fuel level should be a go or no-go characteristic.

My guess is water in the gasoline or an air filter clogged with dirt or too much oil. It might also be a sign of pending fuel pump failure. The 2008 bikes are known to have fuel pump issues that were fixed in later model years.

I've never ridden my bike until out of gas, but I've been pretty darned close and have never experienced what you described.

Sounds like your fuel pump is on its way out....those are classic symptoms....

CRFan1 wrote:

Sounds like your fuel pump is on its way out....those are classic symptoms....

Thanks guys, I wasn't to sure and since this bike is still new to me 1500km's or so I am trying to learn what is normal and what isn't. I wasn't to sure if it was fuel pump issues as its definitely not hot weather causing it. I am going to bring in a pump and give it a shot.

I would be curious to hear from a few folks that have ran there stock tanks out of gas to see how it was for them

Cheers,

Started some dis-assembly today. First off, the tank has been rusty inside, there are chunks of rust everywhere and a little fuel that has changed to rust color. The fuel filter doesnt appear to have rust stuck to it but the entire bag is a brown-ish color from the rust. I have all new components coming, tank/pump/filter however I am a little concerned with what might have made its way into the fuel rail/injector.

Is there a good way on cleaning those two components out?

Tough to do with the small tanks, but the worst thing you can do for your fuel pump is run it low, or worse, out of fuel. Cavitating pumps run hot, wear fast and thus can fail.

I figure your filter will have caught the worst of the junk, the rest will have passed through the line and injector anyway. You'll know if the injector is u/s soon enough, but it probably will be ok imo. Hope so, anyway.

66T wrote:

Tough to do with the small tanks, but the worst thing you can do for your fuel pump is run it low, or worse, out of fuel. Cavitating pumps run hot, wear fast and thus can fail.

I figure your filter will have caught the worst of the junk, the rest will have passed through the line and injector anyway. You'll know if the injector is u/s soon enough, but it probably will be ok imo. Hope so, anyway.

I am going to swap in a new pump/filter combo once it shows up just to start fresh :)