I have a few questions!

[CManT1914]

Okay, I've been thinking about a few questions I've been meaning to ask lately, so I figure I'll just put them all in one thread.

Question 1: How safe is it to park a bike on a steep driveway? Of course, I wouldn't park it downhill, but what about across the slope, where the kickstand side is downhill?

Question 2: About how long can I expect my new bike to last as far as miles? I live nearly 20 miles from work (90% highway), so I put a few miles on my vehicles. I don't want my engine blowing up anytime soon! I have also noticed that I never see high mileage bikes. I rarely see anything over 20k miles. Do they break down before? Or do they go down (as in get crashed)?

Question 3: How long do tires generally last? The rear is new, but the front is worn down pretty good. The previous owner said it should last until I need to replace the rear, but it's pretty worn already.

Question 4: Where are some good websites for buying parts/accessories?

Question 5: Is it true that the Gixxer's have automatic reserves? If so, doesn't it kind of defeat the purpose of a reserve? Why not just make a bigger tank instead of a primary/reserve tank?

Okay, I think that's it for now. I'll add more later if I think of any. Thanks!
-Chris

[Clint]

1. Park it where you're asking about, then grab the bars and pull toward the sidestand. If it tips over with little effort, you're in the danger zone.

2. A modern motorcycle engine is good for 50-150,000+ miles, properly maintained, without engine overhaul work. Most of us on this forum will see close to 100,000 or more since we're the type to put extra effort into maintenance.

3. That depends on three things: The quality and type of tire, the bike, the rider. Sportbike tires go 3-8,000 miles. Sport-touring tires go 5-12,000. Since they're your only link to the road, don't be stingy. If that front's showing dry rot or is down to the wear bars, get a new one. It's usually best to replace them in pairs, but some high-power bike owners like to go two rears to one front.

4. Depends on what you want. Search a bit and chances are that question's already been answered a bunch of times.

5. I don't know what an "automatic" reserve is. Don't you have an owner's manual? If it doesn't have a reserve setting on the petcock, it must show up in the digital gauge, right?

You'll likely find info on all these topics in existing threads. Search, search, search.

[Trapper]

#1 Don't park it across the slope, park it with the front facing up the hill and in gear obviously.

#2 Bike usually last a long time with proper maintenance.

#3 I've read here recently 3-5000 miles on sportbike tires.

#4 Dennis Kirk, J&P Cycles, JC Whitney. Google is you friend.

#5 Doesn't it have a fuel gauge?

[CManT1914]

I remembered another one! I started up the Gixxer earlier, and I noticed the engine temperature gauge was not reading. It just said "---". Now it was 28* outside, (bike is in a barn, but it's still cold in the barn too) so will it just not read until it reaches a certain temp? I didn't let it run long, just a half minute or so.

I don't think the Gixxer has a fuel gauge. I haven't found one, and the previous owner said it didn't. He's the one that told me it had an automatic reserve.

[blackie1491]

Read the manual. If no manual, check at your library, search on line for one, order on line.

On some bikes a light comes on when you are down to 4 liters or 1 Gal..
Reset you trip. at each fill, exp. or running out of gas will tell you when to fill.
Pay attention, if you crank the throttle a lot, then you fill more often.
Exp. and time are good teachers. Common sense is usefull too.
Use a manual, search the threads, read, learn.

[CManT1914]

Okay I went out to get the owner's manual from the truck. It says below 68* the engine temp display will read "---". Cool.

But it doesn't have a gas guage. The low fuel light comes on at 1.1 gallons. It didn't mention anything about a reserve either.

[chrisan]

the reserve turns on when a certain amaunt of gazoline is left in the tank, and a lamp indicates it /red lamp/ similar to cars, so you know that there is something like 10 miles left to go to a gas station and refuel. /check the owners manual to see how much exactly is lft when the lamp goes on.
I also put the trip metter to zero when i refuel, and when I get to a 100-115 I know that the reserve lamp will go on. /that helps when I am somhere in the canyons and g stations are 20 miles away.

[chrisan]

Originally Posted by CManT1914

But it doesn't have a gas guage. The low fuel light comes on at 1.1 gallons. It didn't mention anything about a reserve either.

it turns on automaticly, like a car, the lamp warns you of the amount left in the tank, 1. 1 galons. /34 miles per galon -you do the math

[Clint]

So it doesn't have a reserve, only a low-fuel indicator. Your best course of action is to reset your trip odo every time you fill up and learn how far you can ride on a tank.

[CManT1914]

Yea I reset my trip everytime I fuel up. But I haven't even been through one tank on the Gixxer yet. I'm at 120 or so miles and it hasn't come on yet. Guess I still got some left.

[inspiron]

Your Gixxer should get about 35 to 40 mpg. If the tank was full, it should hold somewhere between 4 and 5 gallons, so you should get somewhere between 140 and 200 miles between fill-ups. YMMV

[frogslinger]

most modern bikes do not have reserve tanks... the reserve was not really designed as a reserve but was a funtion of the shape of the fuel tank. the tank is rounded on top but has a "double keel" on the bottom (an exagerated way of looking at this is an upside down silhouette of mikey mouse's head being a cross section of the tank), with the top tube of the frame going between the two keels. fuel drains from the bottom of the tank. when it gets below the level of the top of the inverted mous's head, it can only drain from one ear at a time on an older bike... then it sputters out and you flip a switch and use the fuel in the other ear. Modern bikes, particularly FI ones have a different setup on the fuel pump that sucks from both ears simultaniously, so other than warning lights or gauges you never know when you are getting low on gas. This is one of those many cases where designers present something to the marketing people and the marketing people call a design compromise a bonus feature... when the technology caught up to where the compromise was bypassed new marketing comes out touting the fact that it no longer has the old feature but now has a newer better one.

[frogslinger]

As a side note, a lot of newer bikes will have a total of 4 odometers... 1 that records vehicle total miles, two that are manually resettable (usually labeld trip 1 and 2 or A and B), and a fourth that automatically reset and strat counting up once your fuel reaches a certain level. The fourth one is unaccesible to the rider during normal conditions, cannot be manually reset and disapears once the fuel in the tank again exceeds the point when the low fuel warning comes on.

[Clint]

Wow. Where'd ya get all that?

[CManT1914]

Originally Posted by frogslinger

As a side note, a lot of newer bikes will have a total of 4 odometers... 1 that records vehicle total miles, two that are manually resettable (usually labeld trip 1 and 2 or A and B), and a fourth that automatically reset and strat counting up once your fuel reaches a certain level. The fourth one is unaccesible to the rider during normal conditions, cannot be manually reset and disapears once the fuel in the tank again exceeds the point when the low fuel warning comes on.

What is the point of the fourth one? I'm not understanding what it's there for. It comes on when the low fuel light comes on?

[Rickster]

Originally Posted by frogslinger

most modern bikes do not have reserve tanks... the reserve was not really designed as a reserve but was a funtion of the shape of the fuel tank. the tank is rounded on top but has a "double keel" on the bottom (an exagerated way of looking at this is an upside down silhouette of mikey mouse's head being a cross section of the tank), with the top tube of the frame going between the two keels. fuel drains from the bottom of the tank. when it gets below the level of the top of the inverted mous's head, it can only drain from one ear at a time on an older bike... then it sputters out and you flip a switch and use the fuel in the other ear. Modern bikes, particularly FI ones have a different setup on the fuel pump that sucks from both ears simultaniously, so other than warning lights or gauges you never know when you are getting low on gas. This is one of those many cases where designers present something to the marketing people and the marketing people call a design compromise a bonus feature... when the technology caught up to where the compromise was bypassed new marketing comes out touting the fact that it no longer has the old feature but now has a newer better one.

I've never seen the type of reserve that you describe. The ones I have had apart have a brass tube that extends up into the tank about a inch or so that the gas flows through when the lever is set on main. When the level of the gas drops below the opening in the top of that tube, the motor runs out of gas. when you flip the lever to reserve, it bypasses that tube, and draws gas from the bottom of the tank. There is a small rubber hose running under the backbone of the frame connecting what you call the ears so both sides drain down together. I'm not saying what you described is wrong, I'm just saying I've never seen it.

It's never a good idea to let your FI bikes run out of gas. It's hard on fuel pumps, and the FI system itself.

[Clint]

Sounds like there are a number of systems in use. I've seen Harleys with a completely seperate reserve tank.

[inspiron]

Originally Posted by RowdyRed94

Sounds like there are a number of systems in use. I've seen Harleys with a completely seperate reserve tank.

That's just in case the main tank falls off ...

[CManT1914]

Originally Posted by inspiron

That's just in case the main tank falls off ...

LMAO

[frogslinger]

Originally Posted by RowdyRed94

Wow. Where'd ya get all that?

Some of it was online some of it was part of the MSF course.