Yep. I did it. Ran out of gas today.

[_imp]

I have been riding motorcycles regularly for over 33 years and this is the first time I've ever run out of gas. That's 33 yrs. using a petcock and 7 months with just a fuel gauge.

I ended up stranding myself at a busy intersection, which unlike the rest of Phoenix, was totally devoid of gas stations. I ended up pushing the bike two blocks to the nearest convenience store with a gas pump, only to find it closed for renovation. I ended up leaving the bike there, buying a gas can at a nearby store and hiking about 6 blocks.

Looking back on how this happened, it seems that there are several factors involved.

1. I last rode the CB1100 on Friday, when the gauge started blinking on the way home. I made a (not very good) mental note to refuel next trip.

2. My trip meter didn't show many miles (127) because on the previous fill up I had forgotten to reset it until I'd gone over 15 miles on the new tank.

3. I wasn't really thinking about gas because I'd been riding the CB750 for the past two days and had filled it up yesterday.

4. In bright daylight, with a dark shield and tinted inner visor, the LCD display is not very visible.

Lastly, I probably could have saved the day if I had realized that I was running out of gas. This is my first fuel injected bike and they do not run out of gas like carbed bikes do. For example, on the CB750, it starts to get a little weak on the throttle with a slight drop off in power as the fuel level drops in the float bowls and the mixture gets leaner. It's very subtle, but easily noticed. When the CB1100 ran out, it was bucking like a bronco. Surging like nobody's business. Imagine riding down the road and turning the ignition switch on and off while holding the throttle steady.

I got two quick hiccups as I stopped at a light (next to a gas station ). I was concerned, but the bike idled normally. When the light turn green there was more surging on acceleration, but it stopped when I settled at a steady speed. I was convinced that I had some kind of mechanical problem. The bike went exactly one mile after the first hiccup and it was done. That's about the time I lifted my visor, looked at the display and realized that I'd forgotten to refuel.

For all of those that were wondering how much it takes to fill a dead empty tank, I can't help you. One of the pumps I used must have been reading incorrectly. I put .35 gallons into the can (and drained it into the tank). When I filled up a few blocks later (different gas station), that pump said it took 2.75. That only comes out to 3.1 gallons, so one of the pumps was obviously wrong.

I'm seriously thinking about buying a petcock for the CB11.

The good lesson in all this is how to recognize a fuel injected model
running out of gas.That is what happened to my M109 about
4 summers ago.But it never lasted long enough to matter.The bike
started surging and before I knew it wham bam thank you Ma'am
no more sex drive.From the very first sign of the bike acting strange
to it stopping was about a half mile at best.Of course I was on a
highway doin' about 60.And yes,the trip meter can be hard to read
in direct sunlight.Any model is.Except my Rune which has State of
the Art digital readout.No amount of sunlight is going to disrupt to
much the ability to read the fuel gauge or speed.Because the
Speedo is enclosed or has a covering that is recessed to block
out outside elements like sun and rain.