Off, Run and Reserve are the three positions. O.K., Still sounds kind of pornographic talking about three positions. Stay with me, there is a point cumming, I mean coming.
While in Colorado on storm duty, I was on my way back to the airport rental to return my rental vehicle. It was about 97 degrees, with no breeze, and no clouds. I spotted a guy on the side of the freeway sitting on a guard rail next to his motorcycle. He was not on the phone, and not doing anything, which led me to believe he might need a hand. (Of course I stopped).
I asked, "Are you just resting, or is the bike giving you trouble?"
He said, "I'm out of gas."
Me,"I gotta ask the obvious, how bout the reserve?"
Him, "I tried it. No gas. Won't start."
Me, "Let me run through the scenarios. Were you riding, realized you ran out of gas, and hit reserve, and ran that out too?"
Him, "No."
Me, " You had it on reserve when you left, not realizing you were on reserve, and drained all of the gas?"
Him, "No, I ran out of gas, coasted to this spot here, turned on the reserve and tried to start it a couple of times. It won't start, so there must not be any gas."
Me, "There's gotta be enough gas in there to get you about 20 miles or so. You have a pressurized petcock. You need to give your throttle about two to three full turns while the bike is off, hit the choke, and she should start right up. Mind if I give it a try?"
Him, "Sure, go ahead."
I gave it a try, and she fired right up.
Him, "Thanks a million! You are a life saver. Where the hell were you 45 minutes ago?"
I followed him to the Airport area nearest gas station, and was then on my way home.
I posted this story not to boast about what I did for this guy, but to share a little knowledge for those of you who might not already know this. Hopefully I can save someone else the headache of thinking they are screwed when they are really just fine.
Happy trails!