out of years of riding it's only happened to me a couple times.
one time i was eastbound on the bay bridge when my bike started to sputter. i'd just reassembled the tank and had left the screw-style reserve fuel valve open, so there was no reserve fuel to be had. a very kind lady put her blinkers on behind me and followed as i coasted the last few hundred yards toward yerba buena island.
i pushed my bike up the ramp and looked in the tank to assess. it's a dirtbike, so the tank has two distinct "lobes" to accomodate the top tube of the frame. I had a few ounces in the tank but they were not in the lobe with the fuel pickup, so i dumped the bike on its side to get the fuel to slosh over to where i wanted it.
i got back on the highway and, going quite slowly and gently, managed to get to the gas station at west oakland bart, the engine leaning out and sputtering right as i rolled into their lot.
I think that driving on those last few ounces of fuel is a completely different feeling.
Normally you take for granted that the engine works for hours at at time.
When you've come to a stop and found those last few ounces of fuel, it's such a relief that the engine can run again, and you know it won't run for very long, but every minute that it continues running saves you many minutes of walking or pushing. You appreciate every minute that the engine produces that amazing amount of power (compared to your own power when you're pushing a 300+ pound bike)
one time i was eastbound on the bay bridge when my bike started to sputter. i'd just reassembled the tank and had left the screw-style reserve fuel valve open, so there was no reserve fuel to be had. a very kind lady put her blinkers on behind me and followed as i coasted the last few hundred yards toward yerba buena island.
i pushed my bike up the ramp and looked in the tank to assess. it's a dirtbike, so the tank has two distinct "lobes" to accomodate the top tube of the frame. I had a few ounces in the tank but they were not in the lobe with the fuel pickup, so i dumped the bike on its side to get the fuel to slosh over to where i wanted it.
i got back on the highway and, going quite slowly and gently, managed to get to the gas station at west oakland bart, the engine leaning out and sputtering right as i rolled into their lot.