New Owner Question - 2001 Katana 600

[Learned You]

I have a questions I would appreciate some help with. On the left side of the bike there is a knob with 4 choices. One being off and I think one is fuel and reserve or something like that. When do I use each one and what are they for?

Also, Today I filled up the tank and the gas gauge didn't ever go all the way up. Could this be because I had that knob on the wrong setting.

Thanks for the help, Daniel

[Spedee]

The fuel delivery is operated mostly by vaccum. On is regular driving. Reserve is when the main portion of the tank is empty. And if you happen to drain the carbs for winter storage prime will bypass the vacuum and send fuel directly to the carbs.

[Yellow2002Kat]

Petcock positions:

Arrow pointing up = Off

Arrow towards you = Prime

Arrow towards ground = On

Arrow pointing forward = Reserve

I think speedy covered the when you need to use each position.

[woobie]

If you filled it and the gauge didn't go up the float in the tank may be stuck or broken

Petcock positions:

Arrow pointing up = Off

I thought there is no off? since the fuel flow is by vacumn when the engine is off so is the fuel flow. I don't even think it'll twist "up" at least not on an 03 model.

[Yellow2002Kat]

Petcock positions:

Arrow pointing up = Off

I thought there is no off? since the fuel flow is by vacumn when the engine is off so is the fuel flow. I don't even think it'll twist "up" at least not on an 03 model.

D'Oh!!! You're right - I'm mentally challenged. When I took those stickers off I knew there was writing at the top of the petcock position. For whatever reason I remembered it saying "off". However, what it actually says is "Fuel"

Hey, three outta four ain't bad

[Black_peter]

I thought there is no off? since the fuel flow is by vacumn when the engine is off so is the fuel flow. I don't even think it'll twist "up" at least not on an 03 model.

Yeah thats news to me as well.
Vacuum petcocks came into use to eliminate the "off" position.
Thankfully the Kat has a prime.

To fill you in as you are obviously really new to bikes.
When you start the bike it uses the gas left in the bowls.
(mini gas tanks on the carberators)
Once the engine is running it produces enough vacuum
to open the fuel valve, refilling the bowls as needed.

If (as stated above) for some reason the bowls dry out.
you can switch the valve to Prime.
Count to 10 and switch it back.
This will refill the carberators.

Reserve is an extra bit of gas at the bottom of the tank.
Basiclly there are two tubes, one high (normal position)
One low (reserve) If you are lucky about the time the
gas gauge needle reaches the red zone the bike will start to lose
power. (you will twist the throttle and the bike won't speed up)
The gas level has dropped below the high tube and
the engine will eventually die.
(this may happen to you the first time.. You will soon
know just what it feels/sound like.)
This means it's time to switch to reserve.
I say you will be lucky because that means your gas gauge is
reading right on the low end.)
I'm not sure how many miles you can get out of reserve.
But you should have enough to get to a gas station.
(If you plan to take long trips better figure out how many miles/tank you can get..)
One important thing to remember is to return the switch to ON
after refueling! Otherwise the next time the bike loses power you
are totally out of gas!

[Learned You]

Thanks alot guys. I appreciate that.

[Range]

*shhh...don't tell him about the little hidden switch that gives it 20 more hp

[Learned You]

Is it right next to the blinker fluid resevoir?

[USCGC_Katana]

parts

I knew abaut the muffler belt, but the blinker res. is new to me
Thanks.

[fasteddie]

Good information!

[hellcamp]

Also, remember NOT to park your bike with the petcock in the Prime position. It'll keep throwing fuel into your carb and eventually the bike will explode...

Ok ok..... no explosions but it will cause fuel to get into the engine oil, which is just as bad.

[The CyberPoet]

Also, remember NOT to park your bike with the petcock in the Prime position. It'll keep throwing fuel into your carb and eventually the bike will explode...

Ok ok..... no explosions but it will cause fuel to get into the engine oil, which is just as bad.

Actually, it shouldn't, at least on a healthy bike.

Inside the carb floats bowls are float valves which work just like the float in a toilet tank -- when they sink, they let fuel in; when they rise up, they close a fuel supply valve off. The problem is that if you drop your bike hard (which can jar a float into a stuck-open position) or if the float is defective in some sense (debris build-up for example), it can permit fuel to continue flowing into the carb bowl until it overflows into airway and runs into the cylinder. If the petcock is set to ON or RES, there won't be any fuel to flow even with a stuck valve when the engine is off, but when the petcock is in PRI, the fuel is free to flow.

If you get fuel flowing into your cylinders with the engine not running, this can be a very very serious problem. Among other issues, gasoline loves to deteriorate oil, so it will wash the oil off the cylinder walls and rings (and the next time you start the engine, the cylinder walls will be unprotected from metal-on-metal contact), plus the fuel that gets past the rings will fall down into the main oil sump and deteriorate the oil there (in a matter of about an hour or so -- doesn't take much fuel to do it either). The worst possibility is that it doesn't drain past the rings as fast as it's flowing in, and just fills up the cylinder partially/fully -- when you go to start the engine, the fluid won't compress and can cause serious physical damages to parts trying to compress that liquid, requiring a serious rebuild or a new engine (fortunately, this is rare, since the fuel usually is just a small trickle).

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[SKNL2]

Main reason not to leave the petcock in the Prime position for any amount of time is that it sends unstrained fuel to the carbs. Dirtier fuel causes your carbs to get fouled. Fouled carbs cause your sweet Kat to run like a strung-out pimp at 9AM.

Use prime only if you've run the bike completely dry and it won't start after a few attempts.

[The CyberPoet]

Main reason not to leave the petcock in the Prime position for any amount of time is that it sends unstrained fuel to the carbs.

Sorry, nope. The PRIME position on the Katana's uses the same strained pick-up tube as the RES position, so it is still strained.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet