Out of gas with a gallon left

[Leojb]

I was riding in the mountains of Northern California this past week when the bike failed to start after a brief stop.  "E" indicator was flashing and the bike behaved like it was out of gas, but based on my trip meter I should have had at least a gallon of fuel still in the tank.  It was hot - around 90 degrees - and we had been riding through fairly technical terrain at low speeds.  In other words, the engine was hot and so was the air temp.  When the bike didn't start I got off it and tipped it onto its left side, hoping to distribute any fuel from the right to the left side of the tank.  Bike fired right up and ran perfectly.  Made it to a gas station within a couple of miles, filled the tank, and it only took 3 gallons!  Not close to being empty.  Any idea what might have happened?  Maybe boiled the fuel in the tank because of the heat?  Vapor lock?  I'm stumped. 

[Liquidape]

My old WR-250 would exhibit this type of behavior just before the fuel pump would die.   On hot days after stopping and heat sinking the fuel pump wouldn’t work. Cool it off a bit and would work again, until it wouldn’t.

I went through 3 fuel pumps on that bike in around 15k miles. 
 

When you tried to start it - could you hear the fuel pump?
 

Got about 8500 miles on the T7 so far, so it’s already better than the WR was in this regard. 

[qInvention]

Maybe fuelpump getting too hot. Did you try starting with more throttle?

[Dan M]

It is a sign of a faulty pump.  The fuel provides some cooling when the pump is submerged.  I've seen many auto fuel pumps fail when overheated. When the fuel level is low and not cooling the pump, internal expansion would keep the pump from running.  After cooling off the car would restart. Often times we could get a car to restart by hitting the gas tank with a rubber mallet while cranking the engine.

[Leojb]

1 hour ago, Liquidape said:

My old WR-250 would exhibit this type of behavior just before the fuel pump would die.   On hot days after stopping and heat sinking the fuel pump wouldn’t work. Cool it off a bit and would work again, until it wouldn’t.

I went through 3 fuel pumps on that bike in around 15k miles. 
 

When you tried to start it - could you hear the fuel pump?
 

Got about 8500 miles on the T7 so far, so it’s already better than the WR was in this regard. 

 

14 minutes ago, qInvention said:

Maybe fuelpump getting too hot. Did you try starting with more throttle?

I had my helmet and on and earplugs in, so I couldn't hear a thing.  I also never touch the throttle when starting - just push the button.  Something to try though.

[jdub53]

Because the fuel pump sits at the tank's middle rear, which is the lowest point unless the bike is pointed downhill, leaning the bike from side to side in order to 'shift' remaining fuel shouldn't do anything (unlike on bikes that gravity feed from a petcock on one side of the tank to a carb).

 

Agree with the other comments on a suspect fuel pump, and good luck.

[Hibobb]

There are a bunch of posts about the bike not starting hot.

[Leojb]

Overheated fuel pump/vapor lock sounds like the issue I'll read up on the other posts.  I was riding downhill which could have made the problem worse.  Not sure why, but leaning the bike over seemed to cure the problem since it started after that.