Page 1 of 1

no reserve

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 7:34 am
by Mark Harfenist
Same thing happened to me, but just once.  Unfortunately, I was at 15,000 feet in the Andes at the time and my clutch cable had just broken, and I ran out of gas at the bottom of a hill--therefore uphill in both directions.  I pulled over and poured two gallons out of my extra fuel can....but then had no way to get rolling so I could pop into gear--no clutch, remember.  Oh, and the sun was going down, and I had a long way to go on unfamiliar roads.
 
There are several lessons, including "expect the unexpected," and "ride on the top half of the tank," "keep a spare clutch cable zip-tied to the one you re using," and so on.  But I never found out what happened, and it never happened again. 
 
I couldn t push my loaded KLR and then hop on once it was moving, so I abused my starter (in gear) to give me just enough speed for the engine to fire, grab, and carry me onwards.  Then I spent the following day waiting for a replacement cable in a small, hot little town in Argentina.  Same lessons apply.
 
Mark
 
(from a small town just south of the equator in steamy Brazil....still heading north-ish for home)