Filling It Up Filling a motorcycle's gas tank is not like filling up a car. You can't just shove the nozzle in as far as it'll go and grab the handle. With most bikes, that will result in a tank filled about half way. The way it needs to be done is a bit more involved. If you have a centerstand, park the bike on the centerstand to get the tank as full as possible. Then, open the gas cap, before you grab the nozzle off the pump. Most motorcycle gas caps are relatively complicated, and you should open it first with both hands free the first few times. With many bikes, there will be a little flip-up cover over the keyhole. When flipped up, that allows you to insert the key, and twist to unlatch the cap. There will commonly be an arrow showing which way to twist the key, but not always, and it's not always clear what the arrow means. It might take moderate force, but don't apply brute strength, or you could snap off the key, leaving you well and truly stuck. Sometimes pressing down on the cap makes it easier to turn the key. Once the cap is open (many bikes have a hinging cap, just fold it back to its stop), grab the nozzle, and put it perhaps an inch (2-3 cm) into the tank opening. Make sure the metal nozzle is touching the metal rim on the tank filler opening! This grounds the motorcycle, preventing build-up of static electricity. Gas nozzles are grounded, to prevent static build up as the gas is pumped. (Amazingly, gasoline moving through the pump's nozzle does build up static, sometimes quite a lot of it.) A static charge could cause a spark to jump when you pull the nozzle away, if the system wasn't grounded. You can probably imagine that a spark at the gas tank opening is among the world's worst ideas. At the very best, your bike only catches fire and burns uncontrollably. At worst, you get explosions like you normally only see in movies featuring guns and mean-faced guys in black turtlenecks. If your gas nozzle has one of those pleated shrouds which allows it to catch gas fumes, you need to pull it back before the nozzle will work. Nozzles of that type contain an interlock device which will prevent them from pumping if the shroud isn't pushed back far enough. Since you'll never fill the tank with the nozzle shoved into the tank, you have to pull back the shroud by hand. Start pumping with the nozzle an inch or so into the tank, until the tank is nearly full. You have to look into the tank for this operation to work, since the auto-off clicker on the nozzle won't work right to fill the motorcycle tank. Wear eye protection (such as your helmet or sunglasses) to keep gasoline from splashing into your eyes. If gasoline does get into your eyes, flush them with water immediately, then seek medical help. There's commonly a visible lip inside the tank, and you can usually safely fill to that point. Don't try to fill beyond it unless you know what you're doing. If you fill the tank beyond that lip, the gasoline can expand out the vents and spill on the ground, creating a fire hazard, and wasting the gas for which you just paid good money. This is usually only a danger when parking the bike immediately after filling it. Note that on some bikes (particularly California models) you can destroy the emission system by filling the tank too full. Once you've filled up the tank and closed the lid, check to make sure (if you have one) that your fuel petcock is set to the ON position, and not to RES or Reserve, or OFF. For more discussion on what reserve means, please see this FAQ article. If you have two petcocks, check both of them. Fuel injected bikes don't have a petcock at all for normal operation.