Newbie Mistake - Ran Out of Gas

On the way back from trying to find good winter gloves this evening. It's dark, I'm on the Interstate, rush hour, traffic going about 50mph....

My bike has a feature that, when the digital fuel gauge gets to its last point, it begins to flash and a "reverse trip odometer" starts counting up, letting you know how many miles you've gone since it started flashing.

I assumed it was about a gallon of gas (no idea why I assumed that) and figured I had plenty of time to get home to my local gas station.

I was wrong. :(

The bike started to sputter and jerk....I'm in the far left lane and thinking, oh oh....

I safely pull over (luckily there was room) and shut the bike off. I had been "smart" enough to have read about the bike and read the owner's manual so I knew there was a reserve and I knew how to get to it. I calmly leaned over, "flipped the switch" and fired the bike back up.

The best part came next.

While I was pulled over I kept an eye on the traffic behind me, looking for semi's or someone drifting over the yellow line at me. I noticed someone signaling...to go *left*...."WTF is he doing!?" I thought.

The guy pulled in front of me about 15 yards away, got out and started walking back to me.

"You OK?", he asked.

I explained to him I was a new rider and had made a boneheaded mistake. He said, "Well, I'm a rider too and I just wanted to make sure you were OK."

Wow.....really....wow.....what a great thing to do. A guy is headed home after a long day at work and he stops to help out a "fellow biker".

I was so stunned, all I could do was thank him - I never even thought to ask him his name. But, whoever he was, I wanted to tell this story as a way of thanking him and, rest assured, I will "pay it forward" if I ever get the chance.