Respect the low fuel light

fireman1251 · May 5, 2014

On the track, the fuel light is good for 15km! I know because I ran out twice last year.

On the street I get nervous after 30 km. Putting it in WET mode helps with consumption.

BurnCycle · May 5, 2014

Stw said:
I am sorry..but your logic totally escapes me....

That was your first mistake, trying to understand my logic... but...

Would it be better if the light came on with 3 gallons left? Coming on with that much gas left is useless. Remember learning to switch the fuel pet cock over on a carbureted bike mid ride? You knew you had .8 of a gallon left and you knew exactly how far you could go. The first FI bikes followed the same principle, .8 gallon and a light was coming on and you knew exactly how far you could go. Now its coming on with 1.5 gallons remaining... Why? My MV Agusta 910 had a much larger tank and got much worse gas mileage. Want to guess how much fuel reserve I had when the light came on? My old Suzuki has a 2 stage light system. It would blink at .8 and stay on full at .2.

Its forcing me to relearn something that's been hard coded in my riding for the last 25 years that's all.

JeffD · May 5, 2014

Yeah, but as Steve B just calculated above, perhaps the real capacity is 4.25 gallons, leaving approximately .75 gallon in the tank when the light comes on, per our poor OP's original story. So, you should be good with your pre-programmed fuel-light-on estimator.

BurnCycle · May 5, 2014

JeffD said:
Yeah, but as Steve B just calculated above, perhaps the real capacity is 4.25 gallons, leaving approximately .75 gallon in the tank when the light comes on, per our poor OP's original story. So, you should be good with your pre-programmed fuel-light-on estimator.

Or that too.

turnone · May 5, 2014

Xbox said:
Mmmh, I doubt you were given the light with a full 5-litre of reserve left.

No way it would drink that in <30km!!!

Not even WOT the whole time.

On the track it reads between 14 and 16 mpg's.

It's possible to make this thing get very thirsty

Canduc · May 5, 2014

Not that I ran out of fuel but did notice a dramatic increase is mileage after the first service at 1000 km. Coincidence or not it will increase the distance you can travel after the light comes on.

ryanfavro · May 5, 2014

Canduc said:
Not that I ran out of fuel but did notice a dramatic increase is mileage after the first service at 1000 km. Coincidence or not it will increase the distance you can travel after the light comes on.

I'm halfway to first service, so I'll compare the first 1000km's fuel economy to the next 1000km post first service.

92GTA · May 5, 2014

Canduc said:
Not that I ran out of fuel but did notice a dramatic increase is mileage after the first service at 1000 km. Coincidence or not it will increase the distance you can travel after the light comes on.

This is a common no-brainer. After a couple thousand miles you will have more power and better mileage, proven 100% fact all day long once the engine is properly broken in. The amount of miles of course varies depending on how the engine is run during break-in.

2WheelsRBetter · May 5, 2014

Xbox said:
...I doubt you were given the light with a full 5-litre of reserve left.

Manual says this ^^^. 5 liters or 1.3 gallons remaining when the warning light kicks on. I've easily gotten 30 miles from that point like several others.

AntiHero · May 6, 2014

I eeked out close to 40 miles after seeing the fuel light on. I was lost in the middle of nowhere and she took 4.2 gallons if memory serves.

Xbox · May 6, 2014

2WheelsRBetter said:
Manual says this ^^^. 5 liters or 1.3 gallons remaining when the warning light kicks on. I've easily gotten 30 miles from that point like several others.

Yes, but the warning light often flickers on/off a few times, before finally settling onto reserve and counting distance.

29km is just so very low

kensteele · May 7, 2014

For someone who fills up the car at the halfway mark always, i try to fill up the bike before i see the light and unless i filled up yesterday i top off the tank at the end of the ride. Helps to have your favourite gas station within 2 miles.

Carbon fibr · May 7, 2014

I got 30 miles when I was in the Tennessee last week with the fuel light on. Was at the top of the Dragon & made it back across the foothills to grab fuel in Townsend.
I thought for sure I was going to end up pushing it.

Xbox · May 7, 2014

If you can't get 20miles/29kms on reserve, road riding, with a warning light in your face, then your reserve is inaccurate, or you have a bike pushing fetish

Charliem90 · May 7, 2014

It's my on-going goal while riding to never test how many miles can be had when the reserve light comes on. At 100 mi indicated, I pull over for gas. I don't trust fuel indicators - especially when they're idiot lights.

Styler · May 7, 2014

I too ran out of gas last week. The fuel light flickered on and then off a few times before staying on. I got about 20 miles in reserve before I ran out, and that was after shifting into wet mode to conserve fuel. I think the fact that the light will sometimes come on earlier than other times (or turn on and then go back off for a few miles) may have a lot to do with it. In total I got 109 miles out of the tank, most of it riding vigorously. If in doubt about your ability to refill, switch to wet mode to try and eek out some more distance. Usually, I look for fuel by the 80 mile mark; there just wasn't any around.

dodge2dub · May 7, 2014

Who sells the Bridgestone S20 EVO. I'm having trouble locating a vendor that has the EVO version.

Sloopy · May 7, 2014

I want to fuel by 100 but have gone about 120 with the light on for the last 10 or so.

ryanfavro · May 7, 2014

Styler said:
I too ran out of gas last week. The fuel light flickered on and then off a few times before staying on. I got about 20 miles in reserve before I ran out, and that was after shifting into wet mode to conserve fuel. I think the fact that the light will sometimes come on earlier than other times (or turn on and then go back off for a few miles) may have a lot to do with it. In total I got 109 miles out of the tank, most of it riding vigorously. If in doubt about your ability to refill, switch to wet mode to try and eek out some more distance. Usually, I look for fuel by the 80 mile mark; there just wasn't any around.

I don't believe wet mode makes a difference to the fuel economy or at least not one that will save you from running out of gas. Toggle the real time fuel consumption read out to on and you'll see that fuel consumption at 4-5k rpm is roughly the same across all three modes. I did notice "Race mode" for me was actually a bit more efficient in that RPM range cruising at 60km per hour.

I'll mount a go pro facing the dash later this week and record the real time fuel calculations for each mode to confirm.

pil · May 7, 2014

This all sounds like a Seinfeld episode with Kramer pushing the limits of fuel

Respect the low fuel light

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