Fuel Gauge

[81delorean]

A while back I posted about me running out of gas due to my fuel gauge being quite optimistic. I ran across a hack/trick to reset it using a spark igniter for a gas grill or lighter, hooking it up to the plug and clicking it a few times to reset it. Do you think it's worth a shot? Right now my gauge is reading between a 1/3 and 1/2 even though I only have maybe a half gallon of gas in it at the moment which was just to get me home. Any thoughts? 

[dirtrider]

43 minutes ago, 81delorean said:

A while back I posted about me running out of gas due to my fuel gauge being quite optimistic. I ran across a hack/trick to reset it using a spark igniter for a gas grill or lighter, hooking it up to the plug and clicking it a few times to reset it. Do you think it's worth a shot? Right now my gauge is reading between a 1/3 and 1/2 even though I only have maybe a half gallon of gas in it at the moment which was just to get me home. Any thoughts? 

Evening 81delorean

 

If your problem is in the fuel strip itself then possibly the grill igniter might help it (for a while). But from what I have seen over the years it is usually a temporary fix so you will never know when it read will incorrectly again then you run out of fuel.

 

If the problem is in an incorrectly calibrated fuel strip then the grill igniter won't do anything.  

[81delorean]

What is the procedure for calibrating the fuel strip? I assume I would need a GS-911 or equivalent tool? I haven't googled it yet to see what i can find out. 

[dirtrider]

41 minutes ago, 81delorean said:

What is the procedure for calibrating the fuel strip? I assume I would need a GS-911 or equivalent tool? I haven't googled it yet to see what i can find out. 

Evening 81delorean

 

Yes, a GS-911 or a MotoScan  plus you need to remove the fuel strip then dry it out as it needs to be calibrated dry. 

[81delorean]

1 hour ago, dirtrider said:

Evening 81delorean

 

Yes, a GS-911 or a MotoScan  plus you need to remove the fuel strip then dry it out as it needs to be calibrated dry. 

Do you have experience with either of those? Which is better simpler and better suited for someone who isn't into electronic gadgets at all? 

[John Ranalletta]

38 minutes ago, 81delorean said:

Do you have experience with either of those? Which is better simpler and better suited for someone who isn't into electronic gadgets at all? 

I borrowed @Indy Dave's GS-911 and calibrated a new strip in minutes and, as many will tell you, I ain't no genius.

[81delorean]

2 minutes ago, John Ranalletta said:

I borrowed @Indy Dave's GS-911 and calibrated a new strip in minutes and, as many will tell you, I ain't no genius.

I've heard the rumors, just wasn't going to say anything.  lol   Kidding, thanks for all the input. 

[81delorean]

I give, where in the world is the connector at on the bike? Thought it would be under the seat somewhere but it's not jumping out at me. 

[dirtrider]

11 hours ago, 81delorean said:

Do you have experience with either of those? Which is better simpler and better suited for someone who isn't into electronic gadgets at all? 

Morning 81delorean

 

I do with the GS-911 but not with the Moto Scan. I can't tell you which one is simpler as I don't use the MotoScan but the MotoScan is usually a lot cheaper to buy. 

 

I don't trust some of the MotoScan system data but in talking to some riders that have one it seems to calibrate the fuel strip OK. 

[dirtrider]

8 hours ago, 81delorean said:

I give, where in the world is the connector at on the bike? Thought it would be under the seat somewhere but it's not jumping out at me. 

Morning 81delorean

 

What connector are you looking for? 

 

The fuel strip, or the round 10 pin where the GS-911 connects? 

 

The fuel strip just remains connected to the fuel tank wiring as the calibration is done though the 10 pin.

 

The 10 pin is under the seat   (about at the rear of the front seat), it has a round screw-on cap on it. 

[Dave P]

81, my 07 RT has the exact same fuel gauge issue. Told me 1/3 of a tank then ran out of gas. Got me twice!

 

I decided to leave it alone, looked like removing that fuel strip and recalibrating it was gonna be way too much work for a questionable "repair".  D

[81delorean]

12 hours ago, dirtrider said:

Morning 81delorean

 

What connector are you looking for? 

 

The fuel strip, or the round 10 pin where the GS-911 connects? 

 

The fuel strip just remains connected to the fuel tank wiring as the calibration is done though the 10 pin.

 

The 10 pin is under the seat   (about at the rear of the front seat), it has a round screw-on cap on it. 

Thanks, I saw that but I didn't try unscrewing it to see if that's what it was or not. I appreciate it.  

 

[Hosstage]

I use the gas gauge as a secondary monitor, the trip odometer is my first check.

[dduelin]

Fuel gauges on motorcycles are nice but for me they are secondary to a trip meter anyway so when my strip began to fail I installed a $50 thing that spoofs the gauge to read full all the time. It's apparently not a complicated thing because some of us here have made their own spoofing device but it was worth for me buying the plug and play thing. Reading"full" erases the yellow triangle warning light and returns it to a malfunction indicator for all the other possible trouble codes that might come up.

 

I've tracked my mpg for over 50,000 miles and know what my 07 gets in the conditions I've been riding since tank refill and I'm confident in my calculations. As I have posted before, the computer still tracks fuel consumption so the "miles to empty" on the MFI becomes instead a display of "full tank range" based on average fuel burn since resetting and I just  cross check the B trip meter against expected tank range, rarely ever needing more than 6 gallons to top off. 

[81delorean]

I would be happy if the fuel gauge didn't work but the miles remaining did. That's pretty much what I look at anyway most of the time. I haven't had the bike long enough or ridden it enough to know what to expect for mpg or range yet. 

[Dave P]

dd- just curious, at what mileage do you start looking for a gas station? I usually figure 240 miles or so until I look for gas. Mines an 07 1200RT.  Dave

[81delorean]

Haven't been on any trips on this bike yet but on my Vstrom I would start looking around 200 miles. I'm not disciplined enough to remember to reset the trip meter at every gas stop. 

[dirtrider]

10 hours ago, Dave P said:

dd- just curious, at what mileage do you start looking for a gas station? I usually figure 240 miles or so until I look for gas. Mines an 07 1200RT.  Dave

Morning Dave 

 

A lot of depends on this one. 

 

How fast you ride, at what speeds, how much head wind, etc.

 

240-250 miles is a good initial place to start, then you can then see how much fuel it takes at each fuel stop depending on how you ride on that tank of fuel. 

 

At a lazy back road speed without being aggressive you might get as much as 330+ miles per (full) tank full.   At 85-90 mph + on the freeway I usually figure  260-280 miles per tank. At 85+ into a very stiff headwind with camping gear on the motorcycle my personal hexhead can be down in the low 200 mile per tank range. 

 

Personally, I usually reset one of the two trip meters at every fuel stop as a general back-up. My first fuel strip failure failed at about 3/4 full & stuck there so I didn't catch the strip failure until I darn near ran out of fuel.  

[Dave P]

DR- I guess I can go further on a tank of gas than I thought!

 

Would it be crazy to fill up (really filll her up) and take a gallon or 2 of gas in a gas bottle, reset the miles and just ride normally until she quits? Back roads no interstate. Then gas up with my gas bottle to get to the nearest gas station. That would really tell me how many miles I can go before looking for gas. She's run out a couple times already with no ill effects. D

[dirtrider]

11 hours ago, Dave P said:

DR- I guess I can go further on a tank of gas than I thought!

 

Would it be crazy to fill up (really fill her up) and take a gallon or 2 of gas in a gas bottle, reset the miles and just ride normally until she quits? Back roads no interstate. Then gas up with my gas bottle to get to the nearest gas station. That would really tell me how many miles I can go before looking for gas. She's run out a couple times already with no ill effects. D

Morning Dave

 

You can do that but it will be valid for that ride only. Plus you don't want to fully  run out of fuel if you can avoid it as that is hard on the fuel pump as the fuel pump is both fuel lubricated & fuel cooled. 

 

Just start with your 240 miles estimate then see how much fuel it takes at full-up. Then figure out your fuel mileage. After a few fill-ups at 240 miles you will have an idea on how far you can go. 

 

 

[lkraus]

On 2/27/2024 at 8:32 PM, Dave P said:

dd- just curious, at what mileage do you start looking for a gas station? I usually figure 240 miles or so until I look for gas. Mines an 07 1200RT.  Dave

MY '06 DTE estimates the miles until a "reserve" of 4 liters (1.1gallons) remains in the tank and will display "---" after that point.  Your total '07 should be the same with a total capacity of 7.1 gallons, including the reserve.   My yellow low fuel warning activates with roughly 50 miles remaining on the DTE.  Though my gauge and DTE seem to be accurate, I don't entirely trust them.  I do reset a trip meter and the average mpg at every fill-up so that the 50mpg I had in the twisties does not affect the DTE display when cruising into a head wind on the interstate at 40 mpg. 

 

Most miles per tank has been 370, but I usually start looking for gas at 250 miles on the trip meter, or 200 when between the Mississippi and the west coast where gas stations can be sparse. I've never run out of gas, but looking at "---" for 50 miles is detrimental to my peace of mind.  

 

[Indy Dave]

It's been a while since I had my 06. I think DR's 240 is a good reference. The best I got on my 06 RT was 320 - and a bunch of that was steady highway - and I knew where the fuel exits were on that stretch - which is why I 'pushed it'. I sputtered to a halt on the shoulder - about a half mile to the next exit. I got off the bike and leaned the bike wayyy over on the clutch side to get the stranded right side fuel over to the left side fuel pick-up and fired it up and rode to the gas station at that exit.

 

I guess the point is - we all ride differently - both in technique, speed and rates of acceleration, and road type and terrain. So you really have to find YOUR general average for a frame of reference. 

 

A side note - when I got my 2010 Hexhead - I made the silly assumption that I had the same range as the hexhead. And I rolled to a stop out in the middle of no-where Indiana. In my defense - the camhead did have some issues that it took me a while to work though, and I ran out of gas more than once! Famously I ran out while riding with 2 other Camheads who were quite surprised when I disappeared from their mirrors. @marcopolo observed on the intercom that when I said I would run out of gas in 12 miles (my best guess) ... I did! @Endobob hung back and waited with me. About 20 minutes later, back came @BMW_Ken with a new gas can and fuel tethered to his Hexhead.  

 

What I remember most of about that scene is listening (as one does) to Ken's perfectly matched downshifts as he approached - it's a skill not everyone has; and of course it's no surprise Ken nailed it every time. It's satisfying to hear it done correctly, just as much as it is to do it correctly yourself. @BMW_Ken The Original Shift Assist™  

 

 

 

[Hosstage]

I guess I don't understand the "push it to the limit" club. 

Having grown up in a boating-centric world, safety is always #1 on the water, and having enough fuel is paramount. I was a bit harshly admonished, once, for suggesting that heading out with half a tank of fuel on the big lake was plenty. After that it was always 1/3 tank out, 1/3 tank in, 1/3 tank reserve because things happen.

I'm a fill up at 1/3 tank guy. Plus, that's about the time I have to hit the bathroom!

[Indy Dave]

Who's got time to stop for fuel?

[dirtrider]

17 minutes ago, Hosstage said:

I guess I don't understand the "push it to the limit" club. 

Having grown up in a boating-centric world, safety is always #1 on the water, and having enough fuel is paramount. I was a bit harshly admonished, once, for suggesting that heading out with half a tank of fuel on the big lake was plenty. After that it was always 1/3 tank out, 1/3 tank in, 1/3 tank reserve because things happen.

I'm a fill up at 1/3 tank guy. Plus, that's about the time I have to hit the bathroom!

Afternoon  Hosstage

 

Sometimes we just don't want to stop until we get there. 

 

Some of us travel certain patterns with defined places to stop & eat, or maybe no stopping until end of trip, or even a certain distance to get a good fill then we can make the rest of the trip without a stop. 

 

If I know I am going to stop for (something at 275 miles) I fill before leaving then can make the entire trip without a stop. 

 

If I'm going to carry 7+ gallons of fuel then I am going to try to use most of it before stopping. 

 

I did have an incident last summer up in Michigan where I got into a group that was zinging right along at 95+ mph (about 10 of us). I had a 275 mile fuel stop programmed into my GPS but my low fuel light came on early so I had to change plans & stop early. (I really hated to drop out of that group, as it put some fun into a long trip) 

 

 

[lkraus]

1 hour ago, Hosstage said:

I guess I don't understand the "push it to the limit" club. 

Having grown up in a boating-centric world, safety is always #1 on the water, and having enough fuel is paramount. I was a bit harshly admonished, once, for suggesting that heading out with half a tank of fuel on the big lake was plenty. After that it was always 1/3 tank out, 1/3 tank in, 1/3 tank reserve because things happen.

I'm a fill up at 1/3 tank guy. Plus, that's about the time I have to hit the bathroom!

I don't set out to push the limits, but things happen and we discover the limits. 

Towns and stations are further apart than we realized.

Still riding much later than planned and stations are closed.

The GPS is wrong and the fuel stop is now a flower shop.

The small town station only has diesel or 87 octane from a rusty pump with a cracked hose and a crank to reset, so you keep riding in hopes of finding clean 93. 

Knowing the limit from actual experience relieves a lot of range anxiety.

 

Typically on a long ride, I fill up, ride a couple hours or about 125 miles, stop for a ten minute break, ride a couple more hours and refuel at ~250, repeat... 

Refueling after only one third tank is usually way too soon for me, but walking is easier than paddling.

[Indy Dave]

I have to admit, back when I was the only one on a BMW riding with some old friends, I really enjoyed filling up once to every two times for them. I also knew it was eating away at them. I guess that plan worked now, because they all ride BMWs now!

[marcopolo]

I just traded in my GSA for a 1250 GS. I know I’m going to miss that 30 L tank. Moving from that to a 20 L tank is a big difference. 
 

I bet the BBR ™ won’t let me ride with them anymore. 😩

[Hosstage]

33 minutes ago, lkraus said:

Refueling after only one third tank is usually way too soon for me, but walking is easier than paddling.

I meant refueling at 1/3 left in the tank, not 1/3 into a full tank.

I'm all for eating miles up without stopping to fuel, but if out in areas I'm not familiar with, I go by the mantra "fill when you can". I'd rather arrive with an almost full tank than arrive by pushing. 

But that is the adventure of riding, sometimes things don't always go quite to plan!

As far as passing on inferior fuel when really low and hoping for the best, I've put in 1 gallon to get me to a decent station. 

[Rider1260]

My GPS reminds me to start looking for fuel , also help me make sure the fuel gauge is still working , luckily so far no issues for me. I have wondered is keeping your tank partially full for extended periods might cause issues , I keep mine topped up most always 

[dduelin]

All good replies. I am weird and record on Fuelly mobile app nearly every tank so I have some experience with my bikes in most every condition I find myself in. (I’ve tracked my 07 over 55,000 miles and 270 fill ups). I use 6 gallons for calculating so as to leave 1+ gallon reserve. Depending on the kind of riding I use 40 to 48 mpg x 6 to arrive at 240 to 290 miles for tank range. With the gauge spoofed to full probably 30,000 miles I’ve seen a close correlation enough times between displayed miles to empty and demonstrated fuel burn to trust my SOTP. 
 

For most of the day rides I do solo or with our small group of riding buddies we are going to stop for a break before needing fuel. I’ll fill up with an eye towards needing to top off about 5 miles from home. 

[dduelin]