Fuel Gage - '05 R1200RT

[rhaus]

Last night I ran out of fuel with ¼ tank indicated on the gage. The computer said that I had 109mi range. I was less than happy to go from 75mi/hr to zero so unexpectedly. I have not read about people here having this issue. I know about the gage reporting to be empty and still having about a gallon of fuel left. I had to push the bike I little more than a mile, nearly flat, to buy gas.

 

As I was putting gas in I discovered that the trip odometer said 357mi. Had I looked at the trip odometer instead of the fuel gage I would have bought gas, a bit, earlier. I can’t keep the trip odometer displayed. Each time I start the bike the “dist” is displayed. I had not made a habit of changing it every time, I guess I will now.

 

So is this a common problem and I missed reading about it?

 

I have been told that running fuel injector cleaner will clean the sensor in the tank and may clear the problem up. I have not talked to the dealer yet. I like my dealer and I did not want to unload on him right away.

 

By the way I got 1.48 gal at one gas station and 10mi later I put in 6.2gal (7.7gal). The trip odometer at the second stop said 366mi. The computer said I had been averaging 48mi/gal, the numbers above suggested 47.5mi/gal. So now if the sending unit worked I could trust the bike. The first station charges $0.45 to use a debit card and I only had $4.00 cash on me, I refused to pay the $0.45. Their price per gallon is the same as all of the other gas stations.

[YesMan]

Doesn't the roadside assistance cover running out of gas?

 

Of course who knows how much you'll pay for that gas!

[BeemerBerg]

At last we have a definitive answer:

The R1200RT will hold 7.7 gallons.

 

Heck of a way to find out.

[Paul Mihalka]

At last we have a definitive answer:

The R1200RT will hold 7.7 gallons.

 

Heck of a way to find out.

357 miles to 366 miles is .2 gallon of gas. It makes the real fillup 7.5gal. BMW says 7.4. Not too bad.

Seems to be a problem of the fuel gauge inside the tank. That's what the warranty is for.

[Pickaxe]

Ran mine to 0 miles on the miles left computer and got 22L in the tank, which would suggest there was approx 5 L left.

I was sure I felt the engine splutter just before pulling into the petrol station, but was probably just my anxiety.

[sjn7708]

I had heard this was an issue on the GS as well, which is what I ride. I actually go by the tripmeter instead of the fuel guage. At 180 miles, Im pretty safe.

[rhaus]

At last we have a definitive answer:

The R1200RT will hold 7.7 gallons.

 

Heck of a way to find out.

357 miles to 366 miles is .2 gallon of gas. It makes the real fillup 7.5gal. BMW says 7.4. Not too bad.

Seems to be a problem of the fuel gauge inside the tank. That's what the warranty is for.

 

The dealer also wants it in for a warranty repair I'll take it in when it is ready for service. Till then it's the trip odometer for safety. The dealer also said he runs fuel injector cleaner once a month so I'll try that too. It is rumored that the gas in AZ is not the best because of additives. I lost the fuel sending unit in my truck also. The truck is diesel though so I don't know if that means much.

 

And to the other question: BMW would have brought me gas I believe it would have been free, may be wrong about that. No matter I was not going to wait for gas when I could be on my way in under an hour. The push was mostly flat and I could use the exercise.

[PaulW42]

FWIW, I ran mine 3 miles past 0 miles to go and got 24.2 litres in to the top of the neck. There seems to be quite a variation in the Miles to go read out. BTW there were no bars visible on the fuel guage either. In theory, I had at least another 3 - 4 litres left (but not the guts to find out ).

 

Paul

[cranezilla]

how could I have ridden my ole AHarley for 200,000 miles without running out of gas one time, and NO! fuel guage at all?

 

Maybe BMW should remove the fuel guage, that would remove that problem.

 

Or just put some black tape over it like the VCR, so you don't wee the blionking light, solves that problem!

[dancogan]

357 miles to 366 miles is .2 gallon of gas. It makes the real fillup 7.5gal. BMW says 7.4. Not too bad.

 

The owners manual for my 05 says 7 gallons. ?

[imeyers]

I had the same problem with mine. 05 R12RT, Gauge showed 1/4 and as I was turning onto my block it shut down. The tank was bone dry. Gauge showed 1/4 tank and 120 mile to empty. Pissed me off that I was pushing my new 20K bike because of a bad fuel gauge. Brought it to the dealer and thought is was fixed but I have to bring it back. It took 5.5 gallons and was showing half a tank on the gauge. The dealer has been very helpful so far. I will update you when I get the bike back. I am going to drop it off next week.

[Catbird]

Just out of curiosity, did your low fuel level warning light ever come on?

[imeyers]

Nope, not at all. No warning.

[tickle_my_tummy]

Sorry to hear about your fuel problem. I've found that once the computer shows zero miles left in the tank, then there always seems to be a reserve of 4-5 litres. I'm quite happy to use this method as a check for when I should fill up but given the nature of the computer this isn't a recommendation, only an observation

[Pickaxe]

I had heard this was an issue on the GS as well, which is what I ride. I actually go by the tripmeter instead of the fuel guage. At 180 miles, Im pretty safe.

I was allways quite impressed with the accuracy of my GS fuel guage. As far as I'm aware the only problem was the float sticking on early production models.

[PaulW42]

I agree. The GS gauge was excellent as was the mileage count down. Seems strange that the RT is more dodgy.

 

Paul

[David_S]

I can’t keep the trip odometer displayed. Each time I start the bike the “dist” is displayed.

 

I'm not sure I understand this. Trip A & B along with the odometer are displayed in a separate location than the "dist". I have discovered (with the help of this board) that if you have the trip odometer displayed when you shut the bike off it will return on restart unless you don't allow the bike to run the complete cycle of self test etc that it runs during the key on cycle. If you start the bike before it finishes the cycle of tests the odometer will default to the odometer and not the trip odometer.

[rhaus]

I'll wait longer and see if that makes the Trip odometer stay on. My Dist. and Trip odometer are displayed in the same place.

[dyvking]

Last night I ran out of fuel with ¼ tank indicated on the gage. The computer said that I had 109mi range. I was less than happy to go from 75mi/hr to zero so unexpectedly. I have not read about people here having this issue. I know about the gage reporting to be empty and still having about a gallon of fuel left.

 

So, after reading your post, I checked mine out. After 269 miles on the trip meter, my computer told me I was out of gas. I ran it about a mile past the zero miles left indication and bought gas. First I stuck my finger in the fill spout and pulled out the 'rubber thingy'. The tank took 5.95 gallons up to the bottom of the neck. So, I had plenty of gas left, and my computer was clueless.

I also noticed the issue of the 'dist' showing up rather than trip meter after successive start-ups. I hadn't paid attention to that in the past, but seem to recollect that I had formerly been able to start up in the trip-meter mode.

[dyvking]

I'm not sure I understand this. Trip A & B along with the odometer are displayed in a separate location than the "dist".

 

Not on my '06. The trip meter and odometer (indicated as 'dist' on the RID) are shown in the same location. If you were referring to the distance to empty tank, then yeah, that's in a different spot.

[cjmkerns]

Walt,

 

That fuel gage and count down odometer are not intended to tell you when the bike is bone dry (that would be very bad form). It tells you when you have gone on reserve. If that thing counted down to a dry tank with no reserve there would probably be even more people complaining. Mine takes 5.8 gallons (I still have the rubber thingy) when the count down hits 0. That's about 275 miles. I like that.

 

Regards,

 

Carl

[dyvking]

Walt,

 

That fuel gage and count down odometer are not intended to tell you when the bike is bone dry (that would be very bad form). It tells you when you have gone on reserve.

Regards,

Carl

 

I realize that this is what most of the Tripmasters seem to be doing, and I think you are correct that that is most likely the intent of BMW.

However, if that is the intention, then the manual is quite unclear and indicates otherwise. According to my manual, when

"Fuel is down to reserve the general warning light lights up yellow. Fuel reserve symbol is displayed" and

"the Tripmaster indicates the probable residual operating range" and

"At most, the fuel tank still contains the reserve fuel quantity"

 

The manual indicates that all of the above happens when the reserve level of 1.1 gallons is reached. To me, that says that when the yellow light comes on and the countdown begins, you are ALREADY on reserve. That would leave the countdown showing range to empty, not range to reserve.

 

This agrees with my findings. My yellow light came on after only about 230 miles of riding, and the countdown began, well ahead of my hitting the reserve level.

 

My GS does the same thing. When the countdown meter shows zero miles remaining, I still have reserve fuel left.

[Brimoon]

Yesterday, I ran my R12RT to only 2 miles range left on the computer - almost zero. The gas gauge also showed empty - no black showing. It took 5.9 gallons on fill-up, up to the bottom of the rubber thingy. This sounds pretty much what others are experiencing. I'm not sure, but I believe low fuel warning came on with about 40 or 50 miles remaining range showing on the computer. I'm glad to know that I still have some usable fuel left after everything shows empty.

 

Brian

[eaglemike]

I ran mine to zero a few days ago. When I went to the local Costco to replenish, I also pulled the rubber thingie. It took right at 6.5 gals to the bottom of the neck (after the removal), on the centerstand.

 

all the best,

 

Mike

[rhaus]

I am now enjoying the bad gage. I have 152mi on the last fill up and the tank is still completly full. 1500mi till the 6000mi service. I planned on letting the shop do it any way so I'll give them a heads up when I go in and let them fix it then.