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fuel warning light at 140 miles

  • Thread starter ReggieGasket
  • Start date
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ReggieGasket

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My fuel warning light comes on at about 140-145 miles. I normally then put in nearly 4 gallons. That means there should be about a gallon left when the warning light comes on. Anyone tested that? Seems a bit early to me. When touring would be nice to use some of that gallon, but worried about running out. I have a 1997 bike if that makes any difference?
 

lee j

Registered User
Seems very low for the fuel light to show - mine normally flashes last block at 180 and even then I normally put in 18.5ltrs (tank is 24ltr) although have not had the fuel light showing. Personally have not tried to use lower though have had 220 before filling and that was 20.5ltr. Have not wanted to attempt fate more than that as I do not know how much is left in the tank when the pump cannot pick up any more fuel. Try carrying a litre in a topbox and seeing how far you can get - should get 10 miles from a litre if you are carefull.

Lee
 

DEG5Y

Been there, and had one
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What model is it.
If I'm commuting on my carby then I get sh!te consumption as my choke is on for a mile which is almost a third of my trip. (I know not worth kitting up for)
Your figures would suggest 33/34 to the gallon which seems low.
 
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ReggieGasket

Guest
Thanks. I'm getting 36-40 mpg depending on route. Bear in mind I ride around 90-100mph on the motorway :whi5tl:

I think I can assume there's a gallon there @tu*
 
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ray pinder

Guest
fuel

My carb model did about 30 miles from warning light to empty with steadyish riding
 

Jaws

Corporal CockUp
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A Sunday on the German autobahn.
Knew I was getting low but all the garages we stopped at were card only ( this was in the very early days of pin numbers )
I had NO idea what my pin number was !
The red light came on.. I dropped the speed to 50 and prayed !
I clocked up another 52 miles and quite litterally as it coughed for the first time a garge entrance hove in to view.
I pulled in there only to find the same.. card only.

Fortunately as I was preparing to plot up for the night a car pulled in.. In broken German and equally broken english we sorted it out.
He filled the tank to brimming and I paid him cash.. Job done..
Sooo.. 52 miles more or less from red light on to empty
 
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mikeyw64

Guest
sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Late May 2013, running down from Calais to Monaco well into triple digits all the way with absolutely no instruments (found out later it was a broken track on the back of the instruments) and relying solely on the sat nav for speed and distance.

One of the stops I managed to (brimming admittedly) get 22 litres into a Carbies fuel tank
 
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ReggieGasket

Guest
Thanks guys. Think I'll set a limit of 30 miles.
 

DEG5Y

Been there, and had one
Club Sponsor
One thing I did was to put a bit of a bend in the sender float.
It made my fuel gauge more accurate as it empties.
Needle doesn't move till nearly half a tank has gone. It then comes down half a gallon for every line on the gauge. light comes on as it enters the red with half a gallon to go.
Its a little un-nerving watching how quickly you can use that two gallon!
 

andyBeaker

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My fuel warning light comes on at about 140-145 miles. I normally then put in nearly 4 gallons. That means there should be about a gallon left when the warning light comes on. Anyone tested that? Seems a bit early to me. When touring would be nice to use some of that gallon, but worried about running out. I have a 1997 bike if that makes any difference?

Fill the bike to the brim, strap a full 5 litre can on the back, set trip meter to zero and then ride until it stops. It's the only way to find out:-0)

For what it's worth both my carb and FI did over 40 miles after the warning came on and even then they Didn't run out before I filled up. Many, many thousands of miles teaches you all sorts of stuff about your bike.

Alison worth knowing there are (from memory) at least three different size tanks on various Birds. All part of Honda's drive to help updating them8rfl@
 

lumpy

Still a wanker
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What model is it.
If I'm commuting on my carby then I get sh!te consumption as my choke is on for a mile which is almost a third of my trip. (I know not worth kitting up for)
Your figures would suggest 33/34 to the gallon which seems low.

my carb, choke on to start, 100 yards up the road it goes off. Try it or get the carbs cleaned and balanced. My carb light comes on 150 - 180, usual tank range 190 - 230 miles. Some carbed ones are awful for some reason, Effy bikes do use more fuel but have bigger tank.
 

noobie

Clueless in most things
I have to agree with Lumpy.

My 97 carbie first thing, had the choke on to fire it up, left running whilst I put the last bits of kit on and locked the garage up, left the flats, turned right about 300 yards to the roundabout then when off the roundabout, the choke came off.

Both carby and injections for me seemed to come on around the 150-160 mark. Worst I had was a carby with a full akropovic, stage 1 dynojet kit, k&n filter and set up on a rolling road. It wasn't unusual to see the warning light to come on around 100 miles:-0)
 

andyBeaker

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The choke on my carb was off by the time I reached the end of the driveway. Didn't need it at all for 8 or 9 months of the year.

Funny how what is supposed to be identical things have their own foibles.
 
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