This has been bugging me for a while. I can't figure it out, so thought I'd see if you smarter guys could. Last week, got on the bike to ride to work and the gas light was on. Mileage on the tank was 140. My round trip was approximately 40 miles, but I'd been riding pretty easily on that tank and figured I had until around 200 before I was bone dry. Planned to get gas at lunch, but got busy and didn't get the chance. Running late to meet with my kid's advisor at school, I decided to risk it on the way home.
Long story short, I ran into a bunch of traffic near my destination, got off the freeway, stalled and died at a stoplight, and pushed it across the street to a station. Here's where the freaky part starts. 182 miles on the odo. Filled it up, but it only took 4.1 gallons. WTF? I thought we had a 5-gallon tank!
I was on a slight downhill incline when the bike died. But if I had nearly a whole gallon of fuel, it was not enough of a hill to cause all the gas to slosh forward.
What is going on? Do we have a reserve switch that I can't find? I know it's fuel injected, but we have a choke (er, "quick warm-up"). Help!
Gas Elves! Those little fvckers come in at night and screw with the level of your tank. I bagged a few in my garage some time ago, held em hostage, but had to let them go due to their uncontrolled flatulence. Didn't have the heart to kill them.
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Filled it up, but it only took 4.1 gallons. WTF? I thought we had a 5-gallon tank!
!
First, they all lie about tank capacity a little. Second, the fuel pump is inside the tank taking up space that gas could be taking up (but the fuel pump is kind of important). Third, the pump can not reach 100% of the gas. So, in the end, the usable gas is always significantly lower than the number they tell you it will hold.
I'm pretty sure the manual says the tank is 4.8 gallons. That would have left you with less than 3/4 gallon of gas. The most I ever put in mine was about 4.25 gallons. If I remember correctly, that was after 195 miles. The dummy light was on for a loooooong time and I fully expected to be pushing 15 miles before the gas station.
My dummy light comes on almost religiously around 135 miles.
I have gotten 4.9 gallons in mine... But that's bone dry on a cool night. Not sure how much of a difference the temp makes but i know there are lots of fumes wasted when its warm. Right?
Did you fill up on the sidestand, or with the bike straight up?
Also, if you run out again, lean the bike left then right and ride on. I ran mine out on purpose when I first got it and found out there's gas left in the tank. It just needs some help getting to the fuel pump inlet.
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"Towards the end of the vid, it looks like she may have had a bafflectomy." - MarylandMike
Did you fill up on the sidestand, or with the bike straight up?
Also, if you run out again, lean the bike left then right and ride on. I ran mine out on purpose when I first got it and found out there's gas left in the tank. It just needs some help getting to the fuel pump inlet.
+1
Mine has stalled when it was low. Sloshed it around a bit and she fired right back up.
when I had my 919 it died on me at about the same amount of fuel left in the tank, I was going to fill up in the next town about 6 miles further but it died at a stop sign next to a gas station, started pushing it across the road and it fired up when I hit the button again just for sh!ts and giggles after it had sloshed a little. I never pushed it past about 4 gallons after that though.
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To cmurphy: My 06 manual says 5 gallons. My light also comes on almost always at 135 miles. I average around 40 mpg or more, so I always figured I was good for at least 200 miles before running out, which made me think I was being cautious filling up at 150 or 160. Guess not.
To sike: Makes sense. 5 gal. is probably ideal capacity without fuel pump taken into account. Never disassembled one, but I'm guessing the fuel pump inlet isn't flush with the bottom, which means not all gas is actually available for use, like you said.
HondaJim: I pretty much always fill on the sidestand, which I suppose reduces the amount I can get in by . . . what? 1/4 gallon? 1/2 gallon?
So, I guess you add it all up, and I'm maybe 1/2 gallon short on fill up (4.5 gal. available), 2 or 3 tenths unavailable to the fuel pump inlet (down to 4.2 or 4.3), and sitting on a slight downhill incline, and "pooof" I'm out of gas.
The sloshing around trick is a good tip. Thanks. And next time I fill, I think I'll get it up to the neck on the sidestand, then sit on it upright and see exactly how much more that adds to capacity. Just out of curiosity.
just to add is it just my bike or does it take a hell of a long time to fill, if it let it just lightly trickle in i get almost a solid litre in when the tank is "filled"
just to add is it just my bike or does it take a hell of a long time to fill, if it let it just lightly trickle in i get almost a solid litre in when the tank is "filled"
I've noticed that too. You can stand the bike straight up, fill it to the top of the neck, and wait a little bit. The level will drop and you can put more in. I think it takes a bit for the vapor to be displaced by the fuel. The only time I have the patience to do this is touring out west. Gas stations seems to relocate relative to how much fuel you have left.
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"Towards the end of the vid, it looks like she may have had a bafflectomy." - MarylandMike
Last week I did 197 miles and stopped to fill up. Took 4.7 gals. Just a hair shy of 42 mpg.
I know, speedo is wrong, which makes the odometer wrong. But it still took 4.7 gals.
I have no first hand proof but I've read elsewhere on this forum that the odometer is actually quite accurate even though the speedo is off significantly.
Sounds like you could get 4.9 to 4.7 in the tank with the bike straight up and a little patience to let it settle. The fact that it will "settle" kind of explains also why sloshing it around after the engine has died will get you started again and a little ways down the road.
On the handful of bikes I've owned, I've also found that the ODO is correct even thought the speedo is routinely up to 10% off.
My light comes on around 160-170 miles, but this is in SC without too many turns and a usually constant speed around 65.
got tat milage once following a few vmax riders to a get together went 170 175 miles on 3,5 gallons...thats pretty close to riding speed limits little over...
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how big is the reserve section of the tank??? my light usually comes on right around 145mi on the ODO... (80% of my riding is around town and tons o twisties), but have always wondered how long i could go once that light came on... i guess i could wait till the light comes on then see how long it takes to die, and keep a waterbottle full o gas to get me to a gas station haha.
I usualy look for the next gas station when my light comes on, depending on how iam riding that day my light will come on anywhere between 108 and 132 and here in maine there can be long distances between stations. the tank will usualy take between 3.6 to 3.9 gallons when i fill up but now i know i can some more out of it.
how big is the reserve section of the tank??? my light usually comes on right around 145mi on the ODO... (80% of my riding is around town and tons o twisties), but have always wondered how long i could go once that light came on... i guess i could wait till the light comes on then see how long it takes to die, and keep a waterbottle full o gas to get me to a gas station haha.
1 1/2 gallons lights comes on at 3 1/2 gallons used
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dont need a bike to ride the fast lane
how big is the reserve section of the tank??? my light usually comes on right around 145mi on the ODO... (80% of my riding is around town and tons o twisties), but have always wondered how long i could go once that light came on... i guess i could wait till the light comes on then see how long it takes to die, and keep a waterbottle full o gas to get me to a gas station haha.
Depends on when the 'low fuel' light switches 'on.' It seems that Honda was generous when setting the switches at the factory. Most here have well over a gallon of reserve. If I fill mine up when the light comes on, I typically have used 3.5 - 3.75 gallons of a full tank.
When I first got the bike, I kept a little pad of paper and a pencil handy when filling up. I averaged distances and fuel used for a lengthy period of time, then threw the pad away (just to make a tree hugger mad). Now, just looking at the mileage, I know pretty much when I need to stop. Don't rely on the light. Rely on your brain--it's fool proof with a little training.
When i enjoy a little spirited riding i can tell the differance between a full tank and one thats a little empty without the low level warning light telling me
My Owner's manual states:
"fuel tank capacity 5.02 US gal (19.0L) including reserve"
To add more confusion;
The owners manual for my 06 Canadian model says 17 litres.
That converts to 3.75 Canadian gallons or 4.78 US gallons.
I can go 225 before the light comes on! ( oh ya, that's KMs )
Either way, no one ever seems to have gotten 5 gallons in.
Also, I filled on the sidestand this weekend, then straightened it up and topped it off. An extra .3 of a gallon. So, if you fill on the sidestand, figure a max capacity of 4.7 gallons, at the most.
I told my wife that since she has nothing better to do, she could follow me around in the car with a gas can until I run out.
She told me to go flick myself.
I have run out of gas a few times. Each time I filled up I got 19 liters of fuel in it. i have even got 19.4 liters if I have the bike standing straight up. By slightly shaking the bike side to side makes the fuel level go down.
Pump squirt makes all the difference. When you find a pump that has just the right trigger on it, with the right pressure, you can ease it in and let the air rise out at the same time. Around here most pump nozzles seem to be suffering from premature tankafilliation. You squeeze it and nothing, then all of a sudden there's the money shot.
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"Towards the end of the vid, it looks like she may have had a bafflectomy." - MarylandMike
There was half of a 180mi hill-country trip on that, so half of it was definitely 'highway' riding. My commute is a whopping 8.5mi, 1.8mi of which is "interstate riding" if you want to call it that.
17t sprocket may be helping as well, maybe...4-5mi to the tank?
I told my wife that since she has nothing better to do, she could follow me around in the car with a gas can until I run out.
She told me to go flick myself.
sounds like some little lady needs a good shaking.....
we need someone to ride ~200 miles around in a gas station parking lot till they run out and see how much they can put in....
I just did 194 miles and put in 4.03 gal. I was in WVa mountains in an area that doesn't cater to tourist, apparently. I was sweating bullets till I found that station. I averaged 48 to 50 mpg on the whole 1400 mile trip. Bike is box stock.
the very best mileage i have gotten from a bike *(to my best recollection) is 44mpg i got ONCE out of a cbr1000rr when i went down to key west.... i filled up in key largo and i drove the EXACT speed limit the whole way down and back out because there is only 1 road and nowhere to run and the cops have no sense of humor at all....
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