Miles on reserve light

[Aleksandar13]

Was wondering how many miles/km you run your bike on reserve ... I have managed 40 miles on blinking reserve today... and every time I go to put fuel in it always has 5-6 litres left.. 

Its something I need to get used to but was wondering if we can easily get 60 miles after reserve lights starts blinking...  

[Noel McCutcheon]

Depends on whether the F-Trip started to flash when riding or from when the ignition switch was turned on with the bike sitting on the side (USA kick) stand when petrol is low. The Sensors tend to be on the right hand side of tanks so if the bike is sitting on the side stand with low petrol when the ignition switch is turned on (as that is when first fuel level reading is sent to the dash) it can show the reserve F Trip (of under 5 litres) on when there is actually far more than 5 litres in the tank. hence on refilling only 10 litres or so will refill it. I fix this by lifting / levelling the bike level before turning the ignition on when it is low on fuel.

 

To answer the question other ways: 190 miles tank range is possible than includes approx 40 miles reserve and the rule is get fuel when you can in remote areas. Normal in Europe is you will never be more than the reserve miles away from a petrol station. Outside Europe can be different.

[Chev.]

Emptied the tank when riding yesterday, dreaming along some local back-roads after forgetting to fuel up when I indeed had planned to:

• From a completely filled-up tank, the biked stopped after 440.5 kilometers / 273.7 miles. I twisted the bike back and forth sideways a few times, to check if that could give me another kilometer. It started, but took me less than another 100 meters.
• F-drive said 104.0 kilometers / 64.6 miles.

So now I know

 

My lovely ex-wife (we are neighbors, raising our boy between us) brought me a can of petrol.

[Totti]

Put a few litres on the rear rack and try it out. I have been thinking of trying this out myself, but at the moment we have 35 cm of snow and minus six degrees and Santa didn't bring me spike tires. 

[JamesE]

Yeah, I've had the same thing everytime I need to fill up. I've never gone past about 30 miles when the last bar is flashing, but even when I fill up just after it starts, it's about 4-5L. It's an odd sensor (as I suppose a lot are), doesn't go down for ages, then shoots down, then there's still actually loads. 

I'll have to try out what @Totti is suggesting next time the tank runs low.

[Aleksandar13]

Went to petrol station and filled up 13.34 litres and the fuel trip metre was showing 44 miles... Basically another 2.7l left which in theory should get you another 40 miles easy... Average for this thank was 4.0l.. Per 100km.. Sorry guys don't know mpg..

[cabby]

I recon 50 miles can be done with the reserve, wouldn't like to go beyond that but think at 50 you'd still be fine, obviously if you're thrashing it it will be different. 

[Noel McCutcheon]

1 hour ago, cabby said:

I recon 50 miles can be done with the reserve, wouldn't like to go beyond that but think at 50 you'd still be fine, obviously if you're thrashing it it will be different. 

Agree / Concur about 50 miles. 

[WalterT]

Officially the reserve is 4 liters, which should start accurately if the bike is ridden straight (and not from center stand as was described). 80-100 km should be the limit on reserve then, depending on the actual fuel consumption.

[Aleksandar13]

23 hours ago, X Plane said:

Depends on whether the F-Trip started to flash when riding or from when the ignition switch was turned on with the bike sitting on the side (USA kick) stand when petrol is low. The Sensors tend to be on the right hand side of tanks so if the bike is sitting on the side stand with low petrol when the ignition switch is turned on (as that is when first fuel level reading is sent to the dash) it can show the reserve F Trip (of under 5 litres) on when there is actually far more than 5 litres in the tank. hence on refilling only 10 litres or so will refill it. I fix this by lifting / levelling the bike level before turning the ignition on when it is low on fuel.

 

To answer the question other ways: 190 miles tank range is possible than includes approx 40 miles reserve and the rule is get fuel when you can in remote areas. Normal in Europe is you will never be more than the reserve miles away from a petrol station. Outside Europe can be different

Need to try and hit 60 miles on reserve from flashing light in an upright position.. First who does it please report...

[Peelt7]

Just filled up today 36.5 uk miles from reserve light flashing, covered 202 miles total using 14.5 litres (65 uk mpg) safe to say I should be able to get 220 miles per tank or 50 miles reserve. Riding style 4500 -6500 bike run in hard.

[Rich TT]

11 minutes ago, Peelt7 said:

Just filled up today 36.5 uk miles from reserve light flashing, covered 202 miles total using 14.5 litres (65 uk mpg) safe to say I should be able to get 220 miles per tank or 50 miles reserve. Riding style 4500 -6500 bike run in hard.

Great stuff and thanks for sharing.

[Mudchute]

On 12/26/2019 at 7:31 PM, Aleksandar13 said:

Was wondering how many miles/km you run your bike on reserve ... I have managed 40 miles on blinking reserve today... and every time I go to put fuel in it always has 5-6 litres left.. 

Its something I need to get used to but was wondering if we can easily get 60 miles after reserve lights starts blinking...  

 

Had my first decent run out yesterday after lockdown and after 127 miles from full and a brief off road excursion, I switched the bike on with my new RRP short stand (lowered bike so leans a tad more than ideal) and the low fuel light came on immediately. S@it I thought, that's really rubbish range whilst punching "nearest petrol station" into the sat nav. Sounds like I needn't have worried. I did wonder why a supposedly empty bike only cost £13.00 to brim up   The fuel gauge has a sense of humor for sure, plummeting from four bars to two in a relatively short distance. 

Edited April 3, 2021 by Mudchute

[NvNick]

Just starting to ride mine and after 165 mi of easy road riding it had one bar left and took just under 3 gal. The next day running 75mph and some spirited dirt road it used a bit more. Did i mention how much fun this bike is on a dirt rd ? 

[electric_monk]

I filled mine up the other day for the first time (it came from the dealers with a full tank). I got to a filling station 2km after the gauge started flashing. It took 20lt to fill and it had covered 302km. As I get close to the next refill I will lash on a jerry can and run it till it's empty. Always good to know the range.

 

Given that Imp and US gallons are different could people just stick to lts please. Mental arithmatic hurts my head...

[Hammerhead]

That last bar starts flashing with 4ltrs left in the tank. Easily an 80km range on the “trip F” meter. 

[Matth]

I ran dry at 218 miles riding 1/4 hardish and 3/4 chill ride, luckily enough to just get me to a garage and it went with a 2 minute push to fill up. 15 litres to full. So im guessing there is 1 litre unused?

[Uncle M]

@electric_monk I'm curious how you got 20 liters into a 16 liter tank??

[electric_monk]

1 hour ago, Uncle M said:

@electric_monk I'm curious how you got 20 liters into a 16 liter tank??

 

I told youse all that mental arithmetic hurt my head.... 12or....Doh!

[Uncle M]

1 hour ago, electric_monk said:

 

I told youse all that mental arithmetic hurt my head.... 12or....Doh!

 

Me too! That's why I had to ask!

[CReamflourish]

I find the fuel gauge reading to be fairly erratic from about 1/4 tank or less. The shape of the tank probably has a lot to do with it, but combined with off-road riding and tipping/leaning the bike all over the place, makes it a nightmare to gauge how much mileage you actually have left. 

 

Yesterday I did a ride from a full tank when we pulled into to a fuel station for a snack. I noticed there were 2 bars on the gauge and we were nearly done with our ride, just a few more lanes and I'd be home (no more than 40 miles to go), so I decided not to bother refuelling.

 

Another 3-4 miles later and it dropped to 1 bar. OK... I'm still good with that!

 

Got the the top of the very next lane (about another mile) and had to turn around which involved a bit of see-sawing up the banks of a gulley we were stuck in. By the time I got back to the start of the lane I glanced at the fuel gauge and it was flashing reserve and the F-trip was activated.

 

ME: "OK lads, sorry about this, but I need to stop for fuel!" 

 

LADS I'M RIDING WITH: "FFS, we've just left a perfectly good fuel station!"

 

Rode about 12 miles on the F-trip and we all stopped for a call of nature. Shut down for 5 mins and left it on the side stand.

 

All this time I'm getting sh!t for not refuelling when I had a chance...., but I digress!

 

Got back on, fired it up and the gauge is reading 2 bars again! 

[loneranger700]

I did this once riding it hard and I made it to about 34 miles with mostly flat roads..

[mcbrien]

I've always been good at getting good mileage . Bike has 4942 miles and I went up 1 tooth on counter sprocket.

I ride back roads 10 miles  an hour over posted speed limits. I put a gallon on the passenger seat and went out

with the intention of running it dry but it got dark before I ran dry. I rode 263 miles , 55 of that on reserve. It took  3.66 gallons

of gas to refill. Our gas does have 10% ethanol. 

 This bike has better range than my FZ 7 and my 1200 Super Tenere.

[AZJW]

Like many here, the early flashing low fuel warning, (as early as 135 miles), is disconcerting,  especially when in the middle of nowhere and fuel is many miles away.  This worry on my last trip forced me to add one gallon of no name 85 octane " insurance " to get me to the next 91 octane station. 

 

Today I loaded up a 1 gal Rotopax for a fuel exhaustion test with my stock bike except for Twin Air filter & pre filter.  OAT 75-90°, crosswinds < 10 mph,  average rpm 4500-6500. Mileage breakdown = 67 miles at 75 mph, 28 miles at 65 mph, 25 miles at 55 mph, 101.2 miles at 43 mph.  ( hard panniers and top case on board for 75 & 65 mph segments)

 

Total miles on full tank until flameout = 221.2

Total miles on reserve = 68.8

Total fuel used = 4.0 US gals. 

Average speed for entire tank = 59.5 mph

Fuel mileage = 55.3 mpg 

 

Caveats for above results: traffic and road construction delays resulted in idling for approximately 5 minutes and reduced speeds ( below 20 mph) which killed my mph average for the second half of the tank. Last bar on fuel gauge only yielded 7 miles before flashing F started.  My average speed while on reserve was right around 40 mph so I'd take a major reduction in the 68.8 reserve miles, figuring 50-55 miles tops.

 

My takeaway is that I'm ( now) comfortable putting 200 miles on a tank, unless I've been running extra hard or fighting winds > 10 mph.

 

[Landshark]

16 hours ago, AZJW said:

Like many here, the early flashing low fuel warning, (as early as 135 miles), is disconcerting,  especially when in the middle of nowhere and fuel is many miles away.  This worry on my last trip forced me to add one gallon of no name 85 octane " insurance " to get me to the next 91 octane station. 

 

Today I loaded up a 1 gal Rotopax for a fuel exhaustion test with my stock bike except for Twin Air filter & pre filter.  OAT 75-90°, crosswinds < 10 mph,  average rpm 4500-6500. Mileage breakdown = 67 miles at 75 mph, 28 miles at 65 mph, 25 miles at 55 mph, 101.2 miles at 43 mph.  ( hard panniers and top case on board for 75 & 65 mph segments)

 

Total miles on full tank until flameout = 221.2

Total miles on reserve = 68.8

Total fuel used = 4.0 US gals. 

Average speed for entire tank = 59.5 mph

Fuel mileage = 55.3 mpg 

 

Caveats for above results: traffic and road construction delays resulted in idling for approximately 5 minutes and reduced speeds ( below 20 mph) which killed my mph average for the second half of the tank. Last bar on fuel gauge only yielded 7 miles before flashing F started.  My average speed while on reserve was right around 40 mph so I'd take a major reduction in the 68.8 reserve miles, figuring 50-55 miles tops.

 

My takeaway is that I'm ( now) comfortable putting 200 miles on a tank, unless I've been running extra hard or fighting winds > 10 mph.

 

 

Thanks for that information.  I was kinda wondering about the mileage one gets until a fill up is necessary.  Good report.

[Toppie]

On 4/6/2021 at 6:14 PM, Uncle M said:

@electric_monk I'm curious how you got 20 liters into a 16 liter tank??

Me too. Typo error 'praps he meant 12