Living without a gas gauge?

[oldthrower50]

It freaks me out a little.  I am going with the factoid that the original owner got "about 130 miles" on a tank, no reserve

I sort of miss a clock, but I saw someone posted who said " I ride specifically to not care about time" and I sort of like that.  actually like that a lot

But no gas gauge...

[Red Diamond]

I have an I/S and a Tourer, find it a little more comforting to have the gage to look at instead of watching the miles. But on the other hand, after 130 miles my butt wants a break anyway. The I/S can get me over 220 miles before it thinks about reserve, and that is a lot of seat time.

[hubcapsc]

"about 130 miles" on a tank, no reserve

I'm not sure what "no reserve" means, but you'll probably get used to not having a gas gauge...

I know "about how far" I can go on a tank, and I usually fill up before reserve.

I used reserve at lunch today.

There's a fellow that sells these cool clock/thermometer combos on eBay... I just looked this
picture up in "completed listings", they seem to be fetching $30 or $40 less than I paid these
days... I've had mine for about five years... they hook onto the center bolt in the OEM
windshield bracket and you see them between your tach and speedo...




-Mike

[Serk]

I'm looking for gas (And a rest for my butt!) about the time 100 miles rolls around...

(Now I've got a motorcycle specific GPS, it pops up and tells me once I've been 100 miles since my last gas stop, then offers to get me to the nearest gas station.)

Just reset your trip odometer every time you get gas, and when it starts getting near 100 again, start looking again.

[Jess Tolbirt]

my tourer would usually go about 138 miles to reserve,,then i had a gallon left to get to the next station with,,about 36 miles or so..

[G-Man]

my tourer would usually go about 138 miles to reserve,,then i had a gallon left to get to the next station with,,about 36 miles or so..

Yep.

[Patrick]

I just use the trip meter,, reset when fueling.. A gas gauge is just another thing that can fail..

[Squealy]

my tourer would usually go about 138 miles to reserve,,then i had a gallon left to get to the next station with,,about 36 miles or so..

I've consistently been going 155 miles before reserve on my Tourer....  Start looking for gas then....

[X Ring]

I just use the trip meter,, reset when fueling.

I do the same thing on my Tourer and even though my I/S has a fuel gauge I do it on that Valk also.

Marty

[Duffy]

I go on reserve about 144 miles in, unless I am trucking down the interstate, then a lot sooner.  

Odometer is more reliable than a gas gauge to me. I had a worthless gas gauge on my car that was always wrong and left me SOL THREE TIMES! (OK, I know, the second and third times were my own fault. )

I thought all Valks had reserve. I have no problem waiting on reserve to tell it is time for gas, but depending on where you are, it might be an issue for you.

[Challenger]

"GAUGES, We don't need no stinking GAUGES!

[Hef]

Like several others have said, I reset my trip meter each time I fill up and it's no problem not having a guage. I have a standard and ususally get around 130 miles before reserve unless on interstate.

[Michael K (Az.)]

I get 26 mpg on my '97 Tourer with OEM tank. 5.3 Gals. gets me ruing my fate @ 137.8. Then the whining begins!
P.S. This is NOT @ reserve!

[oldthrower50]

to clarify, I meant that no reserve was factored into my 130 miles range.  it has one (I have a 97 Standard)

[LandElephant]

Here's an idea.  Why don't you do a test.  Calculate say 100 miles of the hardest, fastest, worst conditions (high winds etc) and blast down the Interstate.  Fill it up and that would probably be you worst gas mileage.  Multiply by 4 gallons and that's you estimated distance you can go before reserve and the reserve helps you find your next fuel stop.  Remember to put you petcock in the right spot so you don't wind up running all the way out.

Then plan the easiest backroad tame ride in best conditions.  Ride a 100 miles and calculate your MPH.  It will probably your best.

Then when you ride you can estimate which one is your best guide and search for gas appropriately.

For example:  When I ride at 85 MPH with a headwind on my wing I get about 30 MPG.  So 30 X 5.6 gallons equals 168 miles to start looking for gas.  When I'm tooling in the mountains either by myself or with some friends I get upwards of 42 MPG. So 42 X 5.6 equals 235 miles to start looking for gas.


Charlie Morse
Land Elephant

[bigguy]

I liked the gas gauge on my Victory, but was used to riding the Magna without one. When I traded the Victory for the Valkyrie, it wasn't as much culture shock for me, not having a gas gauge. I was already used to it from the Magna.

[Hoser]

 Friday, I did Valentine to Sargent Nebraska, about 120 miles, no gas available.  Into  a 40 mph headwind at 75 mph I ran out of gas, even reserve, about 5 miles short of Sargent.  I pulled over, got my spare gallon of gas out of my saddle bag, poured it in the tank, restarted, and rode on into Sargent to the gas station.  Problem solved.  Hoser        

[Jess from VA]

Been resetting the tripmeter for over 40 years, gauge or not.

The IS gets about 220 to reserve, but that has varied from 180 something to my best ever 245 on the BRP on the way home from the recent Hillbilly Hwy rally.

The valk can be very variable mileage-wise due to wrist (speed), roads, winds, etc.

What irritates me on the IS is when the gauge gets to one bar and starts to flash; you haven't hit reserve yet, but in some unknown locals with no gas stations around, you begin to get a bit nervous.  The flashing may start with 2 gallons left.

In any event, even with gauges, I rely mostly on the tripmeter.

Might as well test your petcock anyway, ride as you normally do and run to reserve a couple times so you know where to expect your mileage to be when reserve kicks in..... but it can change.

Also, it's my experience with my IS's, that I can get nearly a dollar more in the tank (if the pump will feed slow enough) even when I see the gas up to the neck filler (and I never have an overflow issue).  They have been telling us for years not to top off modern car gas tanks, not so with our motorcycles.  Just be consistent when filling your tank..... if you want the tripmeter to be accurate for gas. 

[Fritz The Cat]

My previous bike, a GL1500 Goldwing, had a gas gauge that was so inaccurate I mostly ignored it. With the needle on dead empty, I still had half a tank.

[Rams]

I see a fuel gauge as an excellent backup to a trip odometer.  Been let down before by unreliable fuel gauges.  I'm not knocking them, I've just learned to trust my trip odometer.  Yeah, I know, it'll break someday to. 

[shooter64]

If I could only have one gauge I would prefer a temperature gauge over a gas gauge. Would like to know if an over heat condition was brewing before it gets to "overheated" idiot light.

[mrprez]

For example:  When I ride at 85 MPH with a headwind on my wing I get about 30 MPG.  So 30 X 5.6 gallons equals 168 miles to start looking for gas.  When I'm tooling in the mountains either by myself or with some friends I get upwards of 42 MPG. So 42 X 5.6 equals 235 miles to start looking for gas.

How are you getting that kind of mileage?  In your 2 scenarios I would get 23/33.

[old2soon]

I/S with gas gauge and 2 yes 2 trip meters. :2funny:I prefer the trip meter method although at this point in time the gauge is still fairly accurate. :coolsmiley:On my trip last year my longest fuel run was a little over 150 miles. :)As the day wore on and the ambient temperature increased my mileage between stops decreased and became longer as i rehydrated. I made sure the rehydration stops were at gas stations. Pay attention to your miles run the conditions you're in and you should be O K. Even if you've only run 70 or 80 miles and you make a potty stop or a coffee or cold drink stop-put fuel in!! RIDE SAFE.

[BradValk48237]

This long , hot weekend, I went o Nashville for business on Thursday, went to Clinton on Saturday (most of you saw my yell for help!) and then came home today....

I ran about 160 miles for a goal..... almost every time I put in 5 gallons.... about 30 is MPG..

On the HWY... I cruze with the speedo at about 89.. assuming 5 fast, looking for 85 ish. Had side headwinds most of the way down and back,, upper KY to all the way to home in OH and MI....

I have gotten much better at that speed but with a tailwind.....

I used the trip meter 1 for refills and #2 for the trip.....

The gauge sometimes would be 2 bars, sometimes one and would often bounce up and down once I got below 3 bars.

Real world data as of today........

Brad

[John Schmidt]

I have the I/S tank on my Tourer. It no longer is in Tourer dress however so I have a lot hanging out into the wind....including my size 12 1/2 boots.  At interstate speeds I'll generally get in the mid 30's for mpg. If I'm running the sideroads at something closer to 60mph, that will jump to as much as 41mpg at times. It's not unusual to run well over 200 miles before reserve but I seldom ride that long, it's the butt factor. Like some other posts, my keester is ready for a breather after a couple hours in the saddle, which is usually in the area of 100 miles or so.

But old habits are hard to break....I still reset the trip meter and watch the mileage even though I have a fuel gauge.

[tonyfan70]

Odometer is more reliable than a gas gauge to me. I had a worthless gas gauge on my car that was always wrong and left me SOL THREE TIMES! (OK, I know, the second and third times were my own fault. )

I use the tripmeter on my standard everytime. Like someone else said I do that with my Magna too. I had an old Vulcan 700 with an inop fuel guage so I did it then as well.

I'm using the trip meter function on my GPS in my semi now. The gas guage in that suddenly became useless awhile back and left me stranded west of Memphis with 1/4 tank showing. With twin 140 gallon tanks I shoulda been fine....shoulda. I thought pushing a car or bike was hard...whew! If ya wanna know...that little stunt cost $1300 to get me going again.

Made my butt hurt. $1300 and not a drop of lube. Sheesh.

[Patrick]

Fuel mileage ,, under normal conditions [ easy with the right wrist] and keeping cruising RPM just below 3K I've always gotten 40+..

[BigChris99]

I have a 1500 Wing and a Valkyrie. Like Frtiz posted, the fuel gauge on the 1500 Wing is so far off, I use the trip meter on it also. The fuel gauge on the Wing isn't even 'ballpark' accurate. It's more of a reminder, then a true gas gauge.

[Gryphon]

Fuel guage on a motorcycle?  What will they think of next?  Never had one.  Don't see the need.  That's why there is a tripset on the speedometer.  That's worked for me since '74, still does.  Besides, at my age, I need to stop every 100-120 miles anyway.  Stretch the legs, the back, you all know the drill.

[cookiedough]

Never have gone over 210 miles (usually around 190 miles before reserve) before reserve with my I/S only getting about 33 mpg average most of the time.  I've used the reserve twice in 4 years and both times I notice the power decrease say 4-5 miles before having to switch to reserve but instead of reaching down and flipping into reserve, I let it run out of gas, pull over, switch the knob to reserve, and fires right up.  Good to know it works since both times I was less than 5 miles away from my house when it happened.  I filled up and have almost exactly 1 gallon in the reserve or slightly more.   Good to know though that the I/S can go 200 miles easily with reserve and best to make sure reserve works closer to home.

[Valker]

Never have gone over 210 miles (usually around 190 miles before reserve) before reserve with my I/S only getting about 33 mpg average most of the time.  I've used the reserve twice in 4 years and both times I notice the power decrease say 4-5 miles before having to switch to reserve but instead of reaching down and flipping into reserve, I let it run out of gas, pull over, switch the knob to reserve, and fires right up.  Good to know it works since both times I was less than 5 miles away from my house when it happened.  I filled up and have almost exactly 1 gallon in the reserve or slightly more.   Good to know though that the I/S can go 200 miles easily with reserve and best to make sure reserve works closer to home.

I would suggest you just switch to reserve when you feel it start to run out. Letting it just run out all the way causes a very lean condition and engine temp will go way up for a short period of time. Also, I would consider having to pull over unsafe in a lot of roads I ride. YMMV

[musclehead]

It freaks me out a little.  I am going with the factoid that the original owner got "about 130 miles" on a tank, no reserve

I sort of miss a clock, but I saw someone posted who said " I ride specifically to not care about time" and I sort of like that.  actually like that a lot

But no gas gauge...

I've gone 125 miles or so at 80 mph and not hit reserve. but to be fair I did slow down to 65-70 the last 10 miles.