Fuel gauge questions

chrisz · Aug 9, 2018

Hi all,

Recently took my bike for a longer ride and have couple of questions regarding the fuel reserve...

After about 400 km my fuel gauge went into reserve, fuel light blinking and the other info blanked out. Once the fuel was blinking it started a counter going up? What is that all about? My past bike (Tiger 1050) would go into reserve with the counter showing Kilometers available going down. So am a bit confused, and didn't find any clarification in the manual.

Also, the manual shows 25 liters as the fuel limit with 5 liters being reserve, so is it 30 liters total or 20 liters with 5 liters reserve?

Thanks to those in the know.

Chris...

Fred W · Aug 9, 2018

Dude. RTFM. You do have an owners manual right?

Thats how the gauge works. It reaches reserve level, and then switches to count up mode. The reason is that the gauge cant accurately measure the fuel at th3 end of the tank. Your job as an owner is to determine how many gallons it takes to fill when it switches. That is typically 5.0 to 5.5 but varies bike to bike. Knowing that lets you know how much is left. Most bikes can get around 60 miles into the count up before sputtering, but that depends on how you are riding it.

philter · Aug 9, 2018

Fred, WYFL. LOL

Hey Chris, the large fuel reserve on the FJR1300 drove me nuts. I would get to 170 miles, {273k's} on the odometer and it would start flashing, then, when I "filled" it up it would take less than 5 gallons {19 liters}.

I took my fuel gauge out of the tank when I was doing some other maintenance and bent the rod so I can go about 210 miles {340k} or more before going on reserve.

Lots of threads on this if you google it. If you want to know the actual mileage you have travelled on that tank, rather than the miles you have gone since you went on "reserve" just use the left button {on Gen. 2 bikes} and cycle through from "total miles" to "trip meter #1" or "trip meter #2 and it will telll how many miles you have actually gone. {that is if you set your "trip meter" at every fill-up like I do}, It will stay like that until you shut it off, and then go back to the "miles since reserve" option.

Good luck, Phil

mech 1 twa · Aug 9, 2018

Dude !!!!

Just works the opposite. not miles till empty-miles on reserve.

BluenoseFJR · Aug 10, 2018

Total tank size is 25 L (6.6 US gallons, 5.5 Imperial gallons). If the gauge works as designed the fuel light will start blinking after ~ 20 L used with ~ 5L left 'til stranded. How far that will take you will, of course, vary widely with conditions, load, riding style, wind direction, etc.....

Fred W · Aug 10, 2018

So it appears the only way to make the fuel gauge more useable would be to bend the float arm downward. I guess that would be worth doing if you had to pull out the fuel pump for some other reason, but not worth doing just to improve the gauge.

Makes you wonder why Yamaha designed it the way it is with such a large reserve capacity. Maybe they really want to encourage us to keep the pump submerged in fuel?

Uncle Hud · Aug 10, 2018

Wow. Just wow.

chrisz · Aug 10, 2018

Bluenose thanks, your info makes sense. Once the fuel gauge started to flash I rode the counter till it reached 30 (not sure what 30 means) and then filled the tank with 20 liters. So it would seem that I had 5 liters left in the tank. This is fine once understood and I can live with this without having to modify the gas tank float. Unfortunately the owner's manual doesn't go into any detail to explain this. This bike is new to me so some of my questions might seem stupid, and I can understand long time FJR owners being somewhat perturbed by newbie questions.

mcatrophy · Aug 11, 2018

chrisz said:
Bluenose thanks, your info makes sense. Once the fuel gauge started to flash I rode the counter till it reached 30 (not sure what 30 means) and then filled the tank with 20 liters. So it would seem that I had 5 liters left in the tank. This is fine once understood and I can live with this without having to modify the gas tank float. Unfortunately the owner's manual doesn't go into any detail to explain this. This bike is new to me so some of my questions might seem stupid, and I can understand long time FJR owners being somewhat perturbed by newbie questions.

The "30" is simply the number of kilometres/miles travelled since the "F" display started (or was last reset).

From the Instrument and Control Functions section of a 2013 Owner's Manual:

When approximately 5.5 L (1.45 US gal, 1.21 Imp.gal) of fuel remains in the fuel tank, the last segment of the fuel meter starts flashing. In addition, the information display will automatically change to the fuel reserve tripmeter mode “TRIP-F” and start counting the distance traveled from that point.

You can cycle the display through its "normal" displays, you can reset the "F" display, it will disappear, but reappear after a very few kilometres/miles if you haven't added fuel (possibly useful if it started the "F" display whilst the bike was leaning on its side-stand; when leaned like that the gauge reads a little lower, and so can give the "F" display prematurely).

rbentnail · Aug 12, 2018

I changed my thinking about this long ago. "Reserve" is such a stupid thing anyway, who the F needs "reserve"? In the days of no fuel gauges, sure it made sense but with this bike not so much to me.

I just think of the blinky gauge and twitchy odometer as the same thing as the low fuel light in a car or my truck. It comes on & tells me "Don't forget, need fuel soon!". That's all, nothing more, no secret decoder ring necessary. IMNSHO anyone who depends on the odometer to determine when he should refuel a vehicle is a fool.

Mayhem454 · Aug 12, 2018

My 12 makes it a slight bit more tricky lol. @ 2 bars during shut down, next start up it will go into reserve blink well thru warm up and a few miles down the road then reset itself to 2 bars full. All things mechanical have a character of their own, you will figure yours out. lol

mcatrophy · Aug 12, 2018

Mayhem454 said:
My 12 makes it a slight bit more tricky lol. @ 2 bars during shut down, next start up it will go into reserve blink well thru warm up and a few miles down the road then reset itself to 2 bars full. All things mechanical have a character of their own, you will figure yours out. lol

That's because you left it parked on the side-stand. See my post above.

Mortenk · Aug 13, 2018

rbentnail said:
I changed my thinking about this long ago. "Reserve" is such a stupid thing anyway, who the F needs "reserve"? In the days of no fuel gauges, sure it made sense but with this bike not so much to me.
I just think of the blinky gauge and twitchy odometer as the same thing as the low fuel light in a car or my truck. It comes on & tells me "Don't forget, need fuel soon!". That's all, nothing more, no secret decoder ring necessary. IMNSHO anyone who depends on the odometer to determine when he should refuel a vehicle is a fool.

The count-up feature allows me to ride with confidence and still put in 6.3+ gallons of fuel every time - which minimizes the number of fuel stops I have to make each year. It doesn't matter how you ride the bike prior to the flashing symbol, and you don't have to remember how many miles you had ridden since it started flashing. As long as I ride in a consistent manner while the count-up is active (e.g. typical commuting), I know exactly how far I can go...I have never had another vehicle that allowed me to arrive at the gas tank so close to empty. It's great.

Uncle Hud · Aug 13, 2018

Mortenk posted: <snip> It doesn't matter how you ride the bike prior to the flashing symbol, and you don't have to remember how many miles you had ridden since it started flashing. As long as I ride in a consistent manner while the count-up is active (e.g. typical commuting), I know exactly how far I can go...

... and how far is that? "How far can you go once the count-up starts?" has been a long-discussed question around here.

Not saying I will go farther than you 'on reserve'; not saying I'll run out of fuel quicker; and CERTAINLY not trying to pick a fight. Just curious as to how far you can go after the count-up happens.

For me, there's no consistency, so that's why I quit using the count-up. I reset the display and continue using 'miles to empty'.

chrisz · Aug 13, 2018

Yes, I curious as well how many miles/km can be ridden as of the count up starts..?

Ignacio · Aug 13, 2018

chrisz said:
Yes, I curious as well how many miles/km can be ridden as of the count up starts..?

You should try and report back to us how many you do and when it runs out.

chrisz · Aug 13, 2018

Yes, but someone already has done it. Hence the forums are where we can all learn what others have done and what works or doesn't work, No?

RossKean · Aug 13, 2018

Anywhere from 45 to almost 75 miles. Depends on the bike (where the count-up cuts in) and very much on the riding conditions. I have experienced both extremes. Highway, pulling a trailer in a strong crosswind and the bike was sputtering as I pulled into gas station after 45 miles and a SLOW 5th gear ride a different time when I discovered the gas station I was counting on was closed.

Once you learn the remaining fuel volume on your bike when you start count-up, just reset the average mpg meter to measure consumption from that point forward. If your bike has a gallon and a half at "reserve" and the mpg meter is telling you that you are getting 45 mpg, you should be OK for just over 65 miles.

It is important to know what remains at count-up start. Check it so you will know and err on the side of caution.

sapest · Aug 14, 2018

".... and how far is that?"

@ highway speeds 50 miles, 80 km's.

-Steve

Fuel gauge questions

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