Have you ran out of gas on your bike?

[radiummadman]

1971 bought the first year Yamaha 360 DT in Germany while in the Army, saved a lot on not having to pay duty. Rode it when I could.

Flew it to New York City when I got out and promptly headed towards Texas. Ran out of gas twice on the Penn Turnpike but still made

it to Memphis, Tn. by the next evening. Pretty good time for a two smoke dual sport.

 

[Bustanut joker]

Though I was pushing the '13 last weekend coming back from a friends house on the slab. Screen went from miles left to counting up from hitting reserve. (Found out you can toggle back to miles left.) Passed a station just as I hit reserve, figuring there was another right up the road. Just up the road became (in my mind) quite a bit of distance. The miles left went from XXX to "Lo" and kind of upped the pucker factor. Set the cruise at 55 and tucked in and got passed by everybody that I had blew by in the last half hour. Finally pulled into a station and put 5.5 gal in.

5.5? Turn in your man card you pussy! You had at least 50 miles in that tank.

Yer from Arizona ain't you?

 

[RaYzerman19]

I ran out on purpose once. Was testing the reserve to see how far it would go. 102 km (63 miles) later I pulled into the driveway and it was still going. Put it on the side stand and she started to sputter.......

 

[SacramentoMike]

Though I was pushing the '13 last weekend coming back from a friends house on the slab. Screen went from miles left to counting up from hitting reserve. (Found out you can toggle back to miles left.) Passed a station just as I hit reserve, figuring there was another right up the road. Just up the road became (in my mind) quite a bit of distance. The miles left went from XXX to "Lo" and kind of upped the pucker factor. Set the cruise at 55 and tucked in and got passed by everybody that I had blew by in the last half hour. Finally pulled into a station and put 5.5 gal in.

5.5? Turn in your man card you pussy! You had at least 50 miles in that tank.
Yer from Arizona ain't you?

But I bet he knows a one-gallon can from a gas station is easier to carry than a motorcycle fuel tank full of gas. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Bustanut joker]

yes.. but 30 years ago he was still in the womb.****** kids don't know **** these days.

 

[TripperMike]

<hanging head in shame> Yeah I ran out, last year on I35 heading down to Des Moines to meet up with Pathfinder. Tony was heading up to visit with his family after his TX SS2000 and I was going down to pick up his old front fork tubes. Maybe I wasn't paying attention, but at interstate speeds it isn't always easy to tell when heading into a direct headwind. Hit reserve at about 180 IIRC, did some quick math and figured at this rate I might only get 40 or so on reserve. Bike began sputtering far sooner than 40. Rocked the bike from side to side as I'm going down 35, and eventually coasted up an exit ramp to the top of an overpass. Dead in the water now. Looked around and ....NOTHING. Iowa farm country at this point. So closest farm house was about a qtr mile to the West, so I turned right and coasted down the overpass and got about a gallon from the farmer. Of course I had to wait on the road in front of his place for about 30 minutes before he got home.

Oh crap, I just remembered I've run out of gas twice and both times were in Iowa. The first time I was the first season of using my aux fuel cell and I was just learning the fickled nature of that beast. What I learned is when the outside temperature is near a hundred, The pressure in the main tank will actually force fuel backwards into the aux cell and out the air pressure tube. I waited until the reserve light began blinking, reached down and rotated the ball valve lever, and promptly ran out of gas in about 10 miles on Interstate 80 (once again as I am heading into Des Moines). I must of had had a pretty steady stream of gas coming out of the back of the bike.

I hate running out of gas, but at my rate, I better not say I'll never do that again.

 

[hppants]

My reserve "do not cross" number is 60. I figure with 1.6 gallons left, worst case 40 mpg, that's about all I should push it.

 

[gregory]

Yea,

I did actually feel kind of disappointed that I still had a gallon to go. I may have to go with RaYzerman's reserve test one day.

And yes, I am from AZ but I was smart enough to get the hell out!

 

[Old Guy]

My reserve "do not cross" number is 60. I figure with 1.6 gallons left, worst case 40 mpg, that's about all I should push it.

But how do you know you've got 1.6 gallons left?

Do I really have 6.6 gallons immediately after a fill up?

Will the fuel pump actually empty the tank?

I've put 5.5 gallons in mine but not knowing the answer to either question made me wonder just how close to pushing I actually was

 

[ionbeam]

The float in the gas tank is set for 'close to' 1.5 gallons, it may vary 0.1 or 0.2 gallons from bike to bike. Your gas mileage will make that much difference too; were you getting 45 mpg or 38 mpg?

If you fill your tank all the way up to the strainer you will have 6.6 gallons.

The pump will empty the tank, ask Fred W. My FJR was still running when I put in 6.5 gallons.

For the NEPRT time, fill your tank to the same point every time, use advanced math like addition, multiplication and division to figure out your average gas mileage over several tanks; the fuel float will trip at nearly the same point every time so you know that 1.5 gallons * 45 mpg = 67.5 mpg range at the maximum; get gas before this. If you are the nervous and unsure type, get gas at every elapsed 100 miles and you won't have to worry about it.

 

[Old Guy]

The float in the gas tank is set for 'close to' 1.5 gallons, it may vary 0.1 or 0.2 gallons from bike to bike. Your gas mileage will make that much difference too; were you getting 45 mpg or 38 mpg?
If you fill your tank all the way up to the strainer you will have 6.6 gallons.

The pump will empty the tank, ask Fred W. My FJR was still running when I put in 6.5 gallons.

For the NEPRT time, fill your tank to the same point every time, use advanced math like addition, multiplication and division to figure out your average gas mileage over several tanks; the fuel float will trip at nearly the same point every time so you know that 1.5 gallons * 45 mpg = 67.5 mpg range at the maximum; get gas before this. If you are the nervous and unsure type, get gas at every elapsed 100 miles and you won't have to worry about it.

Thanks for the reply. I do fill it up to the bottom of the little baffle, but I don't bother centerstanding it. I've been told I could get another half gallon in if I'd do that. I've run out of gas before on another bike and still had gas sloshing around in the tank that I couldn't get it to pick up -- frustrating.

I usually ride with someone, and I get better mileage than any of them, so I just fill up when they do. Last Monday I rode with friends on a ZRX1200 and a Ninja 1000. They filled up at 100 miles the first time, so I just pulled to the side and gloated. They next tank they did 151, and I think they were just trying to torment me

The ZRX was on reserve when he finally stopped, and I took 5.3 gallons. I told him I still had well over a gallon, and he just shook his head.

 

[Fred W]

I never put the bike on the center stand to fill either. You don't need to and it is an added PITA for no gain.

I've found that you can get the same amount of fuel in either way, assuming you still have the stock, unmodified filler baffle.

What you really want to know is exactly how much fuel you have when the gauge goes on reserve. The best way to determine that is by stopping immediately when the tank starts flashing a few times and filling to the brim. I find it is very near 5 gallons on mine, which tells me the countup miles from there 60 miles will be very close to empty.

Unlike 'pants, I try not to ever push it quite that far, as that assumes that I am getting 40 mpg (or better), and as I already know all too well, sometimes I don't get that much. 50 miles of reserve is a much more realistic number on my bike.

But honestly, if I am into reserve and see an open gas station I don't feel a need to pass it just because the reserve may give me another 50 miles. Who knows if there will be gas in that 50 miles?

 

[Old Guy]

I never put the bike on the center stand to fill either. You don't need to and it is an added PITA for no gain. I've found that you can get the same amount of fuel in either way, assuming you still have the stock, unmodified filler baffle.

What you really want to know is exactly how much fuel you have when the gauge goes on reserve. The best way to determine that is by stopping immediately when the tank starts flashing a few times and filling to the brim. I find it is very near 5 gallons on mine, which tells me the countup miles from there 60 miles will be very close to empty.

Unlike 'pants, I try not to ever push it quite that far, as that assumes that I am getting 40 mpg (or better), and as I already know all too well, sometimes I don't get that much. 50 miles of reserve is a much more realistic number on my bike.

But honestly, if I am into reserve and see an open gas station I don't feel a need to pass it just because the reserve may give me another 50 miles. Who knows if there will be gas in that 50 miles?

Same here. Stretching each tank an extra 50 miles might save me one gas stop on a travel day. And in the past, when I have stretched until I really needed gas, I had to stop at some pretty inconvenient locations. When traveling I try to plan my stops to avoid heavy city traffic or having to go find the station.

 

[radiummadman]

why is putting the bike on the center stand a PITA ????? Sounds like BustaNut needs to call you all

a bunch of ******* AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[HotRodZilla]

Riding to North Carolina in an ugly headwind, I hit reserve way early. Like at 126 miles. There was an exit coming up and one 10 miles away. I was gonna try for the 10 mile exit. About 100 yards from the close one, the bike sputtered. Thank God it didn't do it 200 yards later.

I quickly swerved onto the exit as my bike died. It restarted at the stop sign. It died 1 or 2 more times before I got to the pumps. It took 6.7 gallons.

Oh and yes...I have RUN out of gas on my bike.

 

[TripperMike]

Oh and yes...I have RUN out of gas on my bike.

Oh thank goodness! Nice to know I'm not the only doofus in the house.

 

[Fred W]

why is putting the bike on the center stand a PITA ?????

It's only a PITA to do because it doesn't need to be done to fill the tank all the way. A better question would be: Why on earth would you haul the thing up onto the center stand just to fill it?

 

[BkerChuck]

I always stay seated on my bike when I fill it. Same as putting it on the centerstand without the hassle of getting off.

 

[HotRodZilla]

why is putting the bike on the center stand a PITA ?????

It's only a PITA to do because it doesn't need to be done to fill the tank all the way. A better question would be: Why on earth would you haul the thing up onto the center stand just to fill it?

Uh, cuz it's super easy, gives me a level place to store my helmet, and it makes me feel better. What did some a-hole just post up for DPF? It's my bike and I can fill it up any way I want. LOL. AND, most times I don't even drop it when putting it back down.

 

[Bogus]

1973. Just purchased a 1968 305 Scrambler from my uncle in Blue River, WI, and driving it back to Spring Green, WI where I was working at a truck stop for the summer. About 30 miles and dark out. I think it went on reserve only a few miles out, and no place to stop in between. I actually coasted into the truck stop!