How much fuel remains when the light starts blinking?

[fairorth]

Has anyone determined how much gas is left in the tank when the indicator starts blinking?

[none]

I've gone 55.7 miles, but that does not answer your question.

[Riverfox]

Here is what is listed in the owners manual.
 
Fuel tank capacity:
14 L (3.70 US gal, 3.08 Imp.gal)
Fuel reserve amount:
2.7 L (0.71 US gal, 0.59 Imp.gal)
 
That being said, when my light comes on I generally have to work to get 3 gallons in so it must be pretty close.
 
Just using 50mpg as an average, I wouldn't go much over 35 miles.
This summer I'm going to carry a quart of extra fuel and let the bike run out so I know just how far I can go. I routinely do this with all my vehicles so I know exactly how far I can go.

[fzhooligan]

I thought about doing the same thing but I'm scared to let my fuel pump run dry so I just fill it when the fuel level starts flashing. I've gone maybe 30 miles on fuel flashing before refueling. As stated above, this doesn't answer your question though.
 
Come to think of it, I've pushed the limit pretty far and never been able to put more than 3 gallons in the tank. 

[Riverfox]

I thought about doing the same thing but I'm scared to let my fuel pump run dry so I just fill it when the fuel level starts flashing. I've gone maybe 30 miles on fuel flashing before refueling. As stated above, this doesn't answer your question though. 
Come to think of it, I've pushed the limit pretty far and never been able to put more than 3 gallons in the tank. 

I don't believe running the tank dry once will do any harm to the fuel pump. Anyone out there disagree with that, please let us me know.

[Guest Ralph]

Ran mine till it started cutting out under acceleration,
it did 223 miles and I got 13.38 litre's in 65 US MPG
they don't seem to cut dead like all the other injected
bikes I have had they start cutting out under acceleration.
Service book says 2.7L 0.71 US gal reserve that would make
sense as I got about 40 miles with the light flashing.
 

[fairorth]

Thanks everyone! My light flashed on at home and its 20 miles to the gas station, I was too scared to try it out. Sounds like the consensus is that the flashing starts when it gets into the "reserve" portion of the tank, or .7 US gallon. I'm around 60MPG averge so far as well so 50 miles is a fair guess.
 
Not planning to run my tank dry so I'll go with that!
 
Ride safe all!
 
Marc

[fzhooligan]

Damn, most of the MPG averages I've read on here are a good 10mpg above what I've been averaging. o_0
 
I'm doing around 45mpg. I can't seem to stay off the throttle for more than 10 minutes.

[Riverfox]

Damn, most of the MPG averages I've read on here are a good 10mpg above what I've been averaging. o_0  
I'm doing around 45mpg. I can't seem to stay off the throttle for more than 10 minutes.

I think the name "fzhooligan" pretty much sums up your fuel consumption average! But what the heck, if you wanted high mpg you'd have bought a moped.

[fzhooligan]

Damn, most of the MPG averages I've read on here are a good 10mpg above what I've been averaging. o_0  
I'm doing around 45mpg. I can't seem to stay off the throttle for more than 10 minutes.

I think the name "fzhooligan" pretty much sums up your fuel consumption average! But what the heck, if you wanted high mpg you'd have bought a moped.

 
 
Truth!

[Guest Ralph]

A lot depends on were you ride, I don't do a lot of town riding,
and don't believe the MPG display mine is about 7% low most of the time.
 
 

[FT]

I thought about doing the same thing but I'm scared to let my fuel pump run dry so I just fill it when the fuel level starts flashing. I've gone maybe 30 miles on fuel flashing before refueling. As stated above, this doesn't answer your question though. 
Come to think of it, I've pushed the limit pretty far and never been able to put more than 3 gallons in the tank. 

I don't believe running the tank dry once will do any harm to the fuel pump. Anyone out there disagree with that, please let us me know.

I think that the pump can run hot when the tank is almost empty. The fuel is also the coolant. 

[Riverfox]

I don't believe running the tank dry once will do any harm to the fuel pump. Anyone out there disagree with that, please let us me know.

I think that the pump can run hot when the tank is almost empty. The fuel is also the coolant.

I think that shutting it down right away and pouring a half gallon of fuel heading to the nearest gas station would be acceptable. I mean people run out of fuel every day and the restart is fine with no after effects. ?

[fooschnickens]

I think that the pump can run hot when the tank is almost empty. The fuel is also the coolant.

I think that shutting it down right away and pouring a half gallon of fuel heading to the nearest gas station would be acceptable. I mean people run out of fuel every day and the restart is fine with no after effects. ?

Exactly. It's more about people who just don't know better who try cranking their car over and over again or leave their ignition on while they try to "diagnose" the problem but don't realize that during this entire process their pump is probably still running and none too happy about it. 

[Guest Ralph]

Stick some fuel in and they start back up just like any other start,
no problem, not a thing to do a lot but I usually do it once to get
a idea how far I can push things as I do the Round Britain Rally and
have had 2 or 3 close calls last summer fuel stations are getting a
bit scarce out in the sticks, I put 10ml of 2T oil in with the fuel
to every 5 litres about 500 to one to help lube the pump and top end
of the engine, don't know if it helps, maybe it just makes me feel better
when it's cruising at interesting speeds for a hour or two on end.

[Riverfox]

Stick some fuel in and they start back up just like any other start, no problem, not a thing to do a lot but I usually do it once to get
a idea how far I can push things as I do the Round Britain Rally and
have had 2 or 3 close calls last summer fuel stations are getting a
bit scarce out in the sticks, I put 10ml of 2T oil in with the fuel
to every 5 litres about 500 to one to help lube the pump and top end
of the engine, don't know if it helps, maybe it just makes me feel better
when it's cruising at interesting speeds for a hour or two on end.

A little "top end lube" is a good idea and the 500/1 certainly won't hurt anything. I used to do it religously with all my aircraft engines. Any one doing this though, make sure it's a straight mineral base oil that is used to mix with gas for two stroke engines. Never thought about lubing the fuel pump with it too!

[Guest Ralph]

Found a note I made when I ran it to the point of cutting out and it did 48 miles.

[FT]

Just a feel good thing. Lowering the BTUs of gasoline and the added carbon on plugs and valves may not offset the guide lubricating benefits.
Just an opinion. 2T is a different story.
 

[sorkyah]

[div style=text-align:left]Figured id toss a reply in here since ive had the misfortune of getting pissed spacing out and leaving work w/o remembering to fuel up more than once. I tend to get between 30 and 38 miles off that 'reserve', but i am a big guy 245lbs plus gear. Im averaging around 135 miles before the tank starts to flash at me, but it is city driving.ill be taking a trip to cali next weekend. Hope my reserve stays consistent or betters or ill be in for a long walk.
[/div]

[Guest Ralph]

The right wrist is the main factor in fuel consumption closely followed by were you ride or drive.

[jake]

I'm getting about the same MPG I ride 130 miles a day and fill up each day I still have reserve left but I'm getting about 45 mpg also

[rick]

Running a fuel pump dry might not kill it on the spot, but it's something we should all avoid doing as it sure is hard on the pump parts - bearings, seals etc. They just aren't designed to run dry.
 
As for adding 2 stroke oil into the gas to try and make up for the damage caused by running the pump dry, well it's your motor.

[avanti]

It might be okay to run a new vehicle dry, depending on the particular fuel system configuration, but I'd not recommend doing so with anything of any age with who-knows-what being sucked into the fuel system that would otherwise remain undisturbed.

[rowdy]

The right wrist is the main factor in fuel consumption closely followed by were you ride or drive.

Probably sitting somewhere around where you ride is how much you weigh.  If you ride flat it doesn't matter much, if you're doing mountains, it will matter. 

[rick]

It might be okay to run a new vehicle dry, depending on the particular fuel system configuration, but I'd not recommend doing so with anything of any age with who-knows-what being sucked into the fuel system that would otherwise remain undisturbed.

seriously, running the tank empty will do damage to the fuel pump and the injectors. Neither was designed to run dry. Might not kill them dead, but why risk shortening their life just to see how far you can stretch the miles. [span] 
As for sucking stuff in, Iirc, there is no fuel filter in this system and the pump is at the bottom of the tank, so it happens all the time.  
 
I got to 150 miles right as the last bar lit up on the gauge this weekend. There's still about 1.5 gallons left at that point from previous fills. Do the math. >65 mpg. It's hardly flat here. I was also not in any traffic or speeds over 70. That helps [/span]