Fuel level sensor?

[axemanblue]

Having an interesting issue with a new-to-me '16 FZ.  Book tells me fuel capacity is not quite 4.5 gallons, but when my fuel gauge gets to E I've only gone 100 miles or so and I can only get 2.5 gallons into the tank.  The dash indicates that I'm getting 46 mpg which corroborates the actual fuel put in as well as the the range.  Before I spend a morning doing the "how far can I actually go" game I thought to ask if any of you have heard of or experienced this.

[i28]

Once it gets to empty and then starts blinking, you'll still have a little bit of fuel.
here's a thread of people trying to see how far they would get on a tank of gas:
http://fz07.org/thread/6047/trip-challenge

[mjh937]

My 2015 book says the fuel capacity is 3.7 gallons and I am almost certain it has not changed for other years. If I refuel as soon as the fuel gauge starts flashing it takes about 2.7 gallons.

[norcal616]

You can always use an appropriate fuel bottle to carry some extra gas to test the range of your bike...The average range seems to be 140 miles or more depending on how you ride...

[axemanblue]

Thanks for the replies, riders, and thanks for the link to the fuel challenge thread.
 
My book claims that fuel tank capacity is 3.7 US gallons with the reserve tank of .71 gallons, which is where the 4.5ish total came from. I hadn't thought I'd gotten to reserve tank use yet, but only using 2.5 gallons surprised me. It may appear to bottom out more quickly than it actually does to try to get me back to the pump faster. It helps to know that the range is 140ish in general.
 
Thanks everyone.

[mjh937]

3.7 capacity with .71 reserve means that you should be into the reserve fuel after using 3 gallons.

[axemanblue]

3.7 capacity with .71 reserve means that you should be into the reserve fuel after using 3 gallons.

 
 
 

[Guest ChicagoAJ]

Put 20-30 miles on when f-trip shows up then start looking for a gas station. No way you'll run out of gas by doing that and you'll extend your range quite a bit. My longest distance on a tank was just shy of 180 miles and I still only put 3.450 gallons in.

[Guest Ralph]

When the F trip comes on back off to about 45/50 and it will do about 50 miles
but not much more the give away is that it will start to misfire under acceleration,
not recommended I have never actually had it stop but handy to know if you get caught out
as I have once or twice. It's the only injected bike I have ever had that does not cut
dead when out or close to out of fuel it does give a bit of warning.
 

[rick]

3.7 capacity with .71 reserve means that you should be into the reserve fuel after using 3 gallons.

 
 

I'm into reserve long before 3 gallons. Don't care what the specs say, I'm thinking that from coughing on fumes to the metal bit inside the filler, it's more like 3.4 gallons. Maybe if you overfilled it to the point it was spilling out when the cap is closed there might be another 0.3 gallons - maybe.  
4.5 gallons would give this bike one sweet, very long range. 

[jmacas87]

same story here, around 100 miles or shortly after I get the trip F/flashing fuel gauge. fill up and it's about 2.5 gallons. FWIW the mpg-o-meter is in the mid 40's

[Guest ChicagoAJ]

 
 

I'm into reserve long before 3 gallons. Don't care what the specs say, I'm thinking that from coughing on fumes to the metal bit inside the filler, it's more like 3.4 gallons. Maybe if you overfilled it to the point it was spilling out when the cap is closed there might be another 0.3 gallons - maybe.  
4.5 gallons would give this bike one sweet, very long range. 

My GSX-S1000 has a 4.5 gallon tank and gets nearly 50mpg. I get about 180 miles before reserve kicks in!

[axemanblue]

I'm into reserve long before 3 gallons. Don't care what the specs say, I'm thinking that from coughing on fumes to the metal bit inside the filler, it's more like 3.4 gallons. Maybe if you overfilled it to the point it was spilling out when the cap is closed there might be another 0.3 gallons - maybe.  
4.5 gallons would give this bike one sweet, very long range. 

My GSX-S1000 has a 4.5 gallon tank and gets nearly 50mpg. I get about 180 miles before reserve kicks in!

Nearly 50 mpg for a literbike is impressive as hell in my book.  Going to start calling you "gas-master" ;-)
 
Great feedback, riders. I'm going to push it this weekend and see what happens in terms of range and capacity, but I'm glad to know it isn't the sensor.
 

[Guest ChicagoAJ]

My GSX-S1000 has a 4.5 gallon tank and gets nearly 50mpg. I get about 180 miles before reserve kicks in!

Nearly 50 mpg for a literbike is impressive as hell in my book.  Going to start calling you "gas-master" ;-) 
Great feedback, riders. I'm going to push it this weekend and see what happens in terms of range and capacity, but I'm glad to know it isn't the sensor.

Let me rephrase, it's close to 50mpg. I haven't seen 50 yet when filling up, my best was 43 when calculated at the pump but I don't think I'll ever be able to ride conservatively for an entire tank to see what it's actually capable of. That's all city riding though, so maybe on trips it'll do over 50. It's definitely an impressive bike so far, though.  
I fill up when I hit 180 miles on the tank and it only puts in 3.6 to 3.8 gallons, so it's still got another 30-40 miles in it. 

[rick]

I've seen close to 70 mpg while I was still holding revs during break - in. I've never seen below 60 mpg (based on miles and fill-uo vols and not the mister wizard in the dash. And that includes some serious thrashing with lots of miles in 2nd and 3rd gear up at 8k RPMs. I'm rarely stuck in city traffic.
 
My Futura will routinely see 45-52 mpg. With a 5.3 gallon tank, even with the fuel gauge misbehaving, it's hard to run out of fuel.