What is the actual fuel capacity...

[NLAlston]

...of the '83 VR's?

 

When I first perused the owner's manual, I misread it's fuel capacity listing as 5.0 gals, when (just looking back into the booklet) I see that it is 5.0 quarts. At just 1-1/4 gallons (unless that was a typo) it's no wonder that I get the fuel gauge readings that I do. I could have sworn that the fuel capacity would have been greater than that. Don't get me wrong: I am not complaining - just remarking .

 

I did get the chance to do a little riding, tonight. I filled up, and left here for Lewiston, NY. I rode back to Niagara Falls, to get myself a coffee, and saw that my gas gauge was reading empty - so I filled up again. I then headed back to Amherst, but decided - after getting back - that I didn't want to put the bike up, just yet. So I decided to take a run out to Springville. Once I got there, my fuel gauge was devoid of fill-level bars, so I pulled over to fill it up. I am guessing that the venture from Niagara Falls to Springville - the way that I made it - was no more than 80-90 miles. I am probably way off base, here, but I had assumed that I should be able to get pretty darn close to 200 miles, of highway riding, out of a tank of gas. If this is to fall under 'wishful thinking', that's OK: It will just mean more frequent fillings .

[bongobobny]

You are right, it's a typo. Your capacity should be around 5.5 gal with the resrve. You should get just a tad below 40 mpg. I generally make it around 140 to 160 mi between fillups without going to reserve. The gas gauges on the Venture can sometrimes need adjustment or replacement of the sender unit. It's not a hard thing to do at all.

 

Gee, if you were in Springville, all you had to do was come across Rt 39, which has a lot of nice twisties in it, and stop by. I was in my garage adsjusting my shifter and puttering around with other things. My phone number is in the member's directory...

[gibvel]

So, how much fuel did it take to fill it at each fill up?

[RedRider]

Before an Iron Butt run earlier this year, I tested to see how far I could really go on a tank of gas. I strapped a one gallon gas can (full) to the luggage rack, filled up my tank, and took off.

 

My baby sputtered to a stop at 211 miles. Riding was a little more tame than usual, so the mileage was likely better. Put the gallon of gas from the can into the tank and headed for the nearest station.

 

This will give you a feel for how far you can really go on a tank.

 

RR

[KingSizer]

You can't always trust the fuel bars on the panel. I've had times where I fill up, drive 50-60 miles and the red light is blinking away with no bars showing. The first time it happened I thought I had a fuel leak or someone siphoned some gas from me, so I stopped at a gas station, but I could only put in 1.5 gallons. The next time it blinked at 50 miles again and I just kept driving. After another 10-20 miles all the bars were showing again. I guess there is some glitch, but it doesn't really bother me. I just fill up after 160-180 miles. Usually the red light is blinking again by then.

[gibvel]

You can't always trust the fuel bars on the panel. I've had times where I fill up, drive 50-60 miles and the red light is blinking away with no bars showing. The first time it happened I thought I had a fuel leak or someone siphoned some gas from me, so I stopped at a gas station, but I could only put in 1.5 gallons. The next time it blinked at 50 miles again and I just kept driving. After another 10-20 miles all the bars were showing again. I guess there is some glitch, but it doesn't really bother me. I just fill up after 160-180 miles. Usually the red light is blinking again by then.

There has been some mention of the fuel level sensor getting a worn spot and the wiper not making contact at a certain fuel level. Then, when the fuel level gets a little lower, and the wiper makes contact again, the gauge shows the correct level again. Sounds like what you've got going on.

[GeorgeS]

Its not a big job to remove the fuel level sensor from the top of the tank. Pull it out, clean it etc etc, I have never done this but should not be hard to do.

 

-- Also, you might have dirty or corroded electrical connections to the sensor, ( check the wireing at sensor under the rider seat )

There is a 4 wire Plug between the sensor, and the Monitor computer.

Find this plug, and clean the pins. Might help.

 

As a rull of thumb, I always Refill at 150 miles,

 

--

[NLAlston]

So, how much fuel did it take to fill it at each fill up?

 

The most that I have shelled out - for a fill-up from from what was shown to be empty, on the fuel gauge - was $5.26. At $3.19 per gal (medium grade), I figure this to amount to about 1-2/3 gallons of fuel. It is refreshing to know, however, that the gas tank is indeed of larger capacity than that which is quoted in the manual.

 

So, there is definitely something wrong with the sensor. Whether this translates into a cleaning of the contacts or other relative component, OR a replacing of the sensor itself, the corrective effort & expense would be quite small in comparison to what I had begun to imagine . And that is a HUGE relief.

[NLAlston]

You can't always trust the fuel bars on the panel. I've had times where I fill up, drive 50-60 miles and the red light is blinking away with no bars showing. The first time it happened I thought I had a fuel leak or someone siphoned some gas from me, so I stopped at a gas station, but I could only put in 1.5 gallons. The next time it blinked at 50 miles again and I just kept driving. After another 10-20 miles all the bars were showing again. I guess there is some glitch, but it doesn't really bother me. I just fill up after 160-180 miles. Usually the red light is blinking again by then.

 

KS,

 

I also had that happen to me. On a previous outing, the fuel bars went from showing full, to one - in one motion. About a mile later it jumped to four bars; rested there for about a half-minute, then fell to none showing at all. At the next stop for a traffic signal, I saw one bar present itself again, and then - when I got underway - no bars at all. That's when I stopped at the first station I could find, for refueling.

 

Even though you, and everyone else here, has given me greater understanding for this, it - none the less - leaves me a little unnerved when I see the the emptiness of the fuel gauge, couple with the flashing red light . I'm going to follow RedRider's example of carrying a one-gallon jug of fuel (at least for the next couple of fill-ups), and running the bike from a full tank to when it sputters down. This will indicate what I can expect to get from a tank of gas. I also like the idea of refueling at around 150 miles, and will begin to adopt that principle.

 

Thanks.

[GeorgeS]

The Sensor itself, is shown on the Wireing Diagram as simply a " Variable Resistor "

 

Others have said they found a Worn spot on it. If you find this on yours you would probably have to replace it.

 

Or possible the Mechanical Linkage on the sendor unit is simple sticking at one point.

[NLAlston]

You are right, it's a typo. Your capacity should be around 5.5 gal with the resrve. You should get just a tad below 40 mpg. I generally make it around 140 to 160 mi between fillups without going to reserve. The gas gauges on the Venture can sometrimes need adjustment or replacement of the sender unit. It's not a hard thing to do at all.

 

Gee, if you were in Springville, all you had to do was come across Rt 39, which has a lot of nice twisties in it, and stop by. I was in my garage adsjusting my shifter and puttering around with other things. My phone number is in the member's directory...

 

Hey Bongobobny,

 

Unless I have skimmed right over it - each time that I have browsed through the manual - I can find nothing on the fuel's 'reserve' concerns. You mentioned about getting the mileage that you did, without going to reserve, and I wonder where the switch would be - in order for the operator to activate the reserve tank for duty. Also, I am definitely going to be calling you real soon. I am just waiting on a relatively rain-free broadcast . I can't tell you how much I appreciate your invitation, and I am looking forward to meeting with you.

[SilvrT]

I have a simple solution... refuel at each smoke break! (appx 1 hr riding)

 

[gibvel]

The reserve petcock is located behind the right passenger floorboard through the plastic panel. Most are way to hard to turn by hand in the small amount of space with the knob that they have. Most just leave the thing on reserve but some have fixed theirs. I believe the method may be in the Tech section of this site but I'm not sure if I saw it before or after the crash last year.

 

I just took a big rod of nylon and cut an appropriately sized and shaped slot so I can turn mine. That being said, I leave the thing on reserve all the time anyway. It would be too awkward to change while riding anyway....IMHO.

[calperin]

I was never able to put more than 4 1/2 gallons.

 

I never had the unit sensor problem, but I agree that most of the time I have to refill the tank after 160 to 180 miles. If I was all the time on highways, then I can say 210 miles. (If I was able to use it on 4th & 5th gears most of the time).

 

And yes, I agree take of the sensor unit and clean it. Do that before decide to buy a new one. That will advise you also, how dirt are you able to find on the gas tank, which leads you to change gas filter too.

 

Regards,

[Rich99]

And it's right. I had just hit 215 miles on a tank of gas, and it started to sputter as I was turning into a gas station. Gas tank took exactly 5.3 gallons. Always got around 41 mpg, and figured I was good for 215 miles or better. The gas guage worked great. I bought this 83 Venture brand new and had it for 16 1/2 years and learn how to use the gas gauge. With a full tank, I learned that each bar represented 20 miles. 50 miles at a full tank before the bars started disappearing, then 50 miles at the bottom of the tank after all the bars were gone. So, 50 miles, then 20 miles later, the 1st bar would disappear, that's 70 miles, 2nd bar 90 miles, 3rd bar 110 miles, 4th bar 130 miles, 5th bar 150 miles, 6th bar 170 miles, so when the last bar was gone, I had about 45-50 miles left in the tank, or 215-220 miles. The last couple of years I owned the bike, the monitor finally gave out, but I knew the bike well enough by then, that I didn't need the gas gauge, just followed the odometer.

[Rich99]

The reserve petcock is located behind the right passenger floorboard through the plastic panel. Most are way to hard to turn by hand in the small amount of space with the knob that they have. Most just leave the thing on reserve but some have fixed theirs. I believe the method may be in the Tech section of this site but I'm not sure if I saw it before or after the crash last year.

 

I just took a big rod of nylon and cut an appropriately sized and shaped slot so I can turn mine. That being said, I leave the thing on reserve all the time anyway. It would be too awkward to change while riding anyway....IMHO.

How did a reserve get into this post, 83's didn't have a reserve, just a red light that started blinking when the last bar disappeared.

[bongobobny]

I for one did not know '83's do not have a reserve function! I just know my '84 does...

[gibvel]

How did a reserve get into this post, 83's didn't have a reserve, just a red light that started blinking when the last bar disappeared.

 

Okay, noted and put into memory for future reference!

[Dano]

My 84, with no carb work or tune up, goes 140 mi on 3.3 gals. of gas. Averaged over 6 or 7 tanks. Oh, I can't use reserve cause I ain't fixed it yet!

Dan

[Venturous Randy]

The biggest problem with an intermitten gauge has been the connection on the pickup signal. I have fixed several of these and all it took was taking the seat off and cleaning and recrimping the spade connection so it is tight on the blade. I bet that if you did the same thing that it will fix your problem.

RandyA

[NLAlston]

The biggest problem with an intermitten gauge has been the connection on the pickup signal. I have fixed several of these and all it took was taking the seat off and cleaning and recrimping the spade connection so it is tight on the blade. I bet that if you did the same thing that it will fix your problem.

RandyA

 

Randy,

 

Thanks for that bit of information, and I am sure that it will likely prove to be very helpful to me. Now, I am going to have to find out how to get the seat off . I just went through a losing battle with that issue (yesterday) when my battery died. The dealership supplied me with a new one, and asked if I knew how to get to the battery. I replied in the affirmative, since someone had just recently informed me that the battery was under the seat. Well, after giving up on the attempts to remove it, I called the dealership back, and they told me that I had been given erroneous information. Fed with the 'right' info, I was able to move along in good fashion.

 

The owner's manual, for the bike, didn't seem to have anything in there regarding the seat removal procedure (unless I, again, flew right over the info that I'd hoped to find), so I'll look through the tech libraries to see if something is in there. I don't wish to damage anything via a trial & error method.

[Ride2much]

On my bike (I realize they're all different)I find that the first bar can very a whole bunch , but usually about 1 to 1 1/2 gallons are gone when it disappears, then each bar from then on is real close to a 1/2 gallon.other than the last one. Having ran out of fuel ONCE in my life on my bike in the middle of the Wyoming desert, I never run under a half of tank when possible. Besides the older I get the less I like traveling over a hundred miles or so with out a pit stop..