Fuel Gauge

[snyper316]

Just quick question I was down to two bars on gas Gauge and I filled up with 3 gallons does this sound right. On the 1st gens.

 

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[Venturous Randy]

Yeah, that sounds about right. How many miles did you go on those three gallons?

Randy

[snyper316]

right now i have it figured at about 35-38 miles to a gallon um I did alot of in town driving.. not really sure where the 3 gallons was used because between letting it idle for 30 minute in the drive way to between testing things i wont have a more accurate read till the next time I fill up.

[snyper316]

Well so far came to my daughter counseling on Marie and is still on full which is prolly about 22 miles since I took roundabout way to get here passed a cop on a bike then was stopped at the light and he rolls up beside me on a State decked out Harley.. this is the first time I have actually seen a motorcycle cop. Just returned home and got 44.5 miles and the guage is down one bar till I hit the brakes and it goes up to full for a few seconds.. which I honestly have never seen since my sender unit was messed up But will update at fill up. I just basically wanted to find out if I had moved the wiper properly. so far all seems good but one problem am having now as far as that CMU is the fact it blanks out on me and I tap it and it comes back up read a forum somewhere about bad ground so I will see if I can track that down on Marie. For that matter I am thinking its one of the grounds for the dash now being is sometimes the Tach will raise up the voltmeter will act out and there is a black wire in the dash that is spliced together may just rewire it and see if it cures the problem since everytime I mess with that black wire things seem to straighten out for a little while.

 

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Edited August 24, 2016 by snyper316
wrong miles

[snyper316]

Um keep in mind I haven't synced the carbs with a gauge but just refilled the bike with 2 gallons and got 75.4 miles

 

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[snyper316]

Ok this makes absolutely no sense but went 68 miles on 2.5 gallons but this is all in town riding and the little country road cruise earlier and I have tried to find anything in regards to in town driving my town is 80% hills and I live on a hill no matter where I go I have to go up hills and 75% of the time there is steady winds and gusts after all I do live in Tornado Alley. Now I am a big guy at 280 give or take a few lbs so I have figure I fixed my fuel Gauge and I do know the carbs need synced. But what should expect for in town driving

 

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[camos]

Ok this makes absolutely no sense but went 68 miles on 2.5 gallons but this is all in town riding and the little country road cruise earlier and I have tried to find anything in regards to in town driving my town is 80% hills and I live on a hill no matter where I go I have to go up hills and 75% of the time there is steady winds and gusts after all I do live in Tornado Alley. Now I am a big guy at 280 give or take a few lbs so I have figure I fixed my fuel Gauge and I do know the carbs need synced. But what should expect for in town driving

Seems to me you are trying to quantify dis-similar trips with a variable number of hills and a variable amount of wind. Then there is the fuel gauge which is not necessarily exactly linear. The fuel tank is not completely symmetrical so the bars would have to be spaced at a variable distance in order to precisely equate the amount of fuel in the tank.

 

When I fill my VR it gets more miles in the top half than in the bottom half. Part of that would be due to me overfilling the tank to a degree. I always rock the bike to get rid of any air bubbles and then fill and shake, fill and shake until there is about 1/4" of clearance to the small air hole in the neck. This makes it as full as it can get which reduces the variability in how much fuel can be put in the tank.

 

The air bubble thing seems to happen mostly when on a highway trip with the engine as hot as it can normally get. The first time this happened to me the tank was filled close to normal full when a burp happened and spewed fuel all over the place. After that I started to rock the bike as soon as I could see fuel in the tank until it burped and then the top part of the tank can be filled without worrying about spewing.

 

Over filling the tank will reduce the amount of air space available to compensate for any expansion of the fuel. This might be a problem when in a really hot climate. I have ridden in Wyoming and Oregon in 90ish temps without a problem however it is possible in hotter climates that the fuel could over flow occasionally.

 

Since I always fill the tank to the same point and (almost) always run the tank down to the warning, I can use the trip gauge to track mileage reasonably accurately. Trying to do that with a partial tank is not likely to be very repeatable or tell you very much.

 

I have also run the tank completely empty a few times just to see how many miles it will go after the warning. Naturally I carry spare fuel when I do that. A plastic one gallon gas can fits into the saddle bag perfectly.

[snyper316]

Seems to me you are trying to quantify dis-similar trips with a variable number of hills and a variable amount of wind. Then there is the fuel gauge which is not necessarily exactly linear. The fuel tank is not completely symmetrical so the bars would have to be spaced at a variable distance in order to precisely equate the amount of fuel in the tank.

 

When I fill my VR it gets more miles in the top half than in the bottom half. Part of that would be due to me overfilling the tank to a degree. I always rock the bike to get rid of any air bubbles and then fill and shake, fill and shake until there is about 1/4" of clearance to the small air hole in the neck. This makes it as full as it can get which reduces the variability in how much fuel can be put in the tank.

 

The air bubble thing seems to happen mostly when on a highway trip with the engine as hot as it can normally get. The first time this happened to me the tank was filled close to normal full when a burp happened and spewed fuel all over the place. After that I started to rock the bike as soon as I could see fuel in the tank until it burped and then the top part of the tank can be filled without worrying about spewing.

 

Over filling the tank will reduce the amount of air space available to compensate for any expansion of the fuel. This might be a problem when in a really hot climate. I have ridden in Wyoming and Oregon in 90ish temps without a problem however it is possible in hotter climates that the fuel could over flow occasionally.

 

Since I always fill the tank to the same point and (almost) always run the tank down to the warning, I can use the trip gauge to track mileage reasonably accurately. Trying to do that with a partial tank is not likely to be very repeatable or tell you very much.

 

I have also run the tank completely empty a few times just to see how many miles it will go after the warning. Naturally I carry spare fuel when I do that. A plastic one gallon gas can fits into the saddle bag perfectly.

 

OK, I should have updated or better yet made more sense. So here it is I basically was trying to state facts on my town. I did get a hold of the guy who did my carbs. Which he also owns a Venture. What he told me on his Venture is when him and his wife went to Rolla, MO from here he pulled 46 miles to gallon. Around town however he got 28 or so miles to a gallon. The part that didn't seem to make sense to me was the fact why so much difference between In town miles, and Highway Miles. The gas gauge I get that. Because the neck of the tank in the location it is in and where the sending unit sets. Basically I have it figured the gauge is just there to let you know when you are about to run out of gas. Which Before it never did it would show full, then 25 or so miles down the road it would show the pump. Then at about 1/2 it would come back, then it would show no gas. then finally at about 1 bar it would come back for a couple miles, then show I needed gas. Once in a while I would run out with one bar showing. I just wanted to have a better Idea of what gas was actually in the tank. Thanks for the input on this, and the guy who worked on my carbs is gonna tune out my carbs for me for no charge to make up for missing the jet block screws. Also gonna have him sparkle up Marie too in the spring. :banana:

[videoarizona]

Just quick question I was down to two bars on gas Gauge and I filled up with 3 gallons does this sound right. On the 1st gens.

 

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Sounds like my 89. On the highway, my gauge gives me about 40 miles then 1st bar goes away. From that point on, every 20 miles I lose a bar. This is at normal great cruise, little wind, solo.

Around town, unless I remember to let the motor rev... My mileage is worse. The gauge can drop fast, but I only put in 3 gallons or less! Weird.

 

That said, I've decided to use the gauge only as a simple reference. Between that and the odometer I have a pretty good idea of how much time I have left.

 

Since I live in the West, and gas can be scarce, I usually fill up after two hours cause I need a break. I never top off the tank as it's too hot around here and the fuel will expand and overflow if I take a meal break. I fill to bottom of neck and stop. I don't need for the tank to be perfectly full, just close enough to give me reasonably consistent mpgs.

 

You can take the sending unit out, clean the wiper contacts and bend the float to get your gauge to read better, but that would be a pain to do until you get it right for you.

Best thoughts I can give is ride ... and simply get a feel for what your bike does for mpgs in different situations and go by that.