Funky Fuel Gauge?

[Schlepporello]

OK, I've only filled the tank on my VR 4 times so far and every time I've done it, I did it the same way I have on every bike I've ever owned. I filled it to the top! Yet when I fire up the bike, the red light goes blinky blinky and the gas pump icon shows up, the gauge registers no gas in the tank. It won't register on the guage until I've driven it enough to bring the gas level down a bit. Then, it seems like it drops like a rock until it's time to get gas again. Once the gas registers zero o the guage and the red light lights up, I hit the gas station and usually end up having only put in 4.1 gallons. Is this normal behavior for the fuel gauge on 1st generation VR's or do I need to service my tank float device somehow?

[DonB]

Schlepporello

 

Well I have a 1985 Venture and I don't have that happening. I usually fill up my tank to the top and everything works as it should.

 

db

[Pappa Bear]

89, no fueling issues

[nowindinmyhair]

My '84 does the very same thing. I was going to strip it apart to see if I could find anything wrong but decided it may be safer to leave it as is and reset my tripmeter everytime I fuel up.

[tomephil]

I haven't had that problem with my 84 but I will ask around.

Hopefully it will be an easy fix.

Tom

[Schlepporello]

My '84 does the very same thing. I was going to strip it apart to see if I could find anything wrong but decided it may be safer to leave it as is and reset my tripmeter everytime I fuel up.

That's what I'm currently doing. One thing I know for sure, when the red light comes on, I have a little over one gallon left.

[nowindinmyhair]

I get about 240 to 260 km with one tank fill. When I get my light after about 220, I head for the gas station.

[Schlepporello]

I haven't had that problem with my 84 but I will ask around.

Hopefully it will be an easy fix.

Tom

I'm thinking that I may have a faulty float or maybe the linkage isn't lined up quite right (the bike has been laid over at least one time by the previous owner). Regardless, I won't be checking it out until the next weekend that I'm low on gas.

[Condor]

It's probably a bad sender. It sounds like there's a break in the wrapped resistence wire that the pick-up rides on. I've successfully soldered the wires together on auto senders, but I've never actually eyeballed one of he Ventures. It looks like they're fairly easy to remove...sits right under the seat... You might even consider replacing it with a new one. Looks like they'd be around $50 bucks??

[Schlepporello]

Looks like they'd be around $50 bucks??

I haven't tried pricing one yet, but if I try to get one from our local "dealership" I'll bet it'll be more like $250. That seems to be the majic number for them.

 

This sender wire, is that on the unit inside the tank?

[mtman]

FROGMAN gave a real good repair description for this kind of problem. Maybe not exactly the same but worth trying. I did, it worked. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?p=211791

 

Hope it helps...

[Condor]

I haven't tried pricing one yet, but if I try to get one from our local "dealership" I'll bet it'll be more like $250. That seems to be the majic number for them.

 

This sender wire, is that on the unit inside the tank?

 

The dealer price list shows $50+ bucks. Granted it's a couple of years old, but I've found it to be in the ballpark most of the time.........

[6m459]

See HERE for the First Gen Tech page entry on fuel gauge sender repair.

 

 

 

Hope this is useful.

 

Brian H.

[Gearhead]

Yup, definitely the sending unit, not making proper contact at the full tank level. In case you don't know, the sender is just a float on an arm, and the arm moves along a variable resistor. The rest of your gage behavior is totally normal. Mine runs about the first 1/3 of the tank (mileage-wise) with the gage chock full on 6 bars. Then it drops like a rock from there, and yes, when the gage shows E there is about 1 gal left.

 

Jeremy

[Schlepporello]

Thanks guys!

My suspicions were that it was a float and lever type sender, but seeing as to how my motersickle knowledgebase is only 30 years out of date, I wasn't sure that some new fangled sender might have been developed. I know what I'll be working on this weekend.

[george0fthejungle]

HI Guys!

 

I was all set to start my own thread when I saw this one. I hope Condor or one of the other guru's of all motorcycle wisdom will read this and weigh in.

 

My 83 VR is really troubling me from a gas consumption point of view. And I have a bad odometer (by the way, is that a separate cable from the speedo?). Anyway I topped my bike off yesterday and rode it to and from work today. My gauge shows 6 bars when topped off and when I pulled into the garage tonite it had dropped to 2. My trip to work is about 50 miles one way...so by any account I cant have gone more than 110 miles today.....Im going to keep a close eye on it tomorrow, and see if maybe I just have a gauge that drops fast at first, then hangs on the low markings for awhile.

 

I have a spare instrument cluster, maybe I should swap them out and see if I can get a working odometer.

 

Any ideas Oh ye Wise Ones?

 

Paul

[tomephil]

Thanks guys!

My suspicions were that it was a float and lever type sender, but seeing as to how my motersickle knowledgebase is only 30 years out of date, I wasn't sure that some new fangled sender might have been developed. I know what I'll be working on this weekend.

 

Looks like you got your answer.

Good luck this weekend!!

Tom

[Condor]

HI Guys!

 

I was all set to start my own thread when I saw this one. I hope Condor or one of the other guru's of all motorcycle wisdom will read this and weigh in.

 

My 83 VR is really troubling me from a gas consumption point of view. And I have a bad odometer (by the way, is that a separate cable from the speedo?). Anyway I topped my bike off yesterday and rode it to and from work today. My gauge shows 6 bars when topped off and when I pulled into the garage tonite it had dropped to 2. My trip to work is about 50 miles one way...so by any account I cant have gone more than 110 miles today.....Im going to keep a close eye on it tomorrow, and see if maybe I just have a gauge that drops fast at first, then hangs on the low markings for awhile.

 

I have a spare instrument cluster, maybe I should swap them out and see if I can get a working odometer.

 

Any ideas Oh ye Wise Ones?

 

Paul

 

First things first. The odo runs off the same cable as the speedo. If your extra dash looks fairly decent I'd go ahead and replace the entire dash. It's a pain to remove the speedo, not hard, just tedious.

Second having 2 bars after putting on 110 miles is about right. My light will start blinking with no bars after 150 miles. Sometimes more, and sometimes a little less depending on driving habits...

[Tupperj]

 

My 83 VR is really troubling me from a gas consumption point of view. And I have a bad odometer (by the way, is that a separate cable from the speedo?). Anyway I topped my bike off yesterday and rode it to and from work today. My gauge shows 6 bars when topped off and when I pulled into the garage tonite it had dropped to 2. My trip to work is about 50 miles one way...so by any account I cant have gone more than 110 miles today.....Im going to keep a close eye on it tomorrow, and see if maybe I just have a gauge that drops fast at first, then hangs on the low markings for awhile.

 

I have a spare instrument cluster, maybe I should swap them out and see if I can get a working odometer.

 

Any ideas Oh ye Wise Ones?

 

Paul

 

Well, you asked for wise, got stuck with me.

 

My 89 does much the same thing. What you need to keep track of is how much gas you're actually putting in. On my long trip a week back, I was getting down to the last bar at about 125-130 miles but was only putting in less than 4 gallons, and getting a solid 37 miles per gallon.

 

As for the odometer, it's not a separate cable, runs off the cable from the front wheel for the speedo.

 

Enjoy, be safe!

 

Paul

[Schlepporello]

Second having 2 bars after putting on 110 miles is about right. My light will start blinking with no bars after 150 miles. Sometimes more, and sometimes a little less depending on driving habits...

I concur. I've been going from 146 to 150+ miles before my red light comes on. And 2 bars at 110 miles sounds about like what my bike is doing right now. As in my case, I'm sure that stop and go combined with occaisional frivolity of the throttle is having an adverse effect on my mileage. It would be nice to just get it on the highway for a 100 mile non-stop ride just once to see what the mileage looks like then.

[george0fthejungle]

I concur. I've been going from 146 to 150+ miles before my red light comes on. And 2 bars at 110 miles sounds about like what my bike is doing right now. As in my case, I'm sure that stop and go combined with occaisional frivolity of the throttle is having an adverse effect on my mileage. It would be nice to just get it on the highway for a 100 mile non-stop ride just once to see what the mileage looks like then.

 

 

So am I just naive then? Cuz I totally believed the spec on the VR History page for the 83's where it talks about them getting 42 mpg and having a cruising range of 226 miles.

 

Or is that something Venture insiders chuckle about and roll their eyes knowingly?

 

[Schlepporello]

I don't know, I've only been back riding regular for three weeks now and I'm still trying to figure my bike out. And yes, I've heard the same reports as you. My mileage figures are still around 36 MPG. I'm sure my riding habits and techniques are having an adverse effect, I'll figure it out eventually.

[george0fthejungle]

I don't know, I've only been back riding regular for three weeks now and I'm still trying to figure my bike out. And yes, I've heard the same reports as you. My mileage figures are still around 36 MPG. I'm sure my riding habits and techniques are having an adverse effect, I'll figure it out eventually.

 

True, true. Im working on smooth starts and stops and good shifting again too. Its been a few years since I rode and my last bike was a 650 Maxim. Quite a bit smaller and lighter. Maybe as my technique improves I will squeeze a few more mile out of it too.

 

Thanks for the feedback

[Gearhead]

My suspicions were that it was a float and lever type sender, but seeing as to how my motersickle knowledgebase is only 30 years out of date

 

Remember, your bike is, what, 24 yrs old? Not that far from 30...

 

Yeah, I'd like to believe that report, too. I've gotten 42 mpg, if memory serves, exactly twice in 2 years, and those were slow, lazy cruises with a kid on the back seat. I average 37. My present tankful is worse. I went down to one bar at about 110 miles, which is particularly poor, probably heading for about 33mpg. The bike is evidently thanking me for the kind attention I gave it over the weekend, replacing the plugs, oil and checking the plug wires. It has this habit of getting worse mileage the first couple tanks after I do something that, if anything, should help mileage.

 

That said, there are a few guys out there claiming better mileage. I'm still searching.

 

Jeremy

[Condor]

True, true. Im working on smooth starts and stops and good shifting again too. Its been a few years since I rode and my last bike was a 650 Maxim. Quite a bit smaller and lighter. Maybe as my technique improves I will squeeze a few more mile out of it too.

 

Thanks for the feedback

 

I think...and that's dangerous.... the key gas milage is the rpm you run at. I've gotten 38mpg on the highway in 5th gear for the intire tank, and have gotten 50mpg running in the mountain twisties and very seldom getting up to 4th. Others have reported the same thing. Most of the time down shifting into a curve and powering out. So around town and surface streets I say don't be in such a hurry to get the bike into 5th in order to save fuel. Keep it in 4th.