Gas Gauge

4060 Views 8 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Geldscheisser, Jun 18, 2015

CoachP7

Discussion Starter · Jun 7, 2015

Are the increments shown on the gas gauge equal? Away from my bike this second but think there's 5 LCD increments (??). How accurate is each increment ?

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On my 2k12 n1k, no, they are not...

I go from 5 bars to 4 bars somewhere between 85 miles and 100 miles, depending on how much time I spent at amusing speeds on my commute (my commute is Dirt, 50 mph zone, then 75 mph zone... I'm normally 10mph over)..

If I wait until I get to the last led bar (usually right when it starts to flash) I can fit about 4.3 gallons of fuel in and I'm filling it till the fuel just barely touch the baffle at the top (high side since it's on the stand).

typically, when I put 4.3 gallons in I've driven about 150-160 miles.

~Mark

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alang

· #3 · Jun 10, 2015

i've gone at least 20 miles after single bar flashing.

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CoachP7

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jun 10, 2015

Thanx. Def'ly something for me to keep an eye out and watch.

I realized yesterday it's actually 6 bars; not 5 like I thought.

I let it go to one bar yesterday (not flashing tho) then filled up. Can't remember exact amount put in. Little disappointed, tho, as I only managed 33 mpg. Stil in break-in mode (<4000rpm) so thought I'd do better than that. Hopefully will get better down the road.

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sdkoskey

· #5 · Jun 11, 2015

I've seen lots of posts on this and other forums where people say they get 45-50mpg. They must not ride at much more than an idle because I'm with you. My bike gets 36mpg on the high side and typically around 35mpg and I'm no hooligan rider. My bike has just over 2000 miles on it and the gas mileage has gotten a little bit better. I now get the same 35-36mpg but I can keep it in high power mode instead of low power to get that mileage.

Also, I have the same results as maniak. 80miles for the first 2 bars and then they drop faster with every mile. I also usually get around 160 miles before the last bar starts flashing at me. I took the risk once and got it to 191 miles just to see if I could get to 200. Didn't have the guts to get there though.

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rcannon409

· #6 · Jun 11, 2015

I saw a cool article in BMW's motorcycle magazine about this issue.

Apparently, these sensors are right from the auto industry.

Because of this, they are set up to signal a dropping liquid volume in what amounts to a square box. Not very hard to do.

Now, take the same sensor and drop it into something shaped like our tanks, and LOL

Notice our fuel tank is 80% airbox. Even if there was "motorcycle specific " how would you build it? It would have to be model specific to have any accuracy. Also, its sloshing around constantly. You'd have to measure at specific points and average.

They new this in the old days and never bothered to use fuel gauges. Its really a case of electronics being too expensive to do it right....The idea should have been shelved with self canceling turn signals.

Apparently theres no great way of using a fuel burned metering device since theres no accurate signal to give it a starting "full" point.

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KR52

· #7 · Jun 11, 2015

rcannon409 said:
They new this in the old days and never bothered to use fuel gauges. Its really a case of electronics being too expensive to do it right....The idea should have been shelved with self canceling turn signals.

Apparently theres no great way of using a fuel burned metering device since theres no accurate signal to give it a starting "full" point.

Ummmm. Self cancelling turn signals have been available on motorcycles since at least the 1980s. Typically they work as a simple timer, or a distance meter or in more advanced cases a combination of distance and or lean angle sensor. Keeps you from having a signal blink for miles after a turn. Either of the first two are pretty cheap to install and should be mandatory on all bikes.

Now as for fuel burned meter it is on the N1K. You have instant fuel consumption, average fuel consumption and remaining range. This measurement is fairly accurate based on cross checks. The bar graph meter is an indicator and just like every other fuel gauge as you get to know your vehicle you will know about how much is left. It is not meant as a precise measure for a car or a bike just an estimate.

As for fuel economy in the first 3000 km most tanks were measuring 5.8 L/100 km, but then it improved. On a 1000 km two day trip I got between 4.9 to 5.2 except for one stretch where the speed was 'spirited' and it dropped to 5.7 L/100 km. The qualifier is the terrain was mostly fairly flat and wind speeds would be under 20 kph.

The 5.2 sections were obtained running speeds of between 70 to 75 mph according to the GPS. My speedometer is out by 6% so indicated speeds were higher. The 4.9 section had some construction zones so I was running speeds between 50 and 70 mph. For the metrically challenged 4.9 L/100km is 58 mpg Imperial and 5.2 is 54 mpg.

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Warprints

· #8 · Jun 12, 2015

Yeah, you just have to learn what each bar means as far as how much fuel/distance you have left. My gauge shows a full tank for quite a while, then drops like a rock before leveling off. When I get to a flashing bar, I have about 35 miles (about a gallon) left in the tank.

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Geldscheisser

· #9 · Jun 18, 2015

I find the gas gauge to be overly pessimistic. When it looks like it's near empty, I can't get 4 gal. in it. On gas milage, I very consistently get 45 mpg. That's probably because I favor low rpms. Switching to synthetic Rotella T6 added 1+ mpg.

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