Ok, already ran out of gas once on my newly purchased '97 fatboy. Embarrassing as hell--and dangerous on a five-lane highway. Only 2,700 miles on the bike (2nd owner), and I had a full 1,000 mile service done last week since I wasn't sure what service was done in the past. I know it's only a 4.2 gal tank, but I can't believe I'm getting anywhere near the 45mpg+ that some people are reporting here on HDForums. I've begun recording miles, but I'm so afraid of running the tank down too low and finding myself on the side of the road again.

The question: How do you guys w/out gauges tell how much gas you have in the tank? For me, looking into the tank is only good in bright sunlight and it's hard to tell how much is left after it gets to around half.

Is it something as primitive as dropping a clean wooden dowel in the tank and guesstimating levels?

Forgive if this has been posted a ton times before; search didn't return anything.

Help me out here, please. Thanks!!

 

Hi,
What is with Your petcock? It has not RES position?

For instance me : I ride 125 miles and I look for gas station...

When I had a custom H-D then I used clean wooden dowel in my garage sometimes

 

If you can't see the level, shake the bike and listen in the tank. When I fill up I reset the tripmeter. 140-150 miles later I know to start looking for gas. Only a couple of times I got caught having to switch to reserve to make it to the station.

 

I switched to reserve on the fly on the highway. Think that's what got me to the side of the road. ;-) certainly wouldn't take me far. Thanks a ton, guys. I'll shake and carry an "oh ****" stick...

 

When I switch to reserve I can ride at least 30 miles more. The reserve tank is very large. I think you will get used to it very soon. Just check the odometer. I also can't reach the mpg's that the guys talking. I guess they have another way of calculating or riding.

 

I use my trip meter as my gas gauge, always reset it when I get gas, and I know generally how many mpg I get, only have had to use RES a few times, and there was always enough to get me to the gas station.