Super Low Mileage
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 4,990
Likes: 9
From: Marina del Rey
fuel management
Fuel management is simple, if you keep basic records of ALL fuel stops, as I do: odometer mileage and # gallons, to the nearest 1/10 (I also note date & town).
Knowing your true MPG, you can see instantly by looking @ your odometer just how many more miles you can safely ride w/o running out of fuel, which might put you in an inconvenient, if not dangerous, situation. And MPG derived from just 1 fill-up is meaningless; there are just way too many inconsistencies, making it highly unreliable. It is important to average your MPG over a long period of time--over many fill-ups.
My bike record book is a very compact, pocket-size auto record book whose headings I customize for this purpose. At any time, it is so easy for me to recalculate average MPG, which happens to be 45 (average in 3400 miles) on my stock '09 TC96 6-spd.) Another reason to keep an eye on MPG is that it might predict some malfunction of which you otherwise may not have been aware.
The stock Moco fuel gauge is completely useless and should just be ignored. Get used to resetting your trip odometer EVERY time you fill the tank, and always filling it to the very same distance from the fill-opening, full. The odometer is a very accurate fuel gauge, IF you know your true MPG.
Knowing your true MPG, you can see instantly by looking @ your odometer just how many more miles you can safely ride w/o running out of fuel, which might put you in an inconvenient, if not dangerous, situation. And MPG derived from just 1 fill-up is meaningless; there are just way too many inconsistencies, making it highly unreliable. It is important to average your MPG over a long period of time--over many fill-ups.
My bike record book is a very compact, pocket-size auto record book whose headings I customize for this purpose. At any time, it is so easy for me to recalculate average MPG, which happens to be 45 (average in 3400 miles) on my stock '09 TC96 6-spd.) Another reason to keep an eye on MPG is that it might predict some malfunction of which you otherwise may not have been aware.
The stock Moco fuel gauge is completely useless and should just be ignored. Get used to resetting your trip odometer EVERY time you fill the tank, and always filling it to the very same distance from the fill-opening, full. The odometer is a very accurate fuel gauge, IF you know your true MPG.
Thread Starter
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Road Master
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 1,161
Likes: 2
From: Walnut Creek, CA
You guys are right... It seems that the gauge is a mess... Well I will go back to what I did on the Sporty w/o fuel gauge.
lo-rider - that actually is an excellent idea I could totally just type that info into my phone
lo-rider - that actually is an excellent idea I could totally just type that info into my phone
Thread Starter
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Road Master
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 1,161
Likes: 2
From: Walnut Creek, CA
Clean your air filter, also winter gas along with the colder air will drop you mileage considerably this time of year.
Also the light comes on with .9 to 1.1 gallons left in the tank without the use of a tank lift (Stock location).
This means that you when you fill up at the light or when the reserve tells you. You are not near empty. Since you do not have a reserve this is your reserve. I can go 40 miles when the reserve meter shows "LO".
Clean your air filter, wait until winter is over, and then judge, and see if your gas mileage comes back. You can also check your plugs to see if they are fouling. If they are not then you should just do as I said. Clean/replace air filter, ride til winter is over, and see if your mileage comes back.
Also the light comes on with .9 to 1.1 gallons left in the tank without the use of a tank lift (Stock location).
This means that you when you fill up at the light or when the reserve tells you. You are not near empty. Since you do not have a reserve this is your reserve. I can go 40 miles when the reserve meter shows "LO".
Clean your air filter, wait until winter is over, and then judge, and see if your gas mileage comes back. You can also check your plugs to see if they are fouling. If they are not then you should just do as I said. Clean/replace air filter, ride til winter is over, and see if your mileage comes back.
We don't really have winter here... though I did notice when it got super cold (for the area) in November and December the miles dropped a bit... but maybe it's just me..
I just gotta remember that I'm okay when it says "lo" .... I will however try to test it out to see what's the max mileage I can put on before I run out.
Cruiser
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 107
Likes: 0
From: Minot, ND
That's a good idea of using the phone for mileage. I didn't think of using it for that. Plus, this is a good reason for getting flush mount caps for the tank and getting rid of the incorrect gas gauge.
Cruiser
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 139
Likes: 0
From: Jville NC
Download the app "gas cubby" if you have a smartphone. I yes it EVERYTIME I get gas. For my bike, my F250, and the wife uses it on her Tahoe too. I have always tracked fuel mileage in my vic's. Mostly because I have had a few jeeps and their gauges are worse the Harleys! Trust me gas cubby is what you want. There is a free one and a paid version too. I use it so much I bought the paid one. Oh yeah you can track repairs too so you know how many miles since your last oil change or shock adjustment. It does it all.
Club Member
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 10,815
Likes: 16
From: Virginia
I wouldn't run the tank completely dry just to see how far you can go. You can tell your gas mileage after a few times just filling it up and seeing how many gallons it took to fill up vs miles ridden.
Running it to empty is drastic and from what I've always heard not good for the fuel pump and it will probably be hard to get started again. I know I ran a FI car empty one time and it was a bitch to get it started again.
By the way my 07 Street Bob gets 50mpg on the highway and maybe 32-35 in the city. I don't have a miles to empty guage but the fuel light usually comes on with 1 gallon left in the tank. Since I know my approximate gas mileage I just use the odometer as a fuel guage. Hasn't let me down.
Running it to empty is drastic and from what I've always heard not good for the fuel pump and it will probably be hard to get started again. I know I ran a FI car empty one time and it was a bitch to get it started again.
By the way my 07 Street Bob gets 50mpg on the highway and maybe 32-35 in the city. I don't have a miles to empty guage but the fuel light usually comes on with 1 gallon left in the tank. Since I know my approximate gas mileage I just use the odometer as a fuel guage. Hasn't let me down.
Road Warrior
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,900
Likes: 12
I check miles per gallon on every fill up, and keep up with the trends. I averaged 40 mph in the city for the first 8000 miles (spring and summer).
Come winter I started averaging about 36 mpg in the city. Sometimes less. Then on one weekend here a while back we got up into the 70s, and I rode two tanks full that day, and I got 45 mpg. So I know it has a lot to do with air temp and humidity as to what the bike wants to drink. Well how much it wants to drink. Also I let it warm up a little longer if it is below 60*. Most days this year in the winter it has been in the lower 40s.
If you have a Stage 1 A/C just was it out really good with warm water from the inside to the outside. Do not use high pressure. I use the K&N detergent, but not the oil. I also use Acetone before, and it works really well.
But you can use just warm water and a mild detergent, and then let it air dry.
Come winter I started averaging about 36 mpg in the city. Sometimes less. Then on one weekend here a while back we got up into the 70s, and I rode two tanks full that day, and I got 45 mpg. So I know it has a lot to do with air temp and humidity as to what the bike wants to drink. Well how much it wants to drink. Also I let it warm up a little longer if it is below 60*. Most days this year in the winter it has been in the lower 40s.
If you have a Stage 1 A/C just was it out really good with warm water from the inside to the outside. Do not use high pressure. I use the K&N detergent, but not the oil. I also use Acetone before, and it works really well.
But you can use just warm water and a mild detergent, and then let it air dry.
Last edited by editbrain; Feb 11, 2011 at 07:02 AM.
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Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 7,079
Likes: 21
From: Queens, NY
Fuel management is simple, if you keep basic records of ALL fuel stops, as I do: odometer mileage and # gallons, to the nearest 1/10 (I also note date & town).
Knowing your true MPG, you can see instantly by looking @ your odometer just how many more miles you can safely ride w/o running out of fuel, which might put you in an inconvenient, if not dangerous, situation. And MPG derived from just 1 fill-up is meaningless; there are just way too many inconsistencies, making it highly unreliable. It is important to average your MPG over a long period of time--over many fill-ups.
My bike record book is a very compact, pocket-size auto record book whose headings I customize for this purpose. At any time, it is so easy for me to recalculate average MPG, which happens to be 45 (average in 3400 miles) on my stock '09 TC96 6-spd.) Another reason to keep an eye on MPG is that it might predict some malfunction of which you otherwise may not have been aware.
The stock Moco fuel gauge is completely useless and should just be ignored. Get used to resetting your trip odometer EVERY time you fill the tank, and always filling it to the very same distance from the fill-opening, full. The odometer is a very accurate fuel gauge, IF you know your true MPG.
Knowing your true MPG, you can see instantly by looking @ your odometer just how many more miles you can safely ride w/o running out of fuel, which might put you in an inconvenient, if not dangerous, situation. And MPG derived from just 1 fill-up is meaningless; there are just way too many inconsistencies, making it highly unreliable. It is important to average your MPG over a long period of time--over many fill-ups.
My bike record book is a very compact, pocket-size auto record book whose headings I customize for this purpose. At any time, it is so easy for me to recalculate average MPG, which happens to be 45 (average in 3400 miles) on my stock '09 TC96 6-spd.) Another reason to keep an eye on MPG is that it might predict some malfunction of which you otherwise may not have been aware.
The stock Moco fuel gauge is completely useless and should just be ignored. Get used to resetting your trip odometer EVERY time you fill the tank, and always filling it to the very same distance from the fill-opening, full. The odometer is a very accurate fuel gauge, IF you know your true MPG.
Road Master
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 886
Likes: 6
Chi45cken, to get a rough estimate of your mpg. just fill the tank to lip (do not fill filler hole). Set your trip odometer to "0". drive until your light comes on and fill it back to the lip. see how many gallons it took... divide the miles into the gallons needed to fill it up and that will give you an estimate of how many mpg you are getting. This way you don't have to run it to empty. Then just use the mpg x 4.5 (actually running to dry and filling to the lip will get you 4.6 
) and that should be an estimate of how many miles you can get from your tank. You can do this a few times and you will see that your estimated mpg will be roughly the same (using the same technique) the more times you do it the more error you will remove. I suspect you will find you get more miles then you think.
Also doing this you will see how many gallons are left in the tank when the light comes on and you will be able to figure out how many miles you have left before empty. If you are using the light to determine your fuel, it is always nice to know how many miles you can ride with it on.
I have the Kury gauges and always use the light to tell me when I need fuel. In 40K miles it has never let me down and only ran out of fuel once... I wasn't paying attention to the light haha
) and that should be an estimate of how many miles you can get from your tank. You can do this a few times and you will see that your estimated mpg will be roughly the same (using the same technique) the more times you do it the more error you will remove. I suspect you will find you get more miles then you think. Also doing this you will see how many gallons are left in the tank when the light comes on and you will be able to figure out how many miles you have left before empty. If you are using the light to determine your fuel, it is always nice to know how many miles you can ride with it on.
I have the Kury gauges and always use the light to tell me when I need fuel. In 40K miles it has never let me down and only ran out of fuel once... I wasn't paying attention to the light haha
Last edited by bigmikaele; Feb 11, 2011 at 09:22 AM.