Light comes on at 95-110 on my 1200 Nightster 3.3 gal tank. I have gone as far as 143 miles and then only put 2.8 gal. I never have had any problems with it - I would have to agree with most of the board members, have your fuel pump checked out by the stealer, it is a warranty issue for sure.

My .02

 

Yikes...never hit 100+ miles before the light came on...even during 100% highway commutes.
Must be nice.

 

The best way to guage how far you can go is to track your miles. If you are sputtering when the fule light comes on (85-100 miles) I would say that your fuel pump seems amiss.

I try to fill at ~120 miles and I have never been sputtering at that point. Give or take, filling up at 120 allows me to put about 2.5 gallons in filled right to the top.

 

I can vouch that the 3.3 gallon tank does not have usable capacity of 3.3 gallons. But it should take much more than reported here to fill up if the bike is running out of fuel.

On Average, I switch to reserve around 125 miles. That in theory leaves .8 gallons in the tank. Normally, I will fill up within 10 - 15 miles of switching to reserve, and it will take about 2.8 gallons to fill up.

But, like I said, there is only approximately 3.1 gallons of usable capacity in the 3.3 gallon tank. Don't ask me how I know this.

 

That's ballsy at 143. The furthest I ever could attemp was 115 ish" then I was stressing too much so I had to get gas to calm my nerves. Pluss I have a 2" raised tank

 

The wife's Nightster goes about 110 miles 'till the fuel light comes on, and it takes 2.1 gallons give-or-take to fill from there.

 

i have a 95 883 w/an actual 2 gal tank, get 65-70 street miles & usually hit reserve. highway is about 85(but i cruise at 80) fill up is usually 1.8 gal's. i envy all you 100+ mile riders...

 

STOP running it untill it sputters! If you continue, you will fry the fuel pump. The pump is designed to remain submerged in gasoline and will soon fail if you keep running it dry. Gasoline cools and lubes the pump and the pump needs to remain submerged when in operation. Each time it runs dry you damage the fuel pump.

Ok, let's get to the bottom of the problem.......Your confusion/question is "exactly how much fuel does the tank hold?....I holds exactly 3.3 gallons, period. From there you state that you can only fill it with 2.2 gallons, right?

One of only two possible things is happening. A: you ain't topping off the tank due to fuel nozzle design(vapor recovery rubber shield). Or B: your pump suction is improperly installed/configured too high in the tank(very unlikely).

First eliminate prossibility A by filling the empty tank from a portable can to within 1/2" of the top. If it took 3 gallons to fill it, then once it starts to sputter it only takes a little over two gallons to refill it back to 1/2" of top, you definately have a warranty issue.

I don't recall you mentioning the low fuel idiot light. Do you first get the light, then later it starts to sputter?......If you don't get the warning light first, then you definately need them to pull the pump assembly and inspect it.

 

I know, but I like to live dangerously. ;-p and I have done that with all my bikes. I used to go 235 miles on my 2006 RG w/5 gallon tank, but then I don't try to run at high speeds. I have found that you can cover more ground and look at things going 68-70 mph and enjoy the trip. When I ride the Nightster, I rarely run over 65-70 by the GPS.

JMHO