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On the road...I stop every 100 ~ 130 miles to walk around and stretch the legs. I fuel up at the same time so I never have fuel issues. The most I have put in my '03 Ultra is 5.6 gal (fuel light on and rode another 35 miles).
There is a difference between the rest of the touring family and the Road king though when it comes to filling the tank. With a non Road King with the gas opening in the middle of the tank it would make sense that on a center stand that being the highest point you can put more gas in than on a jiffy stand where it is no longer the high side of the tank.
On a Road king the tank fill is on the right side so when the king is leaned over on the left side jiffy stand. the right side of the tank would be the highest and would make sense to fill it on the jiffy stand?
However I have the same problem with the fuel light coming on with a gallon or two left in the tank.
My owners manual states that the low fuel indicator comes on when there is 1 gallon left in the tank. And in another section when talking about the fuel gauge, it specifically states that it tells you "approximately" how much fuel is left in the tank. So, if the light is using the gauge to know when to come on, then the light is also approximate. So I would think anywhere between 1 and 2 gallons seems about right. I would be more concerned if I was getting 5.5 or greater gallons in the tank right after the light came on.
on my 09 RK I have never gotten more that ~4.5 gallons in the tank. I have been wondering as well. I know some people "Adjust" the float to compensate.
If the fuel guage is not accurate, next you will tell me that the speedometer, and the Dyno sheet (I downloaded from the website) also lied to me..... What is the world coming too????
I've got a Road King and with the fill on the right side of the tank I've always figured that filling with the bike on the side stand worked best.
The weird thing I found was my low fuel light seemed to change when I installed the Digital Speedometer/Tach. With the stock speedo I'd normally get the Low Fuel light at about 190 miles. The light on the digital guage seems to be coming on about 20 miles earlier. I've only run through one full tank of gas, so the the mileage difference may just be that one tank of gas, but I doubt it. The instructions for the new guage said to fill the tank so the guage could "learn" the fuel consumption for the low fuel countdown feature, so I'm keeping an eye on it to see if it changes as I use a few more tankfulls of fuel.
FWIW the touring models seem to be more accurate than some others. I had an XR1200 Sportster for a short while and the low fuel light on that bike was totally worthless. It would come on anywhere between 20 and 110 miles after a fill-up. At least the one on the RK seems to only vary by around a half gallon.
Some of you have posted that you have put up to 6.2 gallons????? I don't know how.. I have run my bike down to the point that the miles remaining was flashing "LO".. I'm guessing that is less than 5 miles left. When I topped off, the most I was able to get in was 5.48 gallons. But.... I don't recall lifting the bike(standing up-right) to see if more would go in.. However, when I started riding, the mile remaining went to 268 left to empty. I guess I really can't complain, the fuel mileage is pretty good (48.9 mpg) The next time that I end up to the point that the "LO" message comes on, I'll have to see if more fuel goes in when I stand the bike up-right. Not that I make it a habbit to run that low, but just to satisfy my curiosity..
By the way..... my low fuel light usually come on at 36 miles to empty..
Last edited by kstang71; May 20, 2010 at 06:20 PM.
i dont know why youd think i would lie..... all seriousness, when the yellow fuel light comes on... the cruise will disable and wont engage while light is on... fill up, light off, cruise will engage
i dont know why youd think i would lie..... all seriousness, when the yellow fuel light comes on... the cruise will disable and wont engage while light is on... fill up, light off, cruise will engage
I use my cruise all the time and have never had the cruise dis-engage when the light comes on... In fact, the day before yesterday, I was on the interstate with the cruise on and watched the low fuel light pop on... I continued for another 15 miles before I had to hit the brakes. Cruise never quit.. FYI.... nobody said anything about a lie.. I was just curious how some of the people here were able to get more than 6 gallons in their tanks...
I reset my trip counter at every fillup. I'm not saying that I don't trust the gauge, I just feel more comfortable knowing how many miles that I've gone between fillups.
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