95 miles before fuel light comes on
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 14,670
Likes: 139
From: East of the Sun, West of the Moon
I wanted to note my last fill-up I put in 3.4 gal of gas. Today, my fuel light came on at 109 miles according to the trip meter. My daily commute from home to work is under 10 minutes. All city riding. No highway.
Bike is an '03 EG anniversary edition with stage 1 kit and Rinehart true dual exhaust.
Any ideas or things I should look for would be appreciated.
Bike is an '03 EG anniversary edition with stage 1 kit and Rinehart true dual exhaust.
Any ideas or things I should look for would be appreciated.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 2,721
Likes: 103
From: St. Louis, MO
Great, so we have a good baseline to start with. Fill it again full (don't spill, it's a fire hazard!), so we can see how much fuel in and what your mileage is. If your mileage is in range, your fuel gauge arm likely needs to be adjusted (I adjusted mine by bending it and it's really accurate now), or, if you only went 109 miles on 4.5 gallons of fuel you have a different problem.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 56
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From: Pueblo
Joe G, filled up today after work sitting on the bike so that it's filled up level and not on the jiffy stand. 3.5 gallons exactly to fill up. So I now know by time the fuel light comes on I'm leaving 1.5 gal in the tank.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 2,721
Likes: 103
From: St. Louis, MO
Has anyone removed your fuel pump for service before? It's possible your float rod is bent upward and reading empty when it's not. I had that problem the first time I removed my pump.
Here is a video on how the fuel pump and float mechanism comes out. You can see how the float rod could get bent. Mine did and I bent it back the second time now it works well.
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Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 56
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From: Pueblo
I'm assuming whatever tuning was needed was done when the stage 1 was installed. I just bought the bike a couple months back so all work was done by previous owner.
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Joined: Jul 2014
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From: Pueblo
Ok. So I'd say at 31 mpg you are at the low end of normal. I get 34-36 and I'm not too happy with that. My buddy' carb'd 03 gets 48 with me riding it. If you have a piggy back tuner I'd suggest removing it for a tank and see what your mileage is. I'm going to try this on mine next tank...my canned tune from Fuelmoto is adding a lot of fuel and now that I installed some baffles I am not sure I need it.
Has anyone removed your fuel pump for service before? It's possible your float rod is bent upward and reading empty when it's not. I had that problem the first time I removed my pump.
Here is a video on how the fuel pump and float mechanism comes out. You can see how the float rod could get bent. Mine did and I bent it back the second time now it works well.
http://youtu.be/RJvt92Mcx1Y
Has anyone removed your fuel pump for service before? It's possible your float rod is bent upward and reading empty when it's not. I had that problem the first time I removed my pump.
Here is a video on how the fuel pump and float mechanism comes out. You can see how the float rod could get bent. Mine did and I bent it back the second time now it works well.
http://youtu.be/RJvt92Mcx1Y
Road Master
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 770
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From: Western, KY
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Road Captain
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 671
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From: Ontario, Canada
Mine is an 03 Ultra FI, my light comes on at about 175 miles if I'm riding in town a lot. On trips doing 50-65 mph, it'll go as far as 190-195 before the light comes on. That's 2up on a stock bike except for a pair of slip ons.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 2,721
Likes: 103
From: St. Louis, MO
I think the OP's fuel mileage is messed up more than his fuel gage. Hence my recommendation to take off any piggy back tuner he may have installed and see what mileage is. I'm going to try this myself after borrowing a carb'd 03 and getting consistent 48 mpg through several tanks (and not riding easy either, several roll-ons in Mexico were included in this mpg number).
Oh I wish I had a carb bike, they are so much simpler and less things to break (like my throttle shaft, and my TPS sensor, and the money I wasted on an IAC chasing the problem).