Have you ever run out of fuel? (TR650 question)

[nev..]

I've put 13.4 litres into my tank, so I know that much is usable.

 

[Tazzierob]

Me too, 13.2L after reserve for 6km

 

[rride]

I Haven't run it dry, but I have put 13.7 litres in (that's 3.6 US gallons) and it was still running.

You have an advantage. You don't have to use ethanol corn liquor like most US owners. When we converted in my truck, I went from 18mpg to 14mpg (about a 25% reduction in gas mileage and much less midrange power). You should have 25% more range per altitude than what is discovered here.

 

[Coffee]

Update.

This is a theory, because to be honest, I was not fully awake: Yesterday I noticed that on a tight curvy road with the bike leaning way over (20mph for cars/trucks) that after the low fuel light had been on for 18+ miles - the bike seemed to run like poo - but it continued to run.

In addition the road was quite steep, but that up/down did not seem to affect the bike nearly as much as leaning the bike over.

Finally got to the gas station and filled up with the odo showing the low fuel light had been on for 25 miles. EDIT: It took 3.6 gallons to fill it.

So at least 3 times I've gone between 25 and 27 miles after the light had come on, but have yet to run out of fuel.

After thinking about this for a while, the only numbers I care about is mpg, miles before light comes on, and how many miles can be ridden after the light comes on (as opposed to how much the tank holds, or how much usable volume there is in the tank).

 

[cbxtc6]

Happened yesterday. Cruising along @ 65mph, bike just died; no sputtering, etc. My low fuel lamp was lit for 27 miles. I thought I had 1 gallon reserve, guess it's only 1/2 gallon. Got a splash of gas from a friendly farmer's daughter, made it to gas station (3 miles further) where I pumped 3.7 gallons into it. I am routinely getting ~ 50mpg.

 

[Coffee]

Though it is not of primary concern to me, it appears from all the feedback that virtually all of the fuel seems to be useable, as opposed to having a significant amount in the bottom that cannot be used cause the pickup cannot get to it.

I did edit my previous post to indicate amount of fuel it took to fill my bike up.

 

[Highfive]

I did it…..ran her dry today. Well, actually, it was an hour after pitch dark before she died. Sweet thing just kept going and going.

Strapped on my comfy seat and two one-gallon Rotopax tanks, and settled in for the long-haul.

For proper documentation, here is precisely 2.0 gallons of Rotopax fuel for resuscitation later…

Filled the bike up with this pure gasoline, 91 octane. and headed out for a mix of city streets, highways, and dirt roads. Average speeds ranged from 40 - 65 mph range. There was a mix of stop & go, plus some high speed runs in the 70's and 80's. Just rode it normal….come what may. Didn't give it much thought really. I did spend a lot of time on back country, 2-lane highways running along about 55 - 60 mph. No trail riding today (too slow to rack up the miles).

Fuel light came on about here:

Took photo as soon as I could safely pull over. Here is the corresponding Reserve gauge:

Now then, it was getting close to dark and I thought this would be over soon…….wrong.

******************

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Drum Roll please

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Ran out of gas while running 55 mph down the highway….no sputter….no cough….simply gave up without a fight at:

If you do the math, it seems these two gauges deviate in readings by about 1 mile comparatively.

****Edit***just realized why the numbers are slightly off. I turned off the bike to take the photo when the fuel light first came on. When I restarted, the fuel light was off....and it took about 1 mile before it came back on. The Reserve Gauge zeroed and started counting over when the Fuel Light came on again.
**********

I happened to be 2 miles from a gas station when she died. I poured in the 2.0 gallons of fuel from my Rotopax, and the bike fired right up on the first push of the magic button…..no sniffles….no wheezes….no problems.

I scootered up the road the 2.3 miles, to be exact, and topped off the fuel tank with this much gas:

This surprised me, as I was expecting more. Anyway, 2.0 gallons + 1.74 gallons = 3.74 total.

Hhhhmmmmm…..

Got me wondering how it compares to the UG (Gallons Used gauge):

Aaaah Crikey! I forgot to reset this one at my original fill up.

Oh well, there had to be a fly in the ointment somewhere, eh? I really don't mess with this gauge much, so its not surprising to me that I forgot about it. Something for next time, I guess. A test ain't validated until results are repeated.

Good day!

HF

 

[Tazzierob]

Well, it is a more complete benchmark for you to compare for next time

Good work

Though I couldn't help notice you used 91 octane fuel. The specified fuel for the Terra is 95 octane due to the higher compression ratio. Any noticeable pinging?

 

[RidingDonkeys]

Well, it is a more complete benchmark for you to compare for next time

Good work

Though I couldn't help notice you used 91 octane fuel. The specified fuel for the Terra is 95 octane due to the higher compression ratio. Any noticeable pinging?

The TR650 does not call for 95 Octane, it calls for 95 RON. It is a difference in scales, like Celsius to Farenheit. RON is Research Octane Number, and is what is shown on the pump in Australia and all European countries. In North America, and most of South America, they use the AKI (Anti-Knock Index), which is the average of the RON and the Motor Octane Number (MON). If you look closely at the yellow buttons in HighFive's picture, you will see that it shows the formula for AKI, which is (R+M)/2. Sometimes, the AKI is referred to as the Pump Octane Number (PON), but it is formally known as the AKI.

The Euro standard of 95 RON is equivalent of 90-91 AKI.

 

[Chuffa]

On a country run I had no choice but to use a full tank of 91 RON. It made no difference to the Terra that I could see/hear/feel.

 

[Coffee]

Ran out of gas while running 55 mph down the highway….no sputter….no cough….simply gave up without a fight at:

If you do the math, it seems these two gauges deviate in readings by about 1 mile comparatively.

****Edit***just realized why the numbers are slightly off. I turned off the bike to take the photo when the fuel light first came on. When I restarted, the fuel light was off....and it took about 1 mile before it came back on. The Reserve Gauge zeroed and started counting over when the Fuel Light came on again.
**********

I happened to be 2 miles from a gas station when she died. I poured in the 2.0 gallons of fuel from my Rotopax, and the bike fired right up on the first push of the magic button…..no sniffles….no wheezes….no problems.

So to summarize (I rounded to the nearest gallon):
Low fuel light came on a 167 (166+1 mile for the light to come on again after pic was taken)
Total miles on a tank was 206 (not sure when the pic was taken, presumably after you got to the gas station 2 miles after you put fuel in, in addition it takes 1+ miles to make the low fuel light go off before the trip odo can be displayed again)
about 40 miles showing on the trip odo when you ran out of fuel

Correct?

If so, it appears your numbers might be the highest posted yet. (my low fuel light comes on at 161 to 165)

 

[nev..]

Thanks for reporting the findings Highfive. Good to have a benchmark set to compare our individual findings against and it'd be great if others who did the same thing could post their results too.

Re the fuel used, I run on 95RON but occasionally I've had to fill with 91RON where that was the only fuel available and really didn't notice any difference, and no engine knocking. When I have to fuel up but only 91 is available rather than fill it, I top up with enough to get me to the next supply of 95 and then top it up with that.

 

[Highfive]

So to summarize (I rounded to the nearest gallon):
Low fuel light came on a 167 (166+1 mile for the light to come on again after pic was taken)
Total miles on a tank was 206 (not sure when the pic was taken, presumably after you got to the gas station 2 miles after you put fuel in, in addition it takes 1+ miles to make the low fuel light go off before the trip odo can be displayed again)
about 40 miles showing on the trip odo when you ran out of fuel

Correct?

If so, it appears your numbers might be the highest posted yet. (my low fuel light comes on at 161 to 165)

Negative.....I took photos on the spot I ran out of gas. Precisely 208 miles on Trip. The Reserve gauge reading needs 1 mile added to it to get back in sync with Trip Meter....rounded off, it's 166 + 42 = 208.

I zeroed my Trip when I poured in the Rotopax fuel to resuscitate. And it read 2.3 miles when I arrived at the gas station to top off my tank with another 1.74 gallons.

HF

 

[Abby]

This surprised me, as I was expecting more. Anyway, 2.0 gallons + 1.74 gallons = 3.74 total.

So, basically, you just confirmed what the documention says, right?

You burned all of it, and averaged 55mpg, then put in 2 gallons. then you rode 2.3 miles.

2.3 miles divided by 55 agerage is 0.04 gallons
Then you put in 1.74 gallons.

so if we subtract the .04 that you burned from the fuel in the rotorpack thing, we come to 3.7.

Which is what is in the manual.

So that means that every last bit of fuel is usable.

Unless i've screwed up, whcih is possible.

 

[RidingDonkeys]

Yep, sounds like the verdict is 100% of the fuel in the tank is useable.

 

[Ignaciob]

I put in 3.575 gallons without running out recently...so 97% of the rated capacity. Another person at 3.6 reported the same thing. With the most recent report of 3.7 being out....we've got the likely delta down to about 1/10th of a gallon. I'm reasonably confident it's 3.7 gallons as rated and now will be sure not try and not get any closer to the limit by pushing 5 or 6 more miles.

 

[Highfive]

Why have I been thinking the tank holds 4.2 gallons? Wherever did that number come from? I'm not sure I ever read any literature.....and probably didn't studying the manual (Shhhhh....don't tell anyone). Now, I'm going to have to look into the matter more carefully.

HF

 

[krussell]

Why have I been thinking the tank holds 4.2 gallons? Wherever did that number come from? I'm not sure I ever read any literature.....and probably didn't studying the manual (Shhhhh....don't tell anyone). Now, I'm going to have to look into the matter more carefully.

HF

F800GS?

 

[Highfive]

Hahahaha.....you're right! Had to look it up. My F8 is 4.2 gallons.

I just dug this out of the Husky Service Manual (on my iPad, no less.....duh). Glad we got this settled. I lost some sleep last night wondering where the rest of the fuel was hiding.

HF



Dimensions, weight, capacity
Wheelbase ............................................................................................................................55,055 in (1500 mm)
Total length (STRADA) ........................................................................................................ 88,504 in (2248 mm)
Total length (TERRA)............................................................................................................ 89,252 in (2267 mm)
Overall width ...........................................................................................................................34,843 in (885 mm)
Max. height (STRADA) ......................................................................................................... 47,441 in (1205 mm)
Max. height (TERRA) ............................................................................................................. 48,15 in (1223 mm)
Saddle height (STRADA).........................................................................................................33,858 in (860 mm)
Saddle height (TERRA) ..............................34,449 in (875 mm) (no ABS - 18) / 34,055 in (865 mm) (ABS - 17)
Minimum height off ground (STRADA) .....................................................................................9,843 in (250 mm)
Minimum height off ground (TERRA) ............. 10,472 in (mm 266) (no ABS 18) / 10,118 in (257 mm) (ABS 17)
Weight, without fuel (STRADA). ..............................................................................................390,218 lb (177 kg)
Weight without fuel. (TERRA)......................................................................................................383,604 (174 kg)
Fuel tank capacity including reserve ......................................................... 3,08 Imp. Gall. / 3,698 U.S. Gall. / l 14
Fuel reserve................................................................................... approx. 0,55 Imp. Gall. / 0,66 U.S. Gall. / 2.5 l
Coolant tank capacity ........................................................................... 0,255 Imp. Gall. / 0,306 U.S. Gall. / 1.16 l
Oil and oil filter replacement .................................................................... 0,44 Imp. Gall. / 0,528 U.S. Gall. / 2.0 l
Topping up oil between minimum and max. level ................................. 0,055 Imp. Gall. / 0,066 U.S. Gall. / l 0.25

 

[Coffee]

Negative.....I took photos on the spot I ran out of gas. Precisely 208 miles on Trip. The Reserve gauge reading needs 1 mile added to it to get back in sync with Trip Meter....rounded off, it's 166 + 42 = 208.

I zeroed my Trip when I poured in the Rotopax fuel to resuscitate. And it read 2.3 miles when I arrived at the gas station to top off my tank with another 1.74 gallons.

HF

Apparently your answer is '42'. Really nice number. eh... what was the question?

My head hurts thinking about all this. But my guess is from all the information you presented (thank you!) that you may have gone the farthest after the low fuel light came on.

Think I will try this approach for a little while (ignore the actual numbers, just the concept)




The problem with waiting until the low fuel light goes out after more fuel is added - to get the total miles traveled off the previous tank off the the trip odo - is that by that time I am actually on my way somewhere and tend not to pull over to reset that trip odo... and of course I am in no position to write that number down while I am riding. So I will simply make note of the ODO (not trip ODO) at the gas station during the initial fill, and the refill.

Hopefully that makes a slight amount of sense.

EDIT: I suppose an added bonus to doing things as shown in the chart, is that the mpg could be calculated for each tankful, and of course each test would be separate without regards to any previously done test.