How close to empty have you got?

[Starky307]

I was cleaning my receipts out of my wallet and came across the one from filling my bike on Thursday night. As stated in the title I was wondering how close you've got your bike to empty as a percentage?

As an example on Thursday night I put 16.32 litres into my 17 litre tank, therefore it was 96% empty before filling.

Running out of petrol doesn't count.

[tide]

how about spluttering as you pull into the gas station... :2thumbsup

happened after I helped a biker who had run out of petrol...

[LaytonNZ]

Iv'e had my Zx6 down to 1 Litre! Woo, Then i had my old bike down to coughing and spluttering and ive stoped due to lack of fuel! Nether are nice feelings.

[LaytonNZ]

lol, Notice we all ride Quackas!

[Taz]

I have stopped due to lack of liquid in the tank..... :o

And once on my R1100GS I'd done 400kms and put 22.5 litres in it's 23 litre tank......

[Blackshear]

Was blatting up the motorway towards albany, where I had begun to feel my bike chuttering... 'Oh gawd, not on the fucking motorway, then please-men might get me :pinch:'
Managed to get up enough speed and coasted the last half of the hillish bit and pulled left into the wairau road turnoff, kept coasting and pulled onto the footpath, where I got me some petroleum!

NEVER AGAIN! That was because I forgot to switch the fuel tap from last time it ran into reserve :whistle:

[PirateJafa]

Have sputtered out as I rolled into a station before.

Have also pushed myself into stations before. Sigh.

[AllanB]

A chap at work pushed his CB1300 a few kms to work last Wednesday!

[Cajun]

going thru my recipts i have a couple which say a touch over 17l for a 17litre tank

16.25
16.38
17.32
17.56

[hayd3n]

splutter numerous times only ran out once :2thumbsup



i managed to get the yzf600 from ch ch to dunners on a tank + 5 bux gas in 3/1/2 hrs :dodge: popo
got the fiva from Palmerston

[Starky307]

I have stopped due to lack of liquid in the tank..... :o

And once on my R1100GS I'd done 400kms and put 22.5 litres in it's 23 litre tank......

Now this is what I'm talking about, well done!

[H00dz]

run out only once, if your my size that is once too many :weep: never been foolish enough to eva let it happen again lol :2thumbsup

sorry cant give you a percentage

[Starky307]

going thru my recipts i have a couple which say a touch over 17l for a 17litre tank

16.25
16.38
17.32
17.56

How does that work?

[AD345]

I was cleaning my receipts out of my wallet and came across the one from filling my bike on Thursday night. As stated in the title I was wondering how close you've got your bike to empty as a percentage?

As an example on Thursday night I put 16.32 litres into my 17 litre tank, therefore it was 96% empty before filling.

Running out of petrol doesn't count.

I too have a 17 litre tank.

A couple of months ago I decided to see how far I could get once the warning light came on (none of this reserve fuel stuff).

Well I went X distance which I was quite happy with, all things considered, and when I filled up at Botany BP I put 16.8 litres into the tank.

:gob:

That was a little closer than I had intended - but I never ran out!

I still have the receipt and I'm seriously thinking of laminating it. :2thumbsup

[duckonin]

two years back wet and cold bike started to stutter it was 100% out of gas:mad: ...What a cock, first time ever and hopefully the last, buggar me in the middle of no where.. wife normaly sits on my shoulder now..:oi-grr: need petrol get it now!!!

[skidMark]

20k's from a gas station... middle of NOWHERE...

pushing the zxr up a steep hill...

local comes by who has a little an of gas in the back and gave me 3 litres to get to the gassy...

bloodey legend that man

if i ever ran into him again hed be getting a fair few beers!!!!!!!!!!

[AD345]

going thru my recipts i have a couple which say a touch over 17l for a 17litre tank

16.25
16.38
17.32
17.56

Spoilsport

I'm throwing mine away now

:argh:

[p.dath]

I had a bike develop a fuel leak, and I ran out of fuel while coming down the Harbour Bridge in Auckland. I had enough speed (and was heading down bridge) to be able to coast to first off ramp (outside of Police otorway control!). I called the AA and got enough gas to get home before running out again.

[YellowDog]

Managed 8km, 70% of which was downhill, in neutral after running out of petrol on the motorway doing 140kph. It was in a car though.

[Cajun]

How does that work?

you tell me, i have got every receipt for my bike fuel for 5 years, and 50,000kms, all loaded in a spreadsheet, i still have all the paper versions

how much is in the tank is usual more espially if you full it to the brim, and its from close to empty

[quickbuck]

Okay, I'll be the refuel police....
You should never fill up that air gap you are meant to leave in the top of your tank.............

Yeah. Freekin right!

I have had to shake the bike with the choke on a few times to get to the servo!
Oh, and run out a few as well....
The worst run out was when I filled up at Cheviot and rode to Picton. Crosses the Ferry, and in the 4 hours forgot that I hadn't refuelled....

Got to 2km short of Paraparaumu.... GSX600 2-up.
Mrs wasn't totally impresses, but a nice dude loaned us his lawn mower petrol.
That bike could do 200 miles on a tank if you took it easy.....

Another time i was on CBR400. Blenheim (Woodbourne actually) to my normal fuel stop in Cheviot.... only to find it closed! Missed by 5 minutes!
On to
Gretta Valley.... Closed..... Then the Junction.... CLOSED!
Little 400 made it to within 3km of Amberly! Again a cool dude GAVE me the petrol in his Jerry Can.
There are some nice people still out there....

As for working out how close I got... Well, I have put more than 16 litres in a 16 litre tank... Same with the 18 on the GSX.... Yup some of those had 20, but mine was destined for California, so 18 it was.

[FJRider]

I once put 18.4 litres into an 18 litre tank ... not sure how I managed that.

[zx rider]

Ran out at Puke', on the back straight at 260k's , pulled in the clutch and coasted (almost) back to the pits. I was sharing my bike with a mate that day (different speed group) and he forgot to top up the gas after one of his sessions. My bike lists a 17 ltr tank, but i have a reciept for 17.25 ltrs when filling up last weekend, and, it had some left in there. Weird science that.:gob:

[Usarka]

There is only empty or full. There is no try.....

[jtzzr]

I had a cb750 and ran out of gas( so I thought), was on reserve ,spluttered coughed, stopped(I was 1km from home).
I leaned the bike over to the left , pulled the choke out to full, she fired up and got home on the choke.( mind you there was a slight gradient on the last 300mtrs.)

[=cJ=]

Yep, pushed more then I care to admit.

I seem to recall wringing 250 km out of the GSX-R tank, though I may have forgotten to zero it. I usually start looking for gas at about the 180 mark...

[Taz]

Sometimes I wonder about the accuracy of petrol pumps........

[sunhuntin]

hit reserve about half way between bulls and turakina. only meant to get 20k on reserve, but somehow i managed to get back to wangas as the turakina station was shut. turakina to wangas i think is over 20k. rode the whole way at about 70k, which was horrid given it was night time.
that was the night we escorted a certain "grubby bugger" :2thumbsup: to bulls after he called in to say howdy. a very fond memory, and ive got tears thinking about it. :weep:

[Rayray401]

mm..went down to 1L on a 12L tank before..oh and do you guys have fuel gauges?..and are they accurate?....or most of you have to use the distance counter like i do?

[Taz]

Even on a bike with a fuel gauge I always use the trip meter to give me an idea about remaining fuel range.

[Mystic13]

I've run out on the Southern motorway, outside lane at Khyber Pass, rolled up and over the hump, off Nelson street, got greens all the way to the gas station. Rolled up to the pump and filled it up. A little over 3km's.

I also ran out going up the Ngauranga Gorge (the big hill exiting Wellington), switched to reserve and it continued to die. I pulled over and kicked and kicked and kicked and kicked. Finally it dawned on me I must have already been on reserve. I decided that even though it looked a long way I was better off pushing up half the gorge to the gas station than going down and taking my chances. I would have pushed about 1/4 of the gorge when another bike hauls up. I tell him my story and he says "Nup... I had a bike like this and if you ran it out on the main going uphill it took for ever to re-start on reserve." He kicked it for a fair while and the damn thing kicked into life.

I rode up to J'ville and gas'd up.

[h_tron]

i got 100% empty which resulted in an attempt to run with bike, leathers and all to the gassy, on a beautiful sunny day... i was going to be late for a thundercatting race luckly some guy pulled over who had been mowing lawns and gave me the top up i needed to make it to a pump:buggerd:

[grusomhat]

I've run out a couple of times and had quite a few almost empty situations. Forgetting to change of reserve sucks and so does filling up to a different level each time. Not sure how I managed that but oh well.


I still have the receipt and I'm seriously thinking of laminating it. :2thumbsup

Good luck with that :) Reminds me of someone who tried laminating a top-up voucher to give as a prize to someone. That was $20 down the drain

[DangerMice]

Last fill was 5.65l in my 5.7l tank. 99.1% empty :2thumbsup

[DangerMice]

Oh and the mobil chick asked me if I wanted to spend four dollars in store to save 4c per litre. Hmmm, my whole tank cost ~$8, you want me to spend another $4 to save 20c? Maybe not. lol

[skidMark]

I once put 18.4 litres into an 18 litre tank ... not sure how I managed that.


yeah... had similar thing happen...

17 litre tank and it was pretty empty (on the zxr)

filled it up and it came to 22 litres...

i had a go at the gassy, they said the counting on them is hecked daily blah blah...

i said well its only a fucking 17 litre tank:mad:

[Subike]

I know it is not a bike, but I put 49.75 liters into my desiel ute, which has a 50 liter tank.
But my biggest annoyance was on a run with some other bikes, I pulled into a S/S after riding a fair few K's, and filled my tank. $32. sweet, till I went to the counter and the rider in front of me, who had filled her tank at the previous S/S as I had, paid for $16 of fuel for the same distance!!!! So what you say? Couldnt dang well keep up with her little rocket on the road, or match her ecconomy.

[p.dath]

yeah... had similar thing happen...

17 litre tank and it was pretty empty (on the zxr)

filled it up and it came to 22 litres...

i had a go at the gassy, they said the counting on them is hecked daily blah blah...

i said well its only a fucking 17 litre tank:mad:


I had a similar incident at a BP station. The pumps certificate of accuracy had been tampered with so you could no longer read the test date. I complained to BP about the incident, and the fact that the station was operating a petrol pump illegally. Of course, they did nothing about it.

[grusomhat]

yeah... had similar thing happen...

17 litre tank and it was pretty empty (on the zxr)

filled it up and it came to 22 litres...

i had a go at the gassy, they said the counting on them is hecked daily blah blah...

i said well its only a fucking 17 litre tank:mad:

Checked daily? BS. Readings are taken daily but that's just to see how much fuel has been sold. The actual pumps are verified annually IIRC. An extra 3 litres seems like a lot though, you sure it's not 17L+reserve?

[Swoop]

Closest has been on the new bike with digital dash.
Riding around and keeping a tally for distance/quantity info... and waiting for the "LOW FUEL" light to come on.
It never did, because there wasn't one. Luckily I figured out what it meant to see the last bar on the fuel quantity bar, merrily flashing away to itself.
Into the nearest gassy to supplement the fumes that were in the tank.:oi-grr:

[skidMark]

most expensive fill up....

south island rural gassy... 233.9cents a litre

$48 :weep:

[skidMark]

Checked daily? BS. Readings are taken daily but that's just to see how much fuel has been sold. The actual pumps are verified annually IIRC. An extra 3 litres seems like a lot though, you sure it's not 17L+reserve?


was 17 including reserve... id had the bike over a year filled it up from dead empty etc etc...

i wasnt happy but they refused to charge me any less, its okay i never went there again, gassy at sylvia park...shell or caltex i cant even remember now.

[Big Dave]

I've picked up several bikes that have run out before I got to a servo.

My Buell does 64.2km on reserve. DAMHIK.

[Jantar]

How does that work?On my GS1200SS I once put 20.5L into a 20L tank. It works by squeezing a bit extra fuel into the air space at the top of thank.

[skidMark]

I've picked up several bikes that have run out before I got to a servo.

My Buell does 64.2km on reserve. DAMHIK.


The k's it spends on the tow truck dont count.

[Taz]

On my GS1200SS I once put 20.5L into a 20L tank. It works by squeezing a bit extra fuel into the air space at the top of thank.

Where can I get this fabled "thank"?? An extra half a litre would be handy sometimes.

[McDuck]

I have put 16.6 l into a '16.5' l tank. I think somthing was out but i was happy as fuck to have gas (i didnt think the only servo between taupo and whakatane would be needed, lost track of time and really needed it. A week later it shifted to its winter open times which would have left me walking a long way.

I had not been doing the bike thing long lol

[MaxB]

Almost been caught a couple of times up on East Cape. The worst was when I was taking a visitor up to Hicks Bay and I was going on to Gisborne and home. I filled up at Te Puke. Due to endless stops for photos, the fuel pumps were shut at HB and Te Araroa, its pretty casual up there at the best of times.

I carried on round to Gisborne in fading light and ran onto reserve before Te Puia Springs. I nursed the bike into BP Kaiti and put in 23.77 litres into a 24 litre tank, 408 kms later. Spoiled what should have been a great ride but at least I didn't have to push it.

[warewolf]

Sometimes I wonder about the accuracy of petrol pumps........Generally they are in your favour (like electricity and water meters) but there are no standards for bike tanks. Plastic dirt bike tanks are hopeless; incredibly variable.

I've run out a few times (actually, only twice) but also coasted the last 30-50m a few times. Closest I got was the bike dying on the forecourt. :2thumbsup

Across all my bikes I regularly get down to the last litre, and a handful of times within 0.3L (1.18% remaining). Like cajun, I've put a few hundred mL more into the tank than its stated capacity, on two different bikes now... without filling into the required air gap.

[Big Dave]

The k's it spends on the tow truck dont count.


Nah - it's all right mate - I know you have trouble and all that - but I know how to stay upright.

[Max Preload]

Last year I put 21.75L in a 22L tank after the SATNR. So that's 250mL (1 cup) remaining. I know it is actually 22L because I've filled it from totally dry once.

[NewRob]

Wanted to take a ride:lol:, on reserve, going to station...engine died:argh:. lucky just a short push to station.:sweatdrop

[mossy1200]

I used to have an SP1 and I swear it was almost empty by the time you pulled out of the servo.

[MarkH]

yeah... had similar thing happen...

17 litre tank and it was pretty empty (on the zxr)

filled it up and it came to 22 litres...

i had a go at the gassy, they said the counting on them is hecked daily blah blah...

i said well its only a fucking 17 litre tank:mad:

22 is a lot more than 17 - presuming that it was on zero before you started that is out by a huge fuckin' margin. I would have complained the the Ministry of Consumer Affairs - they would have sent out someone to check the accuracy of the petrol pumps at that station and for that kind of inaccuracy they may have laid charges.

A quick google finds this page:
http://www.consumeraffairs.govt.nz/measurement/index.html
Seems to have a number to call on that page to report something like what you came across.

[nudemetalz]

My old ZX-10 sputtered on the motorway Gorge on-ramp on the way to work, so I switched to reserve......little did I know that reserve didn't work....and she died. Luckily, a passing AA guy who happened to see me gave me a couple of litres of fuel. Anyway, I got to the petrol station and put 20.7 litres into the 22 litre tank (I always remember how much due to the incident of the day !!).

The irony to this is that my work (welly city council) got my whole episode on CCTV, and I got hassled when I finally got to work !!

[Bass]

Caution!!
If your bike is fuel injected and uses one of the systems where the fuel pump is inside the fuel tank, then watch it. Running out of gas can be an expensive event. The submerged fuel pumps rely on the fuel for cooling and lubrication. They DO NOT like to be run dry.
Just to really stuff you around, they won't necessarily fail at the time of the abuse. You may appear to have got away with it only to have the pump fail for no obvious reason at some later time.

[NordieBoy]

My 18.5L tank in actually about 18.5L dammit.
Some get up to 20L in their DR650 IMS tanks.

I've run out on reserve and coasted 500m from Fairfield House to the servo on the Nordie and from the Hospital to the servo on the DR.

The Nordie has a fuel tap both sides so no amount of tipping will help :(

I've pulled in on the DR and put 18.5L in and the day I ran out on reserve it took the same amount.
Must have been running it preeeety close that day :D

[skidMark]

Nah - it's all right mate - I know you have trouble and all that - but I know how to stay upright.


Is that because they dont make a bed big enough for you, omg u sleep standing up? :laugh:

[JohnC]

I used to have a small tank and hit reserve in all the wrong places more times than I care to remember.
Several times I didn't think I would make a gas station,but never actualy had to push it.
Now I have the King tank it only happens once or twice a month.<_<

[skidMark]

I used to have a small tank and hit reserve in all the wrong places more times than I care to remember.
Several times I didn't think I would make a gas station,but never actualy had to push it.
Now I have the King tank it only happens once or twice a month.<_<


I thought the only times harleys used fuel is when you drained the carbs trying to make it start but never succeed?

[Horney1]

Does knowing you don't have enough to get to the next service station count?

I rode west (~150kms) across a desert highway from Port Augusta (above Adelaide) one Christmas Day to find the service station was closed. The next ones were an unknown entity. After a long deliberation I rode on economising to the absolute maximum (as well as one can with injection!). After finding a few more "one horse town" fuel stops closed & was luckily enough to find an owner going back to one to get something for the barbie. Phew! My tank got filled and cars started appearing from nowhere like flies to do the same! I must have been within a few ml of empty.

I now carry a 1L fuel bottle in my pack and another 5L tied on if I'm going to too far from civilisation.

[JohnC]

I thought the only times harleys used fuel is when you drained the carbs trying to make it start but never succeed?

That would be "carb" not carbs,,,,but nice try anyway;)

[vifferman]

I've put 17.3 litres in a 17 litre tank. It was COMPLETELY dry: not even any vapours in the carbs or tank. Them VTR1000's carbs are sucky <s>little</s> big beasts... :blink:
Pretty dumb, really. I passed not one but four (4!!) service stations after the Reddish-orange LED of Doom was illuminated. Each time, I went, "Nah.. I'll do it later..."
My first bike (CB175) ran out twice as I rode up the forecourt.
Subsequent bikes had no problems, until The Evil Black VFR750 That Liked To Lie Down. I ran out more'n once, each time vowing "Never again..." It was a pain, as the fuel pump only worked when the engine was running. :blink:
So, starting it after running it dry was slightly problematic. Also (plus!), more'n once I filled it up and then discovered my wallet was at home...
In 4.5 years of ownership, I've never run out with the current bike, but I'm too suspicious of my mental brain to say that this means I've learned from having to push the VTR uphill to the service station...

[Howsie]

I have joined the spluttering group, not a nice feeling as it dies going up the ramp into the station. At least i didnt have to push it far!
Again i was pushing the limits of the fuel light and had been caning it down the motorway before deciding that i had push it far enough and best head for the Go-go juice place.
The tank only took 15L for a 17L tank, hmmm.............

[geestring]

yes well, have a ZXR 250 had been pushing it a little bit it started to run ruff on the motor way back from taupo, by my self so turned onto reserve, but no go had suck all the fuel out of that too. falty something. managed to get to petrol station not running good, of course every one looking as if to say silly girl cant ride. ha ha .