How many km per tank? [Archive]

apteryx_haasti

14th May 2006, 10:09

Kendog

14th May 2006, 10:15

Hi and welcome. I had a 2004 model and used to get about 200kms if I remember rightly before having to flick to reserve. Usually the bike feels like it is spluttering a bit if you need to flick to reserve. Have fun on the mighty GN, remember to keep an eye on the oil too, and found the headlight bulb needed to be replaced as the vibration stuffed the bulb quite quickly.
Mrs KD

Motig

14th May 2006, 10:19

When the engine dies/ starts missing you'll need reserve. I wouldn't personally count your reserve as part of your normal petrol consumption, Ialways count it as for emergency only. As for k's per tank some one of the many GN 250 owners will probably give you an idea. If you have the manual it'll tell you how much your tank holds. I just used to fill up go for say a 100k ride then fill up again and work it out. Enjoy your ride and have fun:ride:

Matt Bleck

14th May 2006, 11:33

Welcome to KB.

Maha

14th May 2006, 13:47

My first bike was a GN also, i would get about 230 kms on a tank and, you will know when to flick to reserve, the bike will wanna stop, what i mean by that is, it wont roll/coast like a car, wont stop suddenly either but you will know. Thats how i new how far i could go on a tank, i rode it till the reserve was needed...............Welcome to KB

apteryx_haasti

14th May 2006, 13:52

XTC

14th May 2006, 15:31

Being a single they don't really cough and splutter like a multi when the main tank runs out they just stop..... So once you know your tank range reset the trip meter with every fill and you'll then know when to expect to switch to reserve. Also setting the trip meter means you can go out to the bike and at a glance see if it has enough fuel to get you to work or whether you'll have to fill up on the way..... Saves you being late cause you had to stop.

Bonez

14th May 2006, 15:38

Cheers for the advice, I wasn't sure what sort of kms to expect. Been for another little ride today - pretty windy out there! Any other tricks or traps with the GN250 I'd like to hear about them.

:ride:
If you happen to switch to reserve, fill up as soon as you can, remembering to switch the fuel tap back to the main position. Forgetting to do so may mean you will be pushing the GN to a petrol station when the tank completely runs out of gojuice. Beleive me when I say it can happen :mellow:

Welcome to KB.

14th May 2006, 15:55

You'll have to go on the rides that Uncle_b (bruce) takes, you'll learn good habbits and great lines :)

14th May 2006, 15:56

The welly riders are dudes:headbang:

I miss em:confused:

crazybigal

14th May 2006, 15:58

my brother gets 240km per tank out of his gn

twinkle

14th May 2006, 16:24

when i rode down to gisbourne on mine i got 230km before having to switch to reserve, and filling up at 270km took 9.7L, so i still had about 300ml left.

ZeroIndex

14th May 2006, 17:00

haha.. I own ALL OF YOU!! Went from Hamilton to Pukekawa (that place near Mercer, to get boots from LifestyleImports), then up to Busa Pete's BBQ, then down to Botany (Paradise) 260km.. and then I switched it to reserve for 3km till I got to the nearest Shell station (yes I agree with their 'long distance petrol' story), and all the tank would take was 9.10 liters.. that woulda been a total of over 300km if i had run the reserve down to empty

Bonez

14th May 2006, 17:12

ZeroIndex

14th May 2006, 17:14

Don't sweet it. The GB400 does 320-340kms BEFORE switching to reserve.
but how many litres is that?

Bonez

14th May 2006, 17:18

but how many litres is that?Google is your freind...........
That's averaging 105kph btw.

Edit- Not that I condone exceeding the speed limit and all that :ride:

sunhuntin

14th May 2006, 17:43

welcome and congrats!

if you havent already, try and get a topbox like what ive got.....impossible to live without! [IMHO at least!]

i reset my tripmeter everytime i fill, and try not to fill until i hit reserve. however, if im going out of town, i fill at nearest out of town bp [sorry, loyal staff member, lol] think i used to get about 300k outta a full tank, but havent measured properly with the current price. guy i know works out of town, so he fills his every 220k, religiously.
as others have said, you know youll need reserve when the bike misses....mine tends to jerk and jump a bit. you can get roughly 20k from reserve, so may pay to reset the tripmeter when/if you switch over.

rode to paeroa earlier this year...these are my recepits from that trip: [wanganui to paeroa and back]

bulls: $11.01
taupo $10.00
paeroa: $12.06

rotorua: $9.80
turangi : $8.48
bulls: $7.75

TOTAL: $59.10

never let her hit reserve though, since it was my first proper ride and i didnt know the area, so filled when i had decent need to stop.

my speedo broke on the return trip, so therefore i had no tripmeter and no way of telling how many k's since my last fill, hence lots of small amounts.

also, beware on long rides that will be hard on the bike, your chain will loosen, rub on the guard and can come off [mine did a week ago after a ride to welly] so get it tightened as soon as you can hear it rubbing.
also keep an eye on the oil, but dont overfill. if you dont know how, get someone experienced to show you.

the gn is a pretty indestructable bike, so mainly just enjoy it! they run on the smell of an oily rag at times!

the legend

14th May 2006, 20:28

well on my old cb which was 12 lerters all up i got 300kms + if i did not hrash it but judge around 250kms for that piece of gn and move up to i bigger bike to lol u should get between 25 to 30kms to the leiter not thrashing it and it should not ge any worse than 20 kms when thrashin. when u run out on ur nornal tank or when it starts stuttering is always a good time and remember in ur case not to bet to much thurther than50kms froma petrol station when that happens ither.......... oh and welcome and have plenty of fun and remember as per from my experence nylon tires are only ok in the dry and a hell of a lot of fun in the wet haha

Filterer

15th May 2006, 11:46

I normally start to lo ok for a petrol station when I get to 200 km on my GN, if you are riding it hard (that is if you can call it hard on a GN) then i only get 200 but if you are taking it easy it stretches 220-250 km max i find.

One thing I would recommend is to go for a ride with the petrol switch turned off and experience what happens when you get 2 minutes down the road, you and you can also practice switching the petrol back on/onto reserve while still riding, its usefull to be able to do without having to take your eyes off the road

The Pastor

15th May 2006, 13:01

I want a Gn250 - I get 200kms if i nana it on a 21L tank :(

XP@

15th May 2006, 13:57

One thing I would recommend is to go for a ride with the petrol switch turned off and experience what happens when you get 2 minutes down the road, you and you can also practice switching the petrol back on/onto reserve while still riding, its usefull to be able to do without having to take your eyes off the road

Good advice! on any new bike you should memorise the location and on / res positions for your tap. Murphy being murphy and all that reserve usually comes in at the most inconvenient moment like when you are overtaking or negotiaing a bend. so you really need to know what is happening and be able to flick it to reserve without panicking or taking your eyes off the road.

I also find after changing to res open the throttle a tad sorts out the spluttering a but faster.

How far you go depends on your riding, I could hit reserve from 230 to 280kms on my beemer... and that was just on commuting, touring totally different again...

miSTa

15th May 2006, 20:36

Also, another newbie question - how do you know when to switch to the reserve?

When you come to a spluttering halt. One of worst feelings though is when switch to reserve and find out that you were on reserve already. Use the trip meter, know how far you can go until reserve so you can predict when you're likely to need to switch over and always check that you're not on reserve after you've filled up and before getting on the bike again.

ducatilover

15th May 2006, 20:42

i had a 2004 model and i used to get 190km before reserve, but i managed 220km before switching to reserve when i first got her. id say bout 200km would be average.. my bros650 managed 140k before reserve and my spada manages near 200k.
i hate gn250s

apteryx_haasti

16th May 2006, 13:14

i hate gn250s

I wanted a very nice Honda VTR but the auction went over my budget :no: , and better a GN250 than no bike at all. Besides...it's only for a year or so. I think I can cope!

Aside from that - thanks for the good advice everybody, especially checking out what it feels like to need reserve by riding with the tank off. I think I know what I'm playing around doing this weekend! Looking out the window now at work makes me want to go home ("sick") and go for a ride. I think I've got the bug, despite only having a GN250...

Cheers!

XP@

16th May 2006, 13:43

Just found out my new bike dosent have a fuel tap... am detecting a potential issue here!
I think I had better discretely put a fuel can in my wifes car :)

sunhuntin

16th May 2006, 13:44

never underestimate the gn! i was gutted when i got hit by a car and my old gn was a write off. as i said earlier...ive been heaps of places on mine, paeroa, wellington and done about 7000k with not a problem!

the old one, i even rode to levin and back....with no oil. and still she ran [albeit with a knock in the engine! LOL]

better a gn than some pissy little nifty fifty. least your on a real bike. :headbang:

outlawtorn

16th May 2006, 14:04

Hi y'all. I just got my first bike yesterday - a GN250 - and I was wondering if someone can give me an idea of how many kms I can expect to get from the 10 L (I believe it's 8 L + 2 L reserve) tank?

Also, another newbie question - how do you know when to switch to the reserve?

Went for my first ride yesterday around and about the Hutt for about 2 hours...it was great!

Thanks for any help or advice!

Cheers.
I bought a GZ250 in August 2004 and had the pleasure of running out of petrol on the north harbour bridge in rush hour traffic, so you could say a full tank on the GZ would take you 386k's, and that's shore (Long Bay) to city (Westhaven) commuting.

Not sure if this will help you.....:mellow:

Squeak the Rat

16th May 2006, 14:14

I think I've got the bug, despite only having a GN250...
The bug doesn't discriminate between bikes and neither should you! :) Good decision, you're on a bike :woohoo:

apteryx_haasti

16th May 2006, 20:47

I bought a GZ250 in August 2004

Yeah, I test rode the GZ, didn't realise how nice it was until test riding something else, by which time the GZ had been sold... never mind... there's always the NEXT bike!

Flyingpony

16th May 2006, 21:20

Personally I go by three methods:

1) the humble calendar .... once a month make a pit stop but if riding has been light it gets postponed a month :drinkup:

2) can feel roughly how full the tank is by the top heavy feel of bike when lifting it off stand or entering a corner. Only accurate for full, half-way and empty.

3) the fuel gauge

4) don't trust the trip meter, it can easily be reset

Definite do ride off when the fuel purposely switched off and see how far you get. The FXR can idle for some while on choke and travel about 300m before stopping. 30m before silence it'll give a couple sputters. Then there's all the fun of priming the carb, getting it restarted and then running smoothly without choke :whistle: A kitkat moment would be advisable.

Titanium

16th May 2006, 21:39

I get 320 kms to 18 ltrs.

Have a 20 ltr tank, but have only ever managed 18 ltrs to fill up.

BMW = Fuel Miser........

:spudflip:

brianemone

17th May 2006, 07:31

so is 22.6km/l good or is that a bit high (on a GSXR400)

apteryx_haasti

26th May 2006, 19:21

So - I rode to Wgtn from Eastbourne for the first time today. After work I thought I better find some petrol before heading back on the motorway, just in case. So, I was at 150km on the trip meter and based on this thread, I would have thought that I could have made it back from town...

As I went through town looking for a petrol station, the GN sputtered and also stalled at lights (3x, embarrasing!) if I had to stop. I did switch to reserve but I still had this problem.

My question - was it actually a fuel issue, or something else? It only cost $9.17 to top it up. The bike sounded much better once it got some fuel and I made it back to EB with no hassles. I also had the choke out until I filled, then put it in after that. Was my problem fuel based, or something to do with the choke?

The symptoms sound kinda like what were described here for needing to switch to reserve.

Any feedback?

Bonez

26th May 2006, 19:35

I get 320 kms to 18 ltrs.

Have a 20 ltr tank, but have only ever managed 18 ltrs to fill up.

BMW = Fuel Miser........

:spudflip:A rattly 20 plus yo carberated Honda 750 four gets that on 16.5 ltrs of it's 20 litre tank.

combo man

27th May 2006, 07:55

but how many litres is that?
16.5 for the main tank, with 3.0 for reserve. I'm able to get at least 360 ks at the moment B4 going onto reserve, + it's a great bike to ride as well!

Bonez

27th May 2006, 08:07

w remember as per from my experence nylon tires are only ok in the dry and a hell of a lot of fun in the wet hahaI ride in the wet on nylons on the GB and cb550 with absolutely no problems what so ever. A fellow rider, who I will not mention, has wipty do rubber fare on his six hundy and is alllllllllllllll over the place.

smokeyging

27th May 2006, 08:37

My question - was it actually a fuel issue, or something else? It only cost $9.17 to top it up. The bike sounded much better once it got some fuel and I made it back to EB with no hassles. I also had the choke out until I filled, then put it in after that. Was my problem fuel based, or something to do with the choke?

The symptoms sound kinda like what were described here for needing to switch to reserve.

Any feedback?

once the motor is warmed up and if the choke is still on, the motor will run ruff. the choke should only be on for a min or two from a cold start.

apteryx_haasti

27th May 2006, 08:49

once the motor is warmed up and if the choke is still on, the motor will run ruff. the choke should only be on for a min or two from a cold start.

I bet it was the choke then. I wasn't sure but it seemed like I didn't need too much petrol, so I was thinking it might not have been the fuel.

So, it's OK to put the choke in once you're riding, even if the engine is still a little cold? I haven't sussed the choke thing yet - last time I had a choke it was on a 1985 Toyota Corolla! (sold in 2000, ah, but that was a good first car...ooo, sorry, BIKE forum....)

THanks Smokey!

twinkle

27th May 2006, 10:40

If you've got the money its really worth changing at least the front tyre to something better. The stock tyres that come on the gn are really really slippery in the wet, and if you need to do an emergency stop chances are the front wheel will lock up and you will go down.(only been down once but locked it up plenty :( ) I got a pirelli city demon fitted yesterday and it is heaps better. I tried heavy braking in the rain on the way home and the front stuck very nicely, no sign of slipping at all(and only been worn in 10ks)

Edbear

27th May 2006, 11:48

I bought a GZ250 in August 2004 and had the pleasure of running out of petrol on the north harbour bridge in rush hour traffic, so you could say a full tank on the GZ would take you 386k's, and that's shore (Long Bay) to city (Westhaven) commuting.

Not sure if this will help you.....:mellow:

I'm not sure running out of petrol on the Harbour Bridge in rush hour would help either...

Kendog

27th May 2006, 11:52

I bet it was the choke then. I wasn't sure but it seemed like I didn't need too much petrol, so I was thinking it might not have been the fuel.

So, it's OK to put the choke in once you're riding, even if the engine is still a little cold? I haven't sussed the choke thing yet - last time I had a choke it was on a 1985 Toyota Corolla! (sold in 2000, ah, but that was a good first car...ooo, sorry, BIKE forum....)

THanks Smokey!

Hi there, I never used the choke at all on mine, was just a pain in the ass. When you start it, don't give it any throttle, just let it start on its own and then once it is running, then give the throttle a little for about half a min and then just let it warm up for a bit before riding. We discovered this after a lot of trial and era, and it worked everytime without using the choke. Give it a go and let me know if it works for you. We also found that it would take on average about 3 times of starting it when cold for it to actually fire, but then it would run fine.
Mrs KD

Kendog

27th May 2006, 11:54

Oh, and it only has a tiny tank, so won't take a lot of fuel to fill up, I don't think I ever paid more than about $9 to fill mine up.

sunhuntin

27th May 2006, 13:49

i choke start mine and usually have it pushed in by the time im halfway down the road. i have on occasion forgotten to push it in [oops] and that did cause issues when i slowed or stopped at lights etc. i once rode from wanganui to turakina like that, and when i stopped at 'kina, it took a few mins of waiting and about 3 tries to get her started. i think running with the choke out burns more fuel. make sure the choke is all the way in...mine was out slightly the other day, but enough to give me uneven revs. ive also found riding with the choke out means she doesnt want to slow down. cant be good for things, that.
last time i filled from near dry, it cost me about $15, and the local motorpage in the paper rated the gn as costing $17.60 to fill from dry [thats at $1.70/liter]

Motig

27th May 2006, 15:01

Yep, choke is only for starts first thing in morning or if the bikes been sitting a while say when you finish work. Once you've gone a few k's push the choke off or alternatively let it warm up before you ride off (put on helmet ,gloves whatever) then push choke in praps with keeping the revs up a wee bit with throttle if needed. Every bikes a wee bit different it just takes a little time to get used to the idiosyncrasies (just like those human things). Once its warmed up it'll idle without the choke.:scooter: Have fun playing.

John Banks

28th May 2006, 13:55

I would really suggest letting your bike run to reserve on purpose at least once. Then you know *exactly* what it feels like, and what to do.

apteryx_haasti

28th May 2006, 15:37

I would really suggest letting your bike run to reserve on purpose at least once. Then you know *exactly* what it feels like, and what to do.

Yeah, I might try that when I've had it a bit longer...better make darn sure I know where the petrol station is, though, huh?

:sherlock:

ZeroIndex

28th May 2006, 15:49

Yeah, I might try that when I've had it a bit longer...better make darn sure I know where the petrol station is, though, huh?

:sherlock:
you'll have at least 50km to find one.. shouldn't be difficult.. if you're out in the middle of nowhere, just go easier on the gas when on reserve.. that happened on my way to Turangi a while back..

John Banks

28th May 2006, 16:11

better make darn sure I know where the petrol station is, though, huh?

Nah. Makes for good exercise every now and again.

ZeroIndex

28th May 2006, 16:22

Nah. Makes for good exercise every now and again.
that happened when I first started working at DX-Mail.. had a crappy Hyosung FX110, the petrol gauge didn't work, and it didn't have a reserve tap.. spent quite a bit of time pushing it around.. longest push was approx 2km..

John Banks

28th May 2006, 17:42

See? Didnae do ye nought wrong, that.

Fatjim

28th May 2006, 22:34

I got 873k on the last tank and the warning light hadn't gone on yet. Cost $69 to fill.

Peugeot 306 TD.

XP@

28th May 2006, 23:44

I would really suggest letting your bike run to reserve on purpose at least once. Then you know *exactly* what it feels like, and what to do.
Urr... if you really want to know what it feels like then turn the tap to the OFF position then set-off. a few hundred meters down the road you will find out exactly what happens. you can then practice turning the tap to on.. or reserve.

On realy common mistake is turning the tap from on to off (instead of reserve), then wondering why you are still in the right hand lane and slowing down.

LEARN your tap positions for each bike you ride.

ZeroIndex

29th May 2006, 10:53

Urr... if you really want to know what it feels like then turn the tap to the OFF position then set-off. a few hundred meters down the road you will find out exactly what happens. you can then practice turning the tap to on.. or reserve.

On realy common mistake is turning the tap from on to off (instead of reserve), then wondering why you are still in the right hand lane and slowing down.

LEARN your tap positions for each bike you ride.
my tap is damn huge.. sits on the side of the petrol tank.. only problem is you can't turn it properly while moving :(

Ixion

29th May 2006, 12:00

Urr... if you really want to know what it feels like then turn the tap to the OFF ,,.

Many bikes, of course, do not have an off position for the tap, having those rather annoying diaphragm thingies instead.

Ixion

29th May 2006, 12:07

Best bike I ever had for fuel arrangments was an old Briddish one (can't remember which now). Had the old arrangment with two taps, one each side. Idea was , that the tank had the usual "saddle" down the underside where it fitted around the frame top tube. You ran on tap A until it ran out. Meanwhile the "saddle" had kept the petrol in the lower tank on the other side from being used. So you turned that tap on , and away you went. I modified this by replacing the standard "on-off" taps on each side with "on -off-reserve" taps, the ones with a second longer pipe. So I had main tank, first reserve, second reserve, and oh-shit-emergency reserve. Hard to forget all of them.

The advantage of a "turn off for off" tap, rather than a diaphragm, is that you are hardly likely to forget to turn the tap back to main from reserve when refueling. Which is uncomfortably easy to do with the diaphragm type, leading to *very* bad language some miles down the road.

(Shouldn't knock the reliability of the diaphragms I guess. After all , if diaphragms were reliable, a good many of our members might not be here :innocent:)

ZeroIndex

29th May 2006, 12:32

Ixion

29th May 2006, 13:04

that sounds too complex.. and what if you forget to set one of them back from reserve to on.. that could spell disaster.. or a very long push..

No, cos I had always to switch both off anyway. And if I forgot to switch one off, it just meant that the reserve tap changed to the "off" one. Always one off.

ZeroIndex

29th May 2006, 13:25

No, cos I had always to switch both off anyway. And if I forgot to switch one off, it just meant that the reserve tap changed to the "off" one. Always one off.
exactly.. I'm even more confused than I was before..

John Banks

29th May 2006, 17:14

Let me draw a diagram for you, Zero Index:

\____/_-----Oooo
o{}..--/--__----_
uuu///____//-----
\\____///---^^^
//\\^__---^##^
ooo&&@uuuu__%%

Hope that clears up any confusion.

ZeroIndex

29th May 2006, 18:17

Let me draw a diagram for you, Zero Index:

\____/_-----Oooo
o{}..--/--__----_
uuu///____//-----
\\____///---^^^
//\\^__---^##^
ooo&&@uuuu__%%

Hope that clears up any confusion.
HAHAHA, WTF, have some green rep for confusing me / making me laugh

MonzaLapRecord

1st June 2006, 10:56

i have on occasion forgotten to push it in [oops] and that did cause issues when i slowed or stopped at lights etc. i once rode from wanganui to turakina like that, and when i stopped at 'kina, it took a few mins of waiting and about 3 tries to get her started. i think running with the choke out burns more fuel.

I had it explained to me a few years ago, when the choke is out it makes the fuel mixture run richer, ie more fuel than air, so it is easier to start, but it also means more carbon being produced, this extra carbon gums up the spark plugs (or in a gn spark plug) over a short period of time and this is what causes the rough running. Don't know if it is true but sounds like a good theory.
I had touble with an old car of mine with an air cleaner that was all plugged up that caused the same problem, not enough air getting in and the mixture running to rich.

Edbear

1st June 2006, 11:02

exactly.. I'm even more confused than I was before..

Wot he means is, you can't have too many reserves! Just ask Graeme Henry...:yes:

sunhuntin

1st June 2006, 12:23

I had it explained to me a few years ago, when the choke is out it makes the fuel mixture run richer, ie more fuel than air, so it is easier to start, but it also means more carbon being produced, this extra carbon gums up the spark plugs (or in a gn spark plug) over a short period of time and this is what causes the rough running. Don't know if it is true but sounds like a good theory.
I had touble with an old car of mine with an air cleaner that was all plugged up that caused the same problem, not enough air getting in and the mixture running to rich.

that makes sense. cheers

FilthyLuka

3rd June 2006, 18:12

i have a gn250 thats been tuned to go a bit quiker...

normally around town (heavy traffic) i need to flick it to reserve around 190km.
if its open road stuffs. then about 210 km.

Youll find that the 2 litre reserve will easily get you to the next petrol station so conduct a test as to your fuel consumption.

Denis