So I run out of fuel this morning....

[mops]

Hello ppl.

I feel so stoopid. This morning on my way to work I overtook a line of cars and as I got in front *cough* *cough* and the engine died..... all the cars passt by me as I was going WTF ?

What I cant comprehend is that there was fuel in the tank... not much, but i'd estimate between 1 and 2 liters. The fuel gauge was showing reserve.

Anyways, I couldnt get it going, got some fuel with a help of mate later on. He told me that some bikes have reserve fuel valve, which is meant to be opened as fuel gets low. Before I poured the fuel into the bike we looked for that valve.

So i had a good look and found sometinhg like he was describing. It had 2 positions - 'on' and 'res' The bike wouldnt start on either so we put fuel in and I run-started.

Anyways... questions....
I dont have users manual for my bike, whats that valve under my fuel tank and how it's supposed to be used ? Is it normal that with over 1 liter of fuel in the tank bike runs out of fuel ? is there like temporary fix for that ?

My bike is a 250cc inline-4 with 4 small carbs running 12:1 compression. Should I use 91 petrol or 96 or 98 in it ? What would be typical consumption ? I ride it slow and so far I get 210k's out of a 10 liters of fuel (50k zone riding only), which is about 5L/100k - excesive in my opinion (i used bp 98 ultimate), i know small cars that have a better economy. 50cc mopeds normally take 2 to 2.5L/100k's, car is considered thristy when using more than 100L/100K's, I was expecting my bike to use 3 to 4 L/100k's with the style of driving I do.... can somebody please comment ? what woul dbe typical fuel consumption for 250cc ? 400cc? 600 and 900 ? what about 1300cc harleys ?

[Sniper]

That is a reserve tap or valve if you wish to call it that. Most tanks have a reserve section that house an extra couple of litres of fuel to tide you over to the next fuel stop.

[James Deuce]

Yes it is normal for the bike to run out of fuel with petrol in the tank. That's why it has a reserve switch under the tank. When it starts to cough, reach down and turn the switch to "res" (reserve) and then make your way to a petrol station. Turning it to "res" lets you access the reserve fuel supply. Don;t forget to turn it back to "on" when you've filled up so you can use reserve fuel option.

[Karma]

Not sure about your exact bike, but bikes in general have two fuel lines outta the tank as far as I'm aware.

One is the regular line, for everyday use, and the other is the reserve tank in case you should find yourself caught out such as you have.

The regular line is when the switch is to On, so when you stop, you should switch to Res, which opens the other line, then try starting the bike again. It might take a bit of effort as there is effectively no petrol in the engine as you have just run it dry, but it will start.

Then you use your reserve to get to a petrol garage and fill er up.

Just remember when you have filled the bike to put the switch back on On, otherwise when you next run out you'll have used the reserve as well

[zadok]

What Jim2 said. Is this what is called the 'Across' here in Oz? You said 'four cylinders'? I don't think all this 'riding slow' is good for the bike. It's meant to rev out some. Take it for a decent blat and you will probably find it is very efficient at optimum revs (but what do I know?)

[Jantar]

My bike is a 250cc inline-4 with 4 small carbs running 12:1 compression. Should I use 91 petrol or 96 or 98 in it ? What would be typical consumption ? I ride it slow and so far I get 210k's out of a 10 liters of fuel (50k zone riding only), which is about 5L/100k - excesive in my opinion (i used bp 98 ultimate), i know small cars that have a better economy. 50cc mopeds normally take 2 to 2.5L/100k's, car is considered thristy when using more than 100L/100K's, I was expecting my bike to use 3 to 4 L/100k's with the style of driving I do.... can somebody please comment ? what woul dbe typical fuel consumption for 250cc ? 400cc? 600 and 900 ? what about 1300cc harleys ?

That fuel consumption is not excessive for a 250 cc Bandit. It would be excessive for the likes of a GN250, but what you have is a sports/tourer and you are using it as a commuter. You will probably find that the fuel consumption will not change much if all your riding was at 100 kmh. If you are only intending to use a bike as a commuter and only rarely get out of 50 kmh areas then you would be much better off with a GN250 that will only use 3 L/100 km.

It isn't possible to just state typical fuel consumptions based on engine size as fuel usage also depends on the type of engine, the type of bike, the weight of the bike rider combination etc. My GS1200SS gives me 17 - 20 km/l (5 - 5.9 L/100 km) while my RE5 with an effective capacity of 500 cc gives me 10 km/L (10 L/100km).

As an aside, I find this method of measuring fuel consumption by L/100km is absurd. I'm not interested in how much fuel to buy to travel 100 km, but I do want to know how far I can get on the 16 L in the tank before I go onto reserve. So for me its km/l, not l/100 km.

[mops]

That fuel consumption is not excessive for a 250 cc Bandit. It would be excessive for the likes of a GN250, but what you have is a sports/tourer and you are using it as a commuter. You will probably find that the fuel consumption will not change much if all your riding was at 100 kmh. If you are only intending to use a bike as a commuter and only rarely get out of 50 kmh areas then you would be much better off with a GN250 that will only use 3 L/100 km.

It isn't possible to just state typical fuel consumptions based on engine size as fuel usage also depends on the type of engine, the type of bike, the weight of the bike rider combination etc. My GS1200SS gives me 17 - 20 km/l (5 - 5.9 L/100 km) while my RE5 with an effective capacity of 500 cc gives me 10 km/L (10 L/100km).

As an aside, I find this method of measuring fuel consumption by L/100km is absurd. I'm not interested in how much fuel to buy to travel 100 km, but I do want to know how far I can get on the 16 L in the tank before I go onto reserve. So for me its km/l, not l/100 km.

Thanks for reply.

Everybody adviused me not to get a GN250 cos 'they suck'. I have to mention that most of this tank i did with low tire pressure, so that might have affect fuel consumption. I 'll change oil and put some decent synthetic and I'll try riding with higher revs and see what happens

I dont want to argue with you or prove anything, and definitely i dont want to start flame war, but:
In europe everybody uses L/100k's to describe fuel consumption... I like it cos I buy fuel in liters and measure distance in k's. the only other world-wide used fuel consumption unit is MPG - which IMHO is absurd here in NZ, as you dont buy fuel in galnos (then imperial or US galons ?) and hardly any car has a speedo in miles (my uk import bmw does ), then again imperial or other miles - yes, there are several types, I think UK mile and sea mile and i *think* arabic mile and they are all different and then go figure. inventing yet another unit is completly crazy.... besides all those consumption values depend on stuff like urban or city driving/riding conditions/etc, so after all it's just estimate.

[Motu]

As an aside, I find this method of measuring fuel consumption by L/100km is absurd. I'm not interested in how much fuel to buy to travel 100 km, but I do want to know how far I can get on the 16 L in the tank before I go onto reserve. So for me its km/l, not l/100 km.

Me too,this l/100km is wierd - who invented that? It means nothing to me.

[Ixion]

Rule of thumb : more cylinders = more petrol used.

Just as you wouldn't expect , in general, a V8 to have the same consumption as a 4 cyl, so your 4 cylinder, highly tuned sprotbike is not going to have the same consumption as my single cylinder 250cc SRX250, which uses about 3l/100km commuting.

[mops]

Me too,this l/100km is wierd - who invented that? It means nothing to me.

as a side note, L/100k's feels so natural and discriptive to me, as I've been using it all my life. MPG however is just begining to make sense, just because my car has a speedo in miles now... i think 30 and more is good and below 20 is rather bad...

[Jantar]

as a side note, L/100k's feels so natural and discriptive to me, as I've been using it all my life. MPG however is just begining to make sense, just because my car has a speedo in miles now... i think 30 and more is good and below 20 is rather bad...

L/100 k's feels natural?

So you've filled up 180 km ago and as you pass a petrol station you see a sign: "last fuel for 86 km" you know your bike does 15 km/l or better and you have a 18 l tank. Do you press on or fill up?

Or:

So you've filled up 180 km ago and as you pass a petrol station you see a sign: "last fuel for 86 km" you know your bike does 6.7 l/100km or better and you have a 18 l tank. Do you press on or fill up?

Which is the easier calculation to do while you are riding?

With km/l its easy to calculate 15 km/l x 18 l = 270 km, yes I can safely do that.

With l/100 km its 18 l / 6.7 l /100 km x 100. Help I need a calculator.

I'm pretty good at doing maths in my head, but I think I'd struggle with that one while riding. Yes, I can understand why you ran out of fuel this morning.

[Highlander]

Jantar, if you struggle with the maths, I'm well stuffed. :slap:

In your example I'd push on though 'cause I know my bike does 350km ish before flicking to reserve, giving me 17km/l (roughly double either of my cars).

L/100 km confuses the snot out of me.

[mops]

L/100 k's feels natural?

So you've filled up 180 km ago and as you pass a petrol station you see a sign: "last fuel for 86 km" you know your bike does 15 km/l or better and you have a 18 l tank. Do you press on or fill up?

Or:

So you've filled up 180 km ago and as you pass a petrol station you see a sign: "last fuel for 86 km" you know your bike does 6.7 l/100km or better and you have a 18 l tank. Do you press on or fill up?

Which is the easier calculation to do while you are riding?

With km/l its easy to calculate 15 km/l x 18 l = 270 km, yes I can safely do that.

With l/100 km its 18 l / 6.7 l /100 km x 100. Help I need a calculator.

I'm pretty good at doing maths in my head, but I think I'd struggle with that one while riding. Yes, I can understand why you ran out of fuel this morning.

the way i do it is that I know that i did 180km, so it's ~ 200km, so
1. I used 2*6.7lL = ~13L, therefore I have 18L - 13L = 5L, and i I need 6.7l to do 100km,
2. so on fuel left, well i do need a calc to divide exacly, but roughly i'll do 5/7 of 100km's and that is more than half but less than 100km towards the lower end so I'd estimate roughly 70km left. In these situations I'd fill up anyways, as remote fuel stations often charge more

I admit my method is rought and quick, but it does not involve calculations such as 15*18 (to difficult for me).

ok, how about that example. You are riding to location 125km's away. How much fuel are you expecting to use on your trip ? 125km*2 = 250. 2.5* 6.7 = again roughly 17 rounding up.
doing it from km/L you have 250km/15L per km = ???? need a calc....

I only feel more comfortable with this system as I used it all my life.... I understand that for somebody who used km/l all their life will have a different opinion. I dont even know who started this argument....

[Jantar]

I chose the examples above as they are the same. ie 15 km/l is 6.7 l/100 kms. The example is also the difference between filling up at Haast at $1.60 per Litre or pressing on to Fox at $1.48 per Litre.

As for who started it, I guess I'm guilty as I commented on how I find L/100 kms to be absurd. Sorry for apparently hiu-jacking your thread.

And Highlander, You're always stuffed when it comes to maths, mate. but we can forgive that.

[fishb8nz]

I travel to work with a mate who has a GN250 and he gets 280 km when he hits reserve (8.5L). My GN125 gets 325 km (same size tank).
For me it's km per litre - suits the engineering mentality.