Was this a Fuel Indicator Reserve Notification?

[ff73148]

On a long ride my fuel gauge showed a range of 33 miles. Soon it showed no miles but three little lines. ---
What does that mean? Was I on reserve? There is no explanation in the owners manual.

[K80Shooter]

On a long ride my fuel gauge showed a range of 33 miles. Soon it showed no miles but three little lines. ---
What does that mean? Was I on reserve? There is no explanation in the owners manual.

It only reads to a certain point, 25 maybe? then the three dots appear. In reality it means get fuel soon.

[Peter Aawen]

It only reads to a certain point, 25 maybe? then the three dots appear. In reality it means get fuel soon.

Well K80, NO, that word 'soon' in there is not really appropriate! In reality ff, those 'Three Dots' mean that you REALLY NEED TO GET FUEL IMMEDIATELY, AS YOU MAY ALREADY BE DAMAGING EXPENSIVE & IMPORTANT THINGS!!

These Spyders, just like most modern motorcycles and effectively any other vehicle with Electronic Fuel Injected engines, don't really have a 'Fuel Reserve' like older style motorcycles where the tank divided at the bottom to form around the main spar, leaving a 'well' of gas separated from the usual petcock outlet, so it didn't run (by gravity) into the engine until you selected 'Reserve' on that petcock. Modern motorcycles usually don't have ANY 'Reserve' per se, and EFI engines generally feed the injectors gas supplied by a High-Pressure Fuel Pump immersed in the tank. Those pumps run at extremely fine tolerances and develop a lot of heat doing so, with the heat dispersed into whatever gas is left in the tank as the pump is meant to be fully immersed in it; and at the same time the liquid gas is also acting as a lubricant for the rotating components of the pump that are running extremely closely together, again, it can do this cos the pump is meant to be fully immersed in gas. Once the Low Fuel Warning Light comes on, you are really pushing the limits of the remaining gas being able to properly disperse that heat &/or still have enough gas left to act in the designed/intended way as a lubricant; AND you are also risking sucking up any of the smaller molecules of heavier non-inflammable liquids like water, condensation, & any other crud that DOES get into the gas thru normal use over time and which generally remains suspended in the liquid, albeit because of its heavier & usually slightly larger molecules, usually ends up gathered in the liquid in the lowest parts of the tank - but none of that is a good thing!

So if you EVER get to the 'Three Dots' display stage, you are risking destroying your injector pump &/or damaging the injectors, either thru over-heating things as the smaller quantity of gas remaining can no longer absorb any excess heat developed by the pump as it operates; or by sucking up the 'slightly larger than gas' molecules of water, condensation, &/or other liquid suspended crud that's always floating in the gas down there! Basically, you SHOULD NEVER RUN YOUR TANK DRY and those Three Dots mean that you're bloody close to doing that! If you want to keep your injector pump and system healthy for as long as you can, you should ALWAYS start looking for gas BEFORE the Low Fuel Warning Light comes on, which usually means treating about 1/4 of a tank remaining as your 'Refill Soon' marker, the Warning Light as your Last Warning, and those Three Dots as your 'DAMMIT, I hafta add more gas RIGHT NOW, cos I'm probably already damaging things' level!

And all of this is why many people who regularly travel long distances (on Spyders as well as EFI engined motorcycles & cars! ) where fuel supplies may be long distances apart decide to carry just a small amount of 'Emergency Gas' with them, juuuust in case they don't quite get as far as their next gas stop before the Low Fuel Warning Light comes on.

Just Sayin' - Again!

[BajaRon]

The three dots really mean that you'll be walking soon!

[ARtraveler]

Now that the guage question is answered:

I also agree. Fill the tank sooner, rather than later. The range is supposed to be over 200 miles now. I usually refill my tank even before the low fuel light comes on. That means I think about gas somewhere between 150 and 200 miles on the odometer. Most people want to get off after 150 miles anyway.

[GFrog]

Most of the time I refuel when the 3 dash lines appear. I usually top-up the tank every time I refuel. It usually takes between 19.5 to 20.5 liters of fuel to fill the tank.

The tank capacity is 26.5 liters (7 US gal).

This means that I normally have about 6 to 7 liters (1.6 to 1.8 US gal) of fuel left in the tank when the 3 dashes and low fuel light appear.

So now I know how much fuel I have left when the low fuel light appear.

In order to keep the fuel pump cool, I would not want to go too far below the Low Fuel light.

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[Gwolf]

Mine (2019) just has a low fuel message that comes on the dash when the fuel gauge goes below about 25 miles. Never seen it but one time. I ran it just to see how far it would go and had a couple MSR fuel bottles with me.

[baxter]

As has been said, --- means you need to refuel very soon. Depends where you are traveling when to begin to refuel. Out West where distances are further apart between stations off the beaten path. or in locations of remote Canada and Alaska where when you are down to half a tank you start looking for fuel or carry a spare container. Out East where gas is plentiful one can run down to the low fuel light.

[ff73148]

Thanks for the replies. Just to give a little more information. When I fueled up the bike took 5.5 gallons. So I assume that there was 1.5 gallons left. What drives me crazy is there is no mention in the owners manual explaining this issue. Every other company does. BTW I asked BRP about this and their response was to go to the dealer. Frustrating.

[vito1943]

Knowing about the fuel pump issue, I make it a habit to fill up once I drop below half full. Typically that means I have ridden about 150 miles or so. I think the longest I have ridden on my Spyder before filling up was about 180 miles. Everytime I fill up I try to really fill the tank if the pump I am using allows me to reduce the flow to where I can get the tank as full as possible without splashing gas all over the place. I think that 4.5 gallons was the most that I have ever put into the tank at one time. I use the same thinking for all three of my cars, i.e., looking to fill up whenever I drop below half full, but I don't "top off" the cars as I don't see a need to do so. I never really thought about carrying "emergency" gas with me, but maybe having a half gallon or so stored in my frunk is not a bad idea.

[BCNewell]

^^^ as long as you rotate out that emergency gas monthly.

[ARtraveler]

RE: emergency gas. I would NOT recommend carrying emergency gas except when you are in areas where you might be too far in between gas stations. I lived in Alaska for 20 years and only carried emergency gas once.

The container is very important. There are very few "crash worthy" gas containers. REDA brand is one of them. The "standard" plastic gas cans are bombs waiting to explode.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

^^^ as long as you rotate out that emergency gas monthly.

IMHO you only need to do it monthly ....IF you don't use a little " Fuel stabilizer " like Stabil etc. in that container.....Mike

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

RE: emergency gas. I would NOT recommend carrying emergency gas except when you are in areas where you might be too far in between gas stations. I lived in Alaska for 20 years and only carried emergency gas once.

The container is very important. There are very few "crash worthy" gas containers. REDA brand is one of them. The "standard" plastic gas cans are bombs waiting to explode.

IMHO opinion I dis-agree .... WHY ???? .... how safe is the OEM Gas tank compared to a sturdy plastic container ?????? .... The plastic container CANNOT cause a Spark, that can't be said of the OEM gas tank .... Also if you are in a crash that is so severe it could cause either one to Ignite ..... I think that might be the least of your worries ...... Mike

[eddieshep999]

This is one of those questions that has provided excellent answers and it’s why this forum is great at keeping all informed
Thanks to all those that responded to the question
I’ve learnt something new and have only had the 3 Dots appear once but I was only 2 miles from a Petrol station and 1 mile of that was downhill so I able to run my Spyder hardly using the throttle
I now normally fill up when the range shows 50 left or as soon as the Low Fuel light and Warning is displayed
Thanks for the useful information

[Gwolf]

RE: emergency gas. I would NOT recommend carrying emergency gas except when you are in areas where you might be too far in between gas stations. I lived in Alaska for 20 years and only carried emergency gas once.

The container is very important. There are very few "crash worthy" gas containers. REDA brand is one of them. The "standard" plastic gas cans are bombs waiting to explode.

The Rotopax fuel containers and the MSR Fuel Bottles are both probably more safe than the OEM fuel tank between your legs. Both are used by miliytary as well as many off road vehicles traveling in rough terrain.

In a crash bad enough to break open a Rotopax or an MSR Fuel Bottle, it is unlikely you are still going to be anywhere near the spot where the trike lands anyway.

[redrazor]

Now that the guage question is answered:

I also agree. Fill the tank sooner, rather than later. The range is supposed to be over 200 miles now. I usually refill my tank even before the low fuel light comes on. That means I think about gas somewhere between 150 and 200 miles on the odometer. Most people want to get off after 150 miles anyway.

[RayBJ]

The Rotopax fuel containers and the MSR Fuel Bottles are both probably more safe than the OEM fuel tank between your legs. Both are used by miliytary as well as many off road vehicles traveling in rough terrain.

In a crash bad enough to break open a Rotopax or an MSR Fuel Bottle, it is unlikely you are still going to be anywhere near the spot where the trike lands anyway.

I use a Rotopax 1.75 gal container mounted on the rear deck of my RT when traveling multi-states west of the Mississippi. I hide it with a helmet bag (see my avatar). As stated, if a crash reaches that far, odds are gas is the least of my problems!

[baxter]

Word of caution on "topping" the fuel tank off is that raw fuel can get into the fuel evaporator system and cause engine issues not to mention messing up fuel relay system.

[EdMat]

Word of caution on "topping" the fuel tank off is that raw fuel can get into the fuel evaporator system and cause engine issues not to mention messing up fuel relay system.

Which model?

[baxter]

on vehicles there is a fuel vapor recovery system that takes the gas vapors after fueling through charcoal filter and into the manifold. If one fills tank too full, raw fuel can get into system and mess up the fuel-air metering.

[BajaRon]

on vehicles there is a fuel vapor recovery system that takes the gas vapors after fueling through charcoal filter and into the manifold. If one fills tank too full, raw fuel can get into system and mess up the fuel-air metering.

True. That's why I removed the EVAP system on my 2008 Spyder. It is interesting that to get a 'Full' reading on the instrument panel, you have to 'Top Off' quite a bit. Why make a system that, if filled, will create issues downstream?

The problem, with the 2008-2012 models, was that the vent hose comes right out of the fuel tank horizontally, then goes down to the EVAP tank at the lowest part of the bike. If you filled the tank anywhere near full, you would get raw fuel in the EVAP canister creating not only a smell issue, but a fire hazard. Not a good system.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Word of caution on "topping" the fuel tank off is that raw fuel can get into the fuel evaporator system and cause engine issues not to mention messing up fuel relay system.

IMHO that only applies to Spyders with V-twin engines .... any Spyder with the 1330 has a different set-up for fuel and vapor lines ..... Mike

[BajaRon]

IMHO that only applies to Spyders with V-twin engines .... any Spyder with the 1330 has a different set-up for fuel and vapor lines ..... Mike

Yes, that's why I said for the 2008-2012 models, which were all V-Twin 998's. I edited that post because you're right. BRP continued to use the same design through 2016 V-Twin models. In my opinion, this is what caused most of the Spyder inferno videos that were posted.

An interesting side story. I was invited to an Invitation Only ride with BRP engineers and other VIP's many moons ago. I had foolishly left an unfused, positive wire for my heated gear unhooked under the seat. I thought I'd secured and protected it properly. But not so. Somehow, it had worked its way to a ground and about 3/4 through the ride in the mountains we all pulled over at an overlook area. Smoke started rolling out from under my seat just as I got off. Those BRP guys could not get out of there fast enough. It looked like one of those races where the riders have to run to their machines at the start! (Thanks for the help, guys!) I guess they didn't want to be in any videos with another Spyder burning to the ground.

Lamont was the only one who stayed to help. I opened the seat and pulled the wire off. Problem solved. There wasn't any real danger of a fire. But it looked ominous.

[Gwolf]

My guess would be that the bad, or dangerous design problems, are mostly created by the manufacturers trying to comply with government regulations or EPA standards. The engineers keep having to come up with new ways to try to make the new vehicles comply with rules and standards which become more stringent every year, without going through a total redesign every year, which would be cost prohibitive. Many of the people making the government rules and regulations put things into the rule books that are originally meant to apply to passenger cars or light trucks, but in implementing the rules they are applied to motorcycles also. Eventually, the stacks of new rules and regulations every year, and sometimes having to manufacture more than one model to comply with rules of different countries, in order to sell internationally, becomes so overwhelming, that a complete, ground up, re-design becomes necessary.