Gas Gauge

[jthornton]

I also get better mileage with the wife on the back. If I go too fast I get hit on the head , kind of like a governor.

That's funny, I have the exact same governor... on the Goldwing I get two more inputs from the governor, left shoulder tap = your too close to the center line, right shoulder tap = your too close to the edge of the road. Heck she even grabbed my shoulders once to try and steer the bike while I was pulling up to a gas pump as the governor thought I was too close to the pump.

John

[jthornton]

The tank is 6.6 gallons, but only holds 6.0 gallons of fuel. The rest is necessary head space for venting and expansion. The low fuel light comes on with about 1.5 gallons left in the tank. The best way to fill is to insert the nozzle just past the baffle ring, and fill slowly. Stop when gas begins to spurt out the vent slots. Do not repeatedly top it off. If you do top it off, do so slowly, and only once. If you overfill, you will fill the emissions canister and ruin it. You will also waste the gas and get worse mileage than ever. Mileage averages vary widely, but 25-35 is typical. I have averaged 28 mpg over 23,000 miles...at least half with towing a trailer. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the info on the tank, one normally assumes that the listed tank size is how much fuel it actually holds. I would have made a wrong assumption based on the listed tank size.

Thanks
John

[Jeriatric]

I stopped by my dealer last week and they put in the new gauge and updated the software

I had the 'bouncing' gas gauge problem and it would show empty and the light would come on, I'd go to a gas station to fill up and it would only take 4.5 gallons of gas

hoping the new gauge works better or I will unplug it and use the digital one....

Think you will find the new gage and update is spot on. Did mine probably 30 tanks of fuel ago and it works so well I've forgotten it used to bounce.

[ARtraveler]

I'll add a little more now that there has been some more input. I had two gas gauges put on my 2010 and the second also started wandering all over the place. Had a similar problem when I bought the 2011--but did not replace the gauge.

I have disconnected the analog gauges on both Spyders and am perfectly happy with the digital gauges that appear on the dashboard. The fix is easy. Just remove the four screws on the panel, lift and unplug both the gas and temperature guages. As mentioned above, the digital gauges magically appear. Note: others have said to unplug both gauges--but not sure the technical reason for it.

I find the digital gauges to be more accurate. For me, the fuel light now comes on at about 150 miles and most times we top off with about 5 or slightly more gallons. I still zero a tripmeter at fill ups. The digital gauges do not wander around--but you will find they are somewhat like a car gauge. The take forever to get past the first hash mark, but as the tank goes down, the miles are fewer each hash mark.

My longest tank--184 miles and 5.8 gallons. approx 32 mpg.

RE: mileage. On four different spyders (2 RS and 2 RT) I seem to get an overall average of 30 mpg. I run my engine in the happy spot (4500-5500), and do not exceed the posted speed limits by more the 5 mph (most of the time). I use cruise on the highway.

[jthornton]

I put some miles on the Spyder today and fueled up twice. Once with 93 octane 100% gasoline and got 30.7 MPG on that tank. The first tank gave me 27.3MPG with 93 octane 90/10 mix. And the weird thing is the analog gauge seemed to be normal for the miles I put on it. I'll have them change it in any case. I may take the analog gauges out and put a photo of my grandchildren in the bezel...

John