Fuel Gauge

[Yeochips]

I have just got rid of my Fuel gauge. Time and time again it has not kept the correct reading/s. The straw that broke the camels back was that the gas light went on and I had only 172 miles on the trip A. I went to go fill it up and I was only able to put in 4.1 gallons? Should of been empty (although I knew it wasn't).

HERES MY QUESTION: How accurate is the fuel gage that appears on the main Spyder Gauge? I have a 2016 RT-S
Thanks much, Marty

[ARtraveler]

The pre-2014 gas gauges were on the wonky side. The 2014+ ones seem to be okay. You should be able to get 200 or more miles out of a full tank of gas.

The secret is filling it to the same level each time and setting a trip meter to zero when you fill up. My fill light comes on at 205 or so consistently. Our 998 comes on at 150 consistently.

Your Spyder will develop a pattern and you will know what your particular machine will do. Most of the time, I refill at 150 because we both ride together.

It sounds like you are not putting enough gas in it to start with. I fill up to the ring, let it settle and refill to the ring--one more time.

[Yeochips]

I also fill up to the ring, as this was suggested to me. On my trip back from Dallas in Nov I usually get 230-250 per tank. but my gauge at times will show empty around 160-180....should not show empty with 3/4 of tank gone. I was wondering if anyone who had the fuel gauge read out on their main screen, have you found it to be accurate?

[ARtraveler]

The pre-2014 gauges did show empty early on when there was still gas left. I did a "one time" only and ran the 998 up to 184 miles. It took 5.8 gallons. The gauge was about a quarter inch below empty. We don't stretch it anything like that on the road. Fill at 100 or when we see gas. You don't want to run out of gas here.

Showing empty at 160 - 180 could indicate a problem with your gauge.

[Peter Aawen]

My 2013 RT not only has the wonky & wildly inaccurate analogue gauges, but also if I bother to swap over to the digital gauges the level & low fuel warning light STILL rarely have any true relationship to the gas level remaining in the tank! Both/either of the fuel gauges rarely ever show Full, even if you know the tank is full - the highest generally shown is just a smidge over 3/4, but every now & then if I hold my tongue the right way while filling they might show as much as 7/8ths full, altho there's no apparent cause for this or any other variation! And the 'rate' of indicated fuel use has absobloodylutely NOTHING to do with how fast or slow the engine is drinking gas!! Sometimes the level shown just plummets towards the E; sometimes it seems stuck on 3/4 for100 or more kms before it drops suddenly towards empty, but again, there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to why the different rate?!?

The worst I've experienced so far was after filling the tank to the brim (& I REALLY mean 'to the brim'!!) & then ryding about 12 kms - over that short distance the gauge dropped from about 3/4 right down to showing less than 1/4 & the low fuel light came on!! Since I was heading off on a longish ryde, & despite knowing the gauge & light show rubbish, I was just a little concerned that a hose might've come off or something, so I stopped at the last servo for over 100km & topped up!! I should've trusted the trip meter & shouldn't have stopped, cos I could barely dribble in 1/2 litre!! The guy on the console thought I was nuts when I went in to pay for the 60 cents worth of gas that filled the tank.... well, if I'm truly honest, that overflowed the tank just a little! Btw, gas frequently hits $1.40 per litre here, sometimes even more!!

Anyhow, I'm working towards tossing the analogue gauges entirely, I've even run a couple of tester guages to see if the info they provided helped any; and I'm looking at swapping out the sender & pick-up, altho testing it with a multi-meter suggests it's still working correctly?!? Taking the tank out enough to remove the sender is a bit of a marathon epic task, so I haven't mustered the courage or determination to do that yet.... but one day, I'l get a round tuit! In the meantime, I rely on the trip meter & a dip stick that I made - between them, I get a much more reliable & accurate indication of how much gas is left in the tank & how much further I can ryde with some degree of safety. And if I'm heading outta town/away from regular & close servos (some roads/trips Down Under have 400kms or more between gas stops) I throw in a 2 litre gas container, just to be sure to be sure! Haven't hadta use it yet!

All that said, I don't think the sender units BRP uses for the Spyders are really that great, altho the post 2014 guages are undeniably usually more accurate than thd 2013 & earlier units. Was that because of a sender change? I dunno, but none of them seem particularly easy to swap out/replace..... Still, most of the bikes I've had over the years never had a gas gauge anyway, and to be honest, I reckon having a dodgy or inaccurate gauge is FAR WORSE than having none at all (like most) cos you nearly have a bloody heart attack every time you glance past & see the light on or the needle sliding past E, despite 'knowing' that you aren't really at risk of running the tank dry.... well, not just yet, anyway!