Fuel status, low fuel warning light, & how should I fill??

[gkamer]

Today, while out on a ride, my low fuel warning light came on. According to the Miles Till Empty display on my dash I had like 38 miles to go. I rode for a little bit more, and then the M.T.E. gauge went blank. I know I did not travel for another 38 miles.

Anyway I stopped to refuel. According to the Spec sheet from my Spyder, the fuel capacity is 6.9 gallons. When I refueled I placed the nozzle as far in as it would go and manually compress the nozzle trigger to make sure the fuel entered the tank slowly so as not to overflow.

As I did on my Ryker, when the nozzle clicked off I stopped pumping gas. According to the pump, I had taken 3.9 gallons. When I started the bike the MTE read 168 miles. Does that sound right? That's only about 30 miles better then my Ryker indicated when I filled it's 4.2 gallon tank.

I never like squeezing in more gas once the nozzle clicks off, cause I'm always worried about an overfill spilling all over my bike, truck. car, whatever I happen to be driving.

[fatboy]

dont shove the nozzle all the way in you should have taken 5+gallons

[Wmoater]

RT is totally different than ryker or F3. I shove all the way in. Then when it kicks off pull out so it’s just inside ring. Holding just at ring pump slow. You’ll get another gallon. Then when it fills ring up. Hold outside ring pump really slow. I let ring fill up 5 times and good. If I need the 200+ run then keep filling ring up. Let sit for a second and fill up again. Keep going till it’s full. The RT is worse than my old 2010 xp sled. That darn thing I had to burp 3 times to fill. If you stopped when it kicked off you were only 3/4 full. Unlike the old pre 2014 it doesn’t hurt to over fill or fill it up to the ring. I’ve never had a problem. Just small slow pull at the end and fill cup up 5 times and you’re good for 200.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Today, while out on a ride, my low fuel warning light came on. According to the Miles Till Empty display on my dash I had like 38 miles to go. I rode for a little bit more, and then the M.T.E. gauge went blank. I know I did not travel for another 38 miles.

Anyway I stopped to refuel. According to the Spec sheet from my Spyder, the fuel capacity is 6.9 gallons. When I refueled I placed the nozzle as far in as it would go and manually compress the nozzle trigger to make sure the fuel entered the tank slowly so as not to overflow.

As I did on my Ryker, when the nozzle clicked off I stopped pumping gas. According to the pump, I had taken 3.9 gallons. When I started the bike the MTE read 168 miles. Does that sound right? That's only about 30 miles better then my Ryker indicated when I filled it's 4.2 gallon tank.

I never like squeezing in more gas once the nozzle clicks off, cause I'm always worried about an overfill spilling all over my bike, truck. car, whatever I happen to be driving.

I have obtained the following Results many, many, many times ..... I also start with the nozzle ALL the way in .... When it clicks off I look at the Gals. counter .... I then pull nozzle back out to the LIP and cont. filling .... it ALWAYS takes another 1.2 to 1.3 gals. ....the fuel is now just below the Lip .... It takes some practice and some gas stations have better nozzles than others, some I could actually fill " SHOT " glasses with .... I then record my " miles per tank " and write it on the gas slip for entry into my log .... As has been dis-cussed here many times Spyder tanks have a large AIR POCKET above the fill hole , but BRP includes this in the TANK SIZE .... go figure .... Mike

[gkamer]

Thanks guys, I was pretty sure I should have been getting a little better then 168 on a fill up. Appreciate it.

[JayBros]

Doing what others have said after the nozzle shuts off the first step in filling one's tank. The volume of fuel coming out of the pump nozzle, which the rider has sometimes very limited control of, is a big governing factor in how much one can get into an RT tank. If one can find a reliable station that sells lots of gas one prefers to use, and the pumps dispense it slowly, one can get the most fuel possible in the tank without getting splash-back out of the fill tube. The worst stations in America IMO are at Costco where their new Nanny Government nozzle shutoff systems are a genuine PITA for RT owners.

[Steve W.]

Another thing that might help a bit, Greg, is trying to find a pump where the ground is not quite level. If you can park nose-up, it helps burp some of the air.

.

[pidjones]

Mine showed the low fuel screen at 38 to go today also. Then a bit further the bars and the gauge indicated nothing. I rode another couple miles to an exit and at the station nearby was only able to squeeze 5.7 gallons into my 7 gallon tank. I think I'll carry some emergency fuel with me next time I'm low and run her 'till she quits (hard on the system, I know) or at least stumbles to find out how much it really holds.

BTW, 2999.7 miles - is that close enough for the first oil and filter change?

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Another thing that might help a bit, Greg, is trying to find a pump where the ground is not quite level. If you can park nose-up, it helps burp some of the air.

.

Good luck finding and measuring that ..... ..... PS. I've used hundreds of thousands of Gas Pumps .... I NEVER thought even one of them wasn't Level ...... Mike

[ARtraveler]

A full fill should show between 250 and 270 miles to go. I always fill until the auto shutoff...then...pull the nozzle out and fill to the "O" ring. Stop, let it settle and top off again at the "O" ring. Not perfect, but it gives me the same fill procedure each time. I also zero the "A" trip meter. I never go until the fill light comes on. We always top off the tanks around 200 miles. That shows a quarter of a tank or so to go. That gives us two one hundred mile rides before the next fill.

[vito1943]

I find that almost regardless of how I ride the Spyder I get about 34 mpg. I mentally divide that into the miles ridden (I zero that out at every gas fill up) and fairly accurately can estimate how much gas the bike should take. I often raise the pump nozzle and slowly add until it come up to the ring in the tank after the initial clicking off of the fully entered nozzle. If need be, I wait a few seconds for air to escape to allow me to fill it up to the max.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I find that almost regardless of how I ride the Spyder I get about 34 mpg. I mentally divide that into the miles ridden (I zero that out at every gas fill up) and fairly accurately can estimate how much gas the bike should take. I often raise the pump nozzle and slowly add until it come up to the ring in the tank after the initial clicking off of the fully entered nozzle. If need be, I wait a few seconds for air to escape to allow me to fill it up to the max.

If the gas is visible at the ring .... that's all that can be put into the tank without it over-flowing..... UNLESS you tip the Spyder on to it's right side .... and I'm pretty sure you don't won't do that ..... Mike

[JayBros]

I find that almost regardless of how I ride the Spyder I get about 34 mpg...

IME the 1330 ACE engine is just getting broken in at 3,000 miles. Your mileage should go up as you log more miles. At 73.6K I'm averaging 37.1 since Day 1. Am interested to see how upcoming trip to Spyderquest will go as it will involve a lot of super slabbing but it will be in the NE where the speed limits are not what they are out on the prairie.

[gkamer]

I did as suggested and this time around my MTE was like 240+, I don't recall the exact number, so that makes me happy. I'm still working on getting the speed/rpm shifting stuff figured out, but that's another whole different thread.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I did as suggested and this time around my MTE was like 240+, I don't recall the exact number, so that makes me happy. I'm still working on getting the speed/rpm shifting stuff figured out, but that's another whole different thread.

The 1330 has plenty of torque ,.... I shift at about 2500 rpm's unless I'm really trying to accelerate , or going up a steep hill..... I get avg 39-40 mpg's ..... Mike

[ARtraveler]

I did as suggested and this time around my MTE was like 240+, I don't recall the exact number, so that makes me happy. I'm still working on getting the speed/rpm shifting stuff figured out, but that's another whole different thread.

My experience: Shifting up at about 3500 rpm (my "sweet spot") seems to work well. Keeping it in that range, you always have the power to "get up and go."

I let it down shift on its own about 98% of the time. I am not running sixth gear (some call it "overdrive") until about 55 mph.

My mpg is always close to 40. I do a LOT of country road driving at 40-45 mph or less I have found that based on miles per hour, the gear number co-incides up to five or over. EG. 30+ mph = 3rd gear. 35+ = 4th. 50+ = 5th gear 55+ = 6th gear. Etc....

[Circ]

In addition to all the other excellent approaches, I added 1 more. Monitoring how much fuel I put in at each stage of electronic alert, paying particular attention to how close you are to BRP's stated tank capacity (which may have burp capacity). As a general rule, I also use 200 mi as a fill point depending on aggressiveness of driving. I can go more but why push it? As others have stated mid 30's mpg is pretty normal. You could always carry a gallon or so of fuel (once) and run the tank dry to determine your exact total capacity. I feel that we are pretty close and watching the warning light on the dash is disconcerting for me so I never attempted this approach.

[Snoozer]

I have been trying to figure out the distance to fill as well. I live in Colorado so mountains factor into the equation. As I was on long stretches I used eco mode. At one fill up it said I had rough a 240 mile range. I got down to 40 miles and the low tank light came on. I filled up but it only took 5.1 gallons. That tells me there is a lot more left. I will use the trip meter on the next fill up and calculate from there. It is kind of hard stopping every 200 miles when my harley buddy is getting almost 50 mile per gallon.

[Little Blue]

.......
BTW, 2999.7 miles - is that close enough for the first oil and filter change?

First oil change is generally done at the first 3000 miles. After that it is changed at 9300 miles.

Your owners manual should have this information.
The local Spyder Dealer has the latest information.

Enjoy your Ryde Time. .....

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

I filled up but it only took 5.1 gallons. That tells me there is a lot more left.

Nope, not so. There is a lot of unusable space at the top of the tank. At 5.1 gallons you're near max fill.