Another question about fuel tank capacity

[michigal]

I am sure this has been addressed before, but I couldn't find it, so here goes? According to every thing I've read, my GS has a fuel tank capacity of about 7 gallons.

While ryding today I panicked because my low fuel light came on and we were out in the sticks; found a gas station and filled the tank and it only took four gallons. If that is correct, I'm happy because that means I got 42 mpg on the last tank; but confused because that means there are still approximately 3 gallons in the tank when the low fuel light comes on.

What are your thoughts/comments on this??

 

[boborgera]

I am sure this has been addressed before, but I couldn't find it, so here goes? According to every thing I've read, my GS has a fuel tank capacity of about 7 gallons.

While ryding today I panicked because my low fuel light came on and we were out in the sticks; found a gas station and filled the tank and it only took four gallons. If that is correct, I'm happy because that means I got 42 mpg on the last tank; but confused because that means there are still approximately 3 gallons in the tank when the low fuel light comes on.

What are your thoughts/comments on this??

I think/know you'll find that 6 gals is max, After 5.7 or 5.8 gal your on fumes.
And recheck your figures on your MPG's. If after the low light comes on if you think you have 3 gal left you'll be walking to the next gas station.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

HOW TO FIGURE MPG'S

Start with a full tank of gas and zero you're trip meter....then drive till whenever and refill the gas tank to full again...now use the amount of miles you drove and divide by the amount of gal's you put in and that's the mileage you got for that trip....using you're gas guage to estimate you're gas mileage is a waste of time.....it's not even close and may give you a false sense of security 42 mpg is a false sense of security.....I get 37 mpg but I know I get 37 mpg I'm not guessing. good luck with this.... Mike.....:thumbup:.........And Bob is absolutely correct as usual.....:roflblack:

 

[mowin]

When my fuel light comes on, I'm hard pressed to squeeze in 5 gal, and thats with burbing the tank for the last 1/2 gal....I've ran it to zero bars once, and got 5.6 gal in her.

 

[Arr MiHardies]

YOu can use a free service like Fuelly to track your fill ups and mpg. They have a smartphone app, or you can set it up so you can just text the fill up info to them from any mobile.

 

[wyliec]

I run my GS down to 3 bars and then look for a gas station. Why push it? But, to answer your question, I believe it (the GS/RS) supposedly has a 6 gal. capacity, like boborgera said.

 

[CyncySpyder]

BLUEKNIGHT911 hit the nail on the head, we do it every tank that way, usually avg 27+

 

[michigal]

Okay, I know I'm a "girl"....

....but I do know how to calculate my gas mileage. I clocked 173 miles between "fill ups", but as I said today, according to the gas pump, I was only down four gallons (which comes out to 43.25 mpg) The low fuel light had come on about 5 miles prior to stopping for gas and one bar was showing on the gauge. I usually fill up when it gets to three bars and this is the first time I've seen the low fuel light come on.

I also know that gasoline expands when it gets hot, and it was about 85 degrees when I filled up, but I know it didn't expand that much. Just a little puzzled that the low fuel came on if in fact I really had about 2 gallons left in the tank.

The Spyder was just in for its 6,000 service, but I doubt they calibrated the fuel gauge.

 

[Bootie]

Fuel

....but I do know how to calculate my gas mileage. I clocked 173 miles between "fill ups", but as I said today, according to the gas pump, I was only down four gallons (which comes out to 43.25 mpg) The low fuel light had come on about 5 miles prior to stopping for gas and one bar was showing on the gauge. I usually fill up when it gets to three bars and this is the first time I've seen the low fuel light come on.

I also know that gasoline expands when it gets hot, and it was about 85 degrees when I filled up, but I know it didn't expand that much. Just a little puzzled that the low fuel came on if in fact I really had about 2 gallons left in the tank.

The Spyder was just in for its 6,000 service, but I doubt they calibrated the fuel gauge.

If you drive no faster than 20mph it might be possible to get 43mpg.:clap:But regular driving generally gives about 30mpg. That seems to be the average for this group.:lecturef_smilie:

 

[Some Guy]

Your best bet is to average several tanks. No one ever puts "exactly" the same amount of fuel into the tank at a fill up. For example, I always try to fill it "all the way to top" (no evap canister to worry about), but I'm sure some of my fill-ups are lower or higher than the previous ones.

I used to get 10 mpg...but that was before I realized I was dividing the gallons into kilometers instead of miles!!! :roflblack:

 

[Arr MiHardies]

Liquids don't expand as much as one might think. For something the size of our gas tank, it would be negligible. I'll also point out that the gas tank would be expanding In the heat as well. But again, by a negligible amount unless you are dealing with very small clearances. Liquids converting to solids may expand considerably, as in the case of water to ice. And vapor can "expand" and contract a great deal based on temperature as that determines how excited the molecules are, and thus how much pressure they exert on the container. So theoretically, hot gasoline vapor inside the tank could be pushing more fuel into combustion chambers affecting air/fuel ratios and thus performance. This is assuming of course the gas tanks are air tight, which I don't believe they are since there is an evap valve/canister.


Ambient temperature would certainly have an effect on gas mileage though, as cooler air is more dense. This would affect the air/fuel ratio and thus the efficiency with with the gas is ignite.

Again, I would suggest using Fuelly to track fill ups, as it will give you an average of all your fill ups that will become more accurate over time. It will also track your best tanks, which is kinda neat.

 

[Bootie]

Fuel Calculations

....but I do know how to calculate my gas mileage. I clocked 173 miles between "fill ups", but as I said today, according to the gas pump, I was only down four gallons (which comes out to 43.25 mpg) The low fuel light had come on about 5 miles prior to stopping for gas and one bar was showing on the gauge. I usually fill up when it gets to three bars and this is the first time I've seen the low fuel light come on.

I also know that gasoline expands when it gets hot, and it was about 85 degrees when I filled up, but I know it didn't expand that much. Just a little puzzled that the low fuel came on if in fact I really had about 2 gallons left in the tank.

The Spyder was just in for its 6,000 service, but I doubt they calibrated the fuel gauge.

You think you are challenged...check this out:yes:
[video=youtube_share;Qhm7-LEBznr]XXXhttp://youtu.be/Qhm7-LEBznrXXX
Ignore the XXX's
Looks like they removed the video from Youtube. Sorry, it was pretty good. It was a video of a wife trying to figure out how long it would take to go 80 miles if
she was going 80mph. Pretty funny.

 

[Bootie]

Hmmmm

Your best bet is to average several tanks. No one ever puts "exactly" the same amount of fuel into the tank at a fill up. For example, I always try to fill it "all the way to top" (no evap canister to worry about), but I'm sure some of my fill-ups are lower or higher than the previous ones.

I used to get 10 mpg...but that was before I realized I was dividing the gallons into kilometers instead of miles!!! :roflblack:

60 mi = 100km. Mileage ought to be GREATER, shouldn't it?pps:

 

[joet82]

On my RS, I know I can get 15 miles after my gas guage goes to zero. I won't push it this far during a road trip, but I do like to push it sometimes. And the best gas mileage I have ever gotten on a tank was 209 and also 207 miles between fill ups. 150 is my safe average.

 

[ARtraveler]

The :spyder2: tank has just a little over 6 gal capacity. Most people find the fuel light comes on about 130 miles into a full tank. I always fill my tank the same each time. Automatic shut off--let the level go down--add more gas till it gets near the top--let it go down again and one more fill till it gets near the top.

I always use the tripmeter as opposed to counting on the gas gauge--which is for information purposes only--but not very accurate. When the light goes on at about 130 miles, I try to fill around 150 miles or so.

I did actually go to 180 one time--the guage was below the empty mark and the tank took 5.8 gallons.

I have been watching this since day one. Now its 21,000 miles later.

 

[NancysToy]

Wow, I didn't know there were so many ideas of the Spyder fuel tank capacity out there! The Spyder tank holds 6.6 gallons, but about 10% of that is unusable head space, so the practical capacity is 6.0 gallons. Several riders have emptied their tanks and tested this. Typically, when the low fuel light comes on the Spyder will take 4-5 gallons if filled slowly, to the point that fuel just starts kicking back through the vent slots in the no-lead baffle. This number seems to vary from Spyder to Spyder. If you get 25 mpg on an average, that gives you 25-50 miles to a completely empty tank. Note that that assumes no hard stops or starts, and no steep hills. Remember that fuel mileage is a simple calculation, but with a small tank, that is difficult to fill repeatably, you are better to look at the average fuel mileage over several tanks. That will give you a better picture. Also remember that terrain, winds, speeds, and your right hand can make your mileage vary greatly.

 

[bikeguy]

Most of the time I can count on getting 28 - 30 MPG with my 2010 RT. But I've done better and I've done worse. I had one tank that was just over 22 but I was running 80 - 85 MPH into a strong head wind. I had several tanks when I got between 40 - 43 MPG riding with a small group in the New Mexico mountains around Taos but we were riding slow and enjoying the scenery. The most miles I've ridden on one tank was 194.4 and it took 5.4 gallons to fill up - 36 MPG. That was on a rare windless day when my wife and I were riding 60 -65 MPH and just enjoying a pleasant local ride - and I had a couple of full REDA cans in the saddlebag or I would never have pushed it that far.

Cotton

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

GAS MILEAGE

Michigal, it has nothing to do with being a " girl " we are all spyderlover's and therefore "equals".....what I posted was not meant to be a putdown....there are people who just never learned how to figure out their gas mileage !.....But after rereading you're post I'll bet when you thought you filled the gas tank and got 43 mpg....you didn't fill the gas tank.....you only "thought " you did....I'll bet on the next tank of gas you only got 25 mpg because the missing gallon or so just showed up......as stated by another here you really have to do an average of dozens of tanks of gas to even come close to knowing what kind mpg's you can expect and as Scotty said there are so many variables..Mike.....:thumbup:

 

[KipDM]

there was a thread on here once were several of us discussed how we fill out tanks.

the first time i filled my :spyder2: it took 3-4 gallons and i was like "wha? it said it was low" then i looked into the tank and saw how far down the level was.

now when i fill it all in, fill to cut-off, the put in 1/2 way and fill to shutoff. then i look and and do smaller slower fills while watching for backsplash.
every time i see backsplash i look in again and depending on how much further i am going to ryde i fill either to roughly 2/3" down or all the way to the brim.

my mpg depends on how i rode that tank. sometimes i lay on the throttle hard (sometimes i love a good burnout) and sometimes i choose to brake hard. these tanks i can get 22 mpg on (also weighing 300 lbs makes this lower too).
some tanks are mostly country rydes with little interstate and get to 28mpg. but on interstate i usually do close to 80mph.

weight, windshield, accel, and decel greatly affect your ranges. just try to fill consistently and you will know your 'true' mpg in no time.

 

[ThreeWheels]

Talking about mileage, my experience may be counter to others.
I find I get about 30 to 32 MPG on 87 octane.
I only get about 26 on 92 octane
I average around 28 on 89 octane.

Don't flame me. But since I get more mileage on cheaper gas.....87 it is from now on.
The operating manual allows for 87 octane and I don't really notice any lack of performance.