I did the run out of fuel test ! Was May 2019 , soon be two years ago. We were on our Safari to Darwin !! 2008 Triumph Bonneville America towing our Mobile Home We filled up at Auski fuel station , it's on the highway between Newman and Port Headland. 254 km to our destination. We had 15 Lt of fuel in a small Jerry can. Well 262 km later we ran out as we approached the fuel station that was about 3km shy of our planned over night camp site The Black Rock Caravan Park. About A km shy of the fuel station the bike began to hesitate and stumble (90kph zone) so I shut the throttle and down two gears ignition off ... Rolled about 2/3 hundred metres switched back on and fired up made the five hundred metres or so and ran out as We were rolling off the highway up Hill to the Bowser ! 262 km on the trip meter and put 19.2 Lt in to a 19 Lt tank !?!? Used helmet intercom to tell SWMBO TO BAIL OFF as bike stalled going the last ten metres and wasn't going to make it to all the way up the slightest of inclines. Running a fuel injection bike out of fuel won't necessarily damage the fuel pump ! Unless of course you leave the ignition on (fuel pump running) for a few minutes. Running out and stopping straight away there's little likely hood of damage. The Lady operating the till was pretty amused !! She asked how far we had come and was amazed how far we made it on our tank. The previous day We had done 270/280 km on 17.8 Lt so we were averaging about 19/20 km/Lt on a good day and 17km/Lt on this day ?!. Only reason turn off the ignition and selecting a lower gear worked in keeping us going was the 240kg camper trailer pushing us along , but this became a huge anchor ⚓ as we went up the incline to the pumps.
And if riding in a group, …ALL …fill up together . How many times have I heard the immortal words “ I don’t need fuel” ….until 20 miles down the road and we all have to stop again. The same goes for bathrooms Sandi but it is a bit easier for us men folk. Can’t always predict when a pee stop is required though… For these reasons I seldom ride in a group of more than 3.
I reckon it must be a bit nervy taking a bike with a small fuel tank around e.g. the North Coast 500. My sons old MT09 had good fuel consumption, but a very small fuel tank, now he has a V4 Tuono,identical to mine, but they are thirsty beasts, even though the fuel tank is bigger than the MT09's. I think we will have to plan the fuel stops very carefully on that trip. As for me I'll probably go on the VFR, 200 mile range no problem.
I've taken the Street Scrambler down to "Zero miles left" after a "lets take the scenic route" detour and thankfully made it to a fuel stop. No idea how much was left but I could still hear it sloshing about in the tank when moving the bike. I've done the same on the ZZR on a couple of occasions in the wilds of Scotland with the low fuel indicator flashing (4.2L left in the tank) which necessitated 20+ miles of the most boring limp wristed riding you could imagine to reach fuel. I've actually run out of fuel while out on the Berg after forgetting to reconnect the low fuel warning lamp after a service and had to push the thing for almost a mile to a filling station. It's comparatively light at around 112kg but in full riding gear it was hot sweaty PITA! Doing the same on a 200+kg road bike doesn't bear thinking about. I carry spare fuel in one of these now when out dirt riding or touring in remote areas......https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/37125273...231016&hash=item5670632d8b:g:oukAAOSw-W5U1M5Z
In the world of B*W when my tank goes onto reserve my satnav shows all the petrol stations in range and asks me if I want it to route me to one of them and if so to select which one. The nearest one can be behind you....oh no it isn't.....
It’s simple to work out. When your bike goes onto reserve, fill it up. Take the amount you put in from the capacity of the tank and that will tell you how much fuel you have when it drops to reserve. You should know your average fuel consumption and therefore you will then know how far you can travel on reserve.
Fine in theory, but that relies on manufacturer's quoted tank size being 'usable capacity' which I can't remember ever seeing explicitly mentioned. If it's the amount to fill tank from empty then you have less than that available to use as presumably fuel pump can't suck everything out. On my 2018 Speedmaster with a quoted 12L tank, the miles-to-empty reading hits zero after using 11.0L. I once did 12 miles past that point without problem and filled up with 11.7L, so it may really have 12L usable fuel capacity.
I regret that day. Mainly because there was some short arsed weird bloke staring at me for hours. Thanks for reminding me about it. Not my best day. Hey - was that you?!?
