| Author | Message | ||
     Joele |
Yup, found out the hard way what my maximum distance was to be. Fuel light came on the night before, started er' up in the morning so she could warm - got a total of 28 miles before it sputtered out. Walked'er about 1/4 mile to the gas station - the bike is remarkably light weight and easy to push - though I don't recommend testing your range. I'd say never let the fuel trip get higher than 20 before filling up | ||
| Xbduck |
Last week I found out what it was like to push my bike as well. I had 27 miles on the light when I started. I knew I had gone over 35 miles at least twice so the gas station, at 6 miles away, would be reachable. I was out at 32 miles. I had to push about 3/4 to 1 mile to the station.  The really sad thing is I looked at the lawnmower gas can before I left the house and thought about it for a second. Then I thought, no thats low octane gas the bike will probably sputter and cough then foul a plug. Now I wish I had taken the chance, I probably wouldn't have noticed. | ||
| Charlieboy6649  |
I wouldn't even venture a guess at how far I pushed my bike once down the frontage road, but I never want to do it again. I too was at 28 mi and fill up as soon as the light comes on now. I got really frightened once on a trip to Phoenix from Yuma, Az. Riding against a strong headwind my fuel light came on 23 miles outside of Gila Bend (A small town in-between). I don't think it helped that I was averaging 95 mph!  Thank God I made it. | ||
| Vegasbueller  |
I get nervous at 15 miles on the light! I have never ran out, but pushing a bike out here in the desert sucks! Like Charlie, when the light comes on, I am headed for the next station! | ||
| Cataract2 |
Done 24 miles and was sweating at that point. Made it at least. | ||
| Moboy516 |
I went 34 once. I was sweating bullets after 30. | ||
| Wyckedflesh  |
I have had as low as 24miles to sputter (and it swallowed 3.6 gallons) and as high as 44 miles (and it swallowed 3.5 gallons) before I could get to a gas station. | ||
| Roc  |
Do you slow up when you hit reserve? I suspect you could go another 5 miles, at least, if you drop speed from 60 to 40 MPH. Thoughts on this? | ||
| Aldaytona  |
Last year I rode the longest 43 miles ever on my XB9R before I came to the next gas station. Still can't find the reserve switch.  | ||
| Charlieboy6649 |
Yea, when my light came on on the Phoenix trip, I slowed to 55-60. If I hadn't I really don't think I'd of made it. | ||
| Two_buells  |
I do 30 to 35,after the light, all the time...... | ||
| Whistle |
Joele-Sorry to hear you had to learn the hard way on that! But THANK YOU for passing on the info. I was wondering how far I could go on the reserve! I'm not even sure how big it is...hmmmph something to look up in the manual. Hope ya'll had a Merry Christmas by the way... later, Nick | ||
| Fullpower  |
"Then I thought, no thats low octane gas the bike will probably sputter and cough then foul a plug." my XB12 runs just fine on 87 octane. It is only 10:1 compression, these dont seem to need a lot of octane like a hot rod iron head.} | ||
| Blake |
Whatever the local stations are selling as super/supreme octane grade gasoline, that is what should be filling your Buell's tank. You may think that your Buell is running fine on regular grade octane gasoline, but you are taking a huge risk. Lower grade octane fuels will not cause sputtering or coughing or plug fouling. Lower than specified octane grade fuel will lead to predetonation and eventually a hole in your piston(s). As the air and oxygen thin and thus intake charge pressure diminishes at higher elevations, the required octane also diminishes. While 87 is the regular octane grade at sea level it might be the supreme Octane grade in Denver. | ||
| Fullpower |
well... thanks for the warning. i used to be real careful for the first 8000 miles to only fuel where i could get the 91 octane grade ( best unleaded available in alaska). then bought wife a ducati monster, and was advised that they prefer 87 octane, so started running that on road trips together. Ducati does just fine and Buell did not seem to mind any. they both run 10:1 compression, no knocking or pinging evident. spark plugs look like brand new after 10,000 miles. did not notice any aluminum chunks or anything odd. maybe i should get a bore scope and inspect my piston tops. | ||
| Fullpower |
but of more interest than the octane wars: my xb12S uses less fuel than wifes M620. we ran up to talkeetna for an evening (700 mile round trip) and she got 48 mpg, while i got 55 mpg. we ran 75-80 mph most of the time. curious that a 1203 cc machine would use significantly less fuel than a 618cc machine. both stock fuel injection. that little monster is QUICK too. | ||
| Davegess |
Speaking of gas, here in Wisconsin they are pointing a finger at Citgo for screwing up GM fuel injectors. Now it can't be all Citgo's fault as non GM vehicles are having very few problems but I am gonna stick with BP for the XB | ||
| Blake |
That's good news Dean (Fullpower); just don't want everyone to start running 87 octane. There are other factors that mitigate detonation, like higher humidity and cooler air/engine temperatures. As to the fuel efficiency advantage of your XB12, credit the well mapped Buell DDFI, and the long stroke low revving dry sump engine with roller bearings on the crank for that.  | ||
| 99x1  |
The fuel level sensor is a thermistor - it changes resistance with temperature, the current from the bulb warms it when the sensor is in air (the liquid gas keeps it from warming). If you park your bike with the low fuel lamp on, you will notice it won't come on for 4-5 minutes after re-start (the thermistor cools down). Because of the way it works, the sensor is sensitive to fuel/ambient temperature (cold gas will cause it to light at a lower level), and if the level is dropping slowly it will glow sooner. Therefore, I would think it is difficult to judge very accurately how far you can go once the lamp comes on. (The sensor is 21 in the attached diagram)  | ||
| Glitch  |
I usually get gas as soon as the light comes on. I have however pushed it to 25 miles with the light on. I think Shred ran out of gas at 30 miles after the light. This is the first bike I've had that had a light instead of a petcock and reserve. At first I didn't like the idea. Now it doesn't bother me at all. I thought the small gas tank would be an issue, so far it hasn't. 99x1, do you know if a gas gage works about the same way? Seems like it might. | ||
| Phx_firebolt |
Wyckedflesh, and any other AZ riders, I use 91 octane but still get some pinging on hot summer days. Should I be adding octane booster? (Message edited by phx_firebolt on December 28, 2004) (Message edited by phx_firebolt on December 28, 2004) | ||
| 99x1 |
I agree that a low fuel lamp is a lot better idea then just running out of fuel and then fumbling for the reserve - esp when passing with on-coming traffic. A gas gauge is (usually) a variable resistance on a float assembly - sort of like the throttle position sensor. | ||
| Kaese  |
I have gotten as far as 53 miles after the light has came on. Pushed it a few blocks. I have noticed the light always illuminates when on a downgrade. | ||
| Charlieboy6649 |
PHXfirebolt, I too get pinging / detonation, whatever it is, when it's 110-125 deg outside but usually only under hard acceleration. I just slow my riding down and it goes away. I haven't added anything to my bike as the manual warns against it. | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
AS Charlie said, on HOT as in above 90F days I had pinging problems. I haven't run an octane booster because of being leary of them. I used to use a product in Hawaii for my high compression two-stroke , but it was carbed and not FI. That product used to leave a coating all through the exhaust that was worse then the normal oil cokeing. This summer I plan on playign with plug heat ranges to see if I can defeat the ping monster. Right now the bike runs like a bat out of hell with no ping in sight. (note: From May to OCT its possible to get fuel with up to 13% MTBE and the highest average octane at the pumps is 91 here in the valley of the sun) |
