| Author | Message | ||
     Xbswede |
Well I was out riding my 1125R with a buddy today through some nice technical turns while dodging wets spots, leaves and pine needles. As we were finishing up the ride my reserve light came on and I figure no problem. I have been averaging 34MPG. So with 10 miles on my reserve we headed back down towards town. I only had about 15 miles to go, which would put my reserve on 25. Well I guess I was playing a little to hard on my way back because at 20 miles on the reserve the Engine sputters and dies. I Pull the clutch in and coast another mile before the road leveled out and I had to park it. Luckily there was a small farm type grocer .3 miles down the road that had gas and let me use a loaner gas can to haul back to my bike. So now I know. This bikes really sucks gas when riding the revs. But man it was fun. Thanks to my Buddy I didn't have to walk. But this is twice I have had to ride bitch because of my own carelessness. It's getting embarrassing.  | ||
| Fresnobuell |
At the track, I reset the avg fuel economy for the day. My MPG was 28 MPG at the end of the day. I would think that would be comparable to what you were doing today. Also, for those that run out of gas on an incline...try restarting the bike on the flat when you get to it. I ran out of gas on my XB on an incline one time(can't remember if it was up or down since I ran out of gas at least 3-4 times on the XB), pushed it for what seemed to be forever and tried to start it within a hundred feet of the gas station (while I stopped a for a break.) Guess what? It started. My conclusion was the incline caused fuel starvation and on the flat the remaining fuel was accessible. I rode the rest of way to the gas station irritated and a little bit wiser. | ||
| Xbswede |
+1 on restarting when coming off an incline/decline. Yes. I did try to restart it after coasting as far as I could. I got about another 1/2 mile which got me at least to a good spot to park my bike while finding gas. | ||
| Chameleon |
The one and only time I have run out of gas thus far I got 26 miles out of her after the light came on. Had to walk 1/2 mile to the gas station and a nice fellow gave me a lift back which I was thankful for since it was very hot out. | ||
| Carbonbigfoot |
One thing I'm hated about the xb and am really diggin about the cr is when you're down in the reserve and you really have to haul on the brakes, .... sputter, cough, die. Either I haven't been low enough on gas yet, or they fixed the issue with some kind of sump. R | ||
| Timi |
Bro, try this, in order. On a ride, leave home. Fuel up. Go to point B. Fuel up. Go to point C. Fuel up. Go to point D. Fuel up. Get my point? Every time you rest, Fuel up. I know the "daydream" and I respect the urge to keep riding. Belive me, I do! But if there is gas ANYWHERE, get it! I'd rather stop and go than walk. Yes these bikes suck fuel horseing around, but if you want speed and economy, well I guess you bought the wrong bike! These 1125's have one of, if not THE, largest fuel cap's on ANY sportbike. So be a little less greedy and stop and get fuel anytime you can!! Story: I was riding my "cruzer" with my (at the time) wife in the Tn. Mounts. And we were apx 30 miles from nowhere. I hit a bridge (or ramp) and was thrown in the air and landed SO hard, we were lucky to land on the wheels. Anyway, after that, I had to click into reserve. A few miles later, a sign read "Ducktown 8 miles". Right then, pooff grrr, nothing. I, we walked 8 freakin miles cause I didn't want to stop at that last station. I wanted to keep on riding. So I feel your pain. Dude take my advice, stop and get fuel anytime you can, it shure as hell beats walking!!! Be safe, be smart, be yourself. | ||
| Chadhargis |
I typically stop ever 50 to 100 miles when I'm out railing in the twisties if for no other reason than to give my aching knees a rest (I have very bad knees). In the summer, it's closer to that 50 mile mark to get hydrated. I typically gas ever other stop, unless I'm doing 100 mile stops, then I gas up at every stop. Sometimes I just stop where it's convenient. Never have understood the need to carry huge amounts of gas on a sport ride. Now, if you're riding to Prudhoe Bay, yes...but just carving....why carry the weight? | ||
| Fresnobuell |
The extra capacity works well when you go to remote areas...Sierra Nevadas, National Parks, etc. | ||
| Xbswede |
Wow every 50 miles... I am usually on roads where you don't see a mini mart or gas station for a 100 miles at a time. Just endless mountains, trees, twisties and your random road kill. Every once in a while I take my FZ1 on one of my routes and it gets scary because its its on reserve by 100 miles on the trip odometer.. It sucks gas worse then the 1125R when buzzing at the higher RPM's and has a smaller tank.  | ||
| Timi |
Soortbikes drink fuel. Extra gas, hahahahaha. Why was this thread writen anyway??? You need fuel to go don't cha? Well if you are racing, then I understand, but street riding? Come on. Gas up, enjoy. I've riden for over 20+ yrs, I've pushed about 20 or so miles in that time. I have NEVER won ANY money, got a trophy, or had my picture for tenths of a second faster through a mountian curve faster than anyone. Mabie I'm just crazy, but I enjoy riding more than pushing a bike. This is why I fuel up anytime I can. But suit yourself. 400lbs up hill is heavy, a gallon more gas, I don't feel. Cause I'm riding!!! | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Although, I believe it to be practical carrying minimal gas only at the track (after all you have 40 minutes btw sessions to replace the gallon just spent,) I will say that leaving roughly 3.5 gallons OUT of the tank saves over 20 pounds of unnecessary weight. People can spend LOTS of money trying to shave 20 pounds of weight off a bike. IT's significant. | ||
| Slaughter |
Higbee spent some time measuring his EXACT fuel consumption for an 8 lap race at Willow Springs so he only puts in exactly 6 litres each race. When you realize how much more unnecessary weight you CAN carry around in extra fuel, it makes sense to minimize the load like Harlan said. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
PS...I have to give credit where it's due...Slaughter posted the tip before the Inside Pass at Willow Springs. Thanks. It's very cool the info that is shared here. I typically put in at least a gallon and a half between sessions (although measuring my miles traveled on the track vs. the roughly 29 MPG via ODIS tells me that a gallon would be sufficient.) Since I have seen the tight schedule of a track day, I don't want to be the a$$ that runs out of gas on the course. Question for the sake of argument: IF this ever happened, would they run gas out to me or would they load my bike up in the recovery vehicle? | ||
| Timi |
Ok race. Point taken. Race, min fuel. Street, max fuel. Do some math, lapsxmpg=wins. Less fuel, more wins. Hopefully. | ||
| Slypiranna |
I see a TRUE fuel level gauge being in order here? Concerning the racers...if you use a gallon in one race, I'd add one more 6+#'s worth just in case of a ton of yellow flags and/or drama. The worst drama is running out of fuel. Your either walking a good bit or being an a$$ at the track. Loose six pounds if your racing? Keep her full on the street rides. Yup, fuel level gauge is in order... | ||
| Krassh |
I ran out of gas before turn 3 at the Willow Springs Buell Inside Pass. Thought I could make that last lap. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Krassh, so did they bring you more gas or pick you up? Do you have a D&D pipe on your bike? i saw an 1125r with a D&D walking his bike off the track close to Turn 3 in the afternoon, but I thought he ran off... Sly, fuel gauge would be great IF it works well. I would love it for sure. I trust Buell would make a great effort, but motorcycle fuel gauges typically are not the best... | ||
| Slypiranna |
They can be. | ||
| Xbswede |
I don't see why they cant make a decent gauge. My FZ1 fuel gauge is spot on every time for the last 9k miles. My VRod Fuel gauge (fuel sender) is a piece of Sh&$t though. | ||
| Dbird29 |
Harley has the ultrasonic fuel gauge that was new in 2007.  | ||
| Xbswede |
Yup and its crap... I am about to go on my third one while still under warranty. | ||
| Dbird29 |
Maybe one of those measuring stick they use at the gas station?  | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Dbird, you say that in jest, but why couldn't you do something similar to the oil check dipstick for your gas? It would be simple enough to do (I think) and it at least give you an idea of how much fuel onboard. It would be wonderful in the track setting to know exactly how much gas in the tank and I am sure it would be handy at times in the road environment. (Message edited by fresnobuell on November 25, 2008) | ||
| Dbird29 |
How about a conductive wire strip that would measure resistance change at the fuel level interface?  | ||
| Krassh |
Fresno that was me with the D&D walking my bike off the track. They brought a truck to haul me and my bike back to the pits. Yeah everyone was shocked when they saw me coming back in the back of the truck. I was like no biggy just ran out of fuel. They thought I might have gone down as well. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
ah, I wasn't sure what happened to you. I saw you pushing your bike cross country and if anything I thought you ran off and were trying to reenter down the hill somewhere. glad it was really nothing that bad. AS far as the fuel gauge, does anyone know if the fuel usage calculation might be accurate enough to base a fuel use/gauge feature of some sort? the bike would have to have some sort of mechanism to know how much fuel is in the tank (or at least a starting point--i.e. when the tank is full at fill up.) |
