| Author | Message | ||
     Sergio |
Supposedly the Uly’s gas tank should be 4.4 gals, 0.8 of which is the reserve. So, if you drive gently you should easily do at least 30 miles with your reserve. Today I was on 20th mile after the reserve led switched on and my Uly just shut down. No more gas. Luckily I wasn’t to far from a gas station, so I just had to push the bike for half a mile before I could fill the tank. With my surprise, I could put in only 4.17 gallons in total. So It seems my tank has lost almost one quarter gallon of capacity. Any idea about what may have happened? | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Your fuel pump suction point has to be at the very bottom of the tank or you will end up with gas that cannot be sucked up by the fuel pump. | ||
| Sergio |
That makes sense. Do you think fixing it would imply dismounting the fuel pump, or there’s an easier way? | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Somebody else will have to weigh in on this because I have not as yet ever taken the fuel pump out of my ULY. But my answer is based on my experience with fuel pumps mounted in my other bikes. Normally the filter sock over the inlet of the fuel pump is right against the low point of the tank so that is sucks up every last drop. Anyway, taking out the fuel pump on the ULY should be straight forward and not so hard to accomplish. I would think your ULY's fuel pump should be where Buell intended it to be unless a previous owner has had it out and changed something. I personally have never run out of gas on my ULY so I never have had the opportunity to see if I could get 4.4 gallons into a dry tank. Good luck. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Another possibility could be the pickup sock may have detached from the pump inlet. I haven't had cause to remove my Uly's pump but in cars, the pump pickup isn't always the low point; they usually have to plumb the sock to the lowest point in the tank. If your sock tube came off the pump inlet, that would effectively "raise" the pickup point. My understanding is, pulling the pump isn't terribly hard. I think you have to pull the rear wheel and at that point it's a simple matter of a few bolts and a rag or bucket to catch spillage. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Yeah, my Xb12 has never had more than 4 gallons added to it. I haven't actually run it out of gas yet but it definitely has less volume than the 4.5 advertized. Funny thing, my X1 has better range while my "touring" bike is lacking in that area. I shill love the big dorky thing but one just has to remember that it's not a goldwing. | ||
| Sergio |
Well, I can live with a slightly smaller tank than expected, it’s just having only 20 miles of reserve that pisses me off a little. My Blast could run almost 40 miles in reserve... Anyway, taking out the fuel pump is a bit too much for me. I guess I’ll ask my mechanic to give it a look when I change the rear tire. Thanks for your help guys. | ||
| Froggy |
It is 4.4 gallons, the fuel pump displaces some of it, and like mentioned above that even if you ran out of gas there is still some that the fuel pump can't reach. Also to consider, if you fill up on the side stand, you won't be able to get as much fuel in the tank, as you will get a small pocket of air on the right side of the tank. So between all that, you got your missing quart of fuel. | ||
| Etennuly |
I did run my Uly out one time, and it took 4.4. I have run it many times into reserve where it took 4.2 or 4.3 gallons. Those were times in town where I am within a short distance to a gas station in any direction. I usually get 28 miles on reserve. I have also had the odd time where I came up short being 15 miles into reserve and fill it with 4.3 gallons. A big part of it for me is the gasoline used. When I can find non alcohol premium the Uly can do 55~57 mpg. On regular with alcohol it drops to the 48~49 range. That also cuts the reserve range noticeably shorter. I did a hyper-mile run over the Cherohala one time. Three of us Uly riders gassed up at the same place near Maryville, rode over the Dragon to near Robbinsville where we would normally gas up. Someone had to be back by a certain time so instead making the normal gas stop, as the leader, I just made the turn onto the Cherohala. It was about fifteen miles in I noticed my mistake. For the sake of time I did not want to go back so we hauled up over the top and played "Let's see if we can make it to the gas station in Tellico". All three of us would wind up to 70 mph and shut our bikes off on the way down the Tennessee side. We would coast as far as possible down to about 25 mph then run them up again. When we got to the gas station the bikes were still running and at over 40 miles on reserve. As I recall all three bikes took 4.2 or 4.3 gallons. I was not trying to cut it close, it was just a simple mistake. It was kind of fun watching people watch us go by overlooks that they were in, where we had the engines off at 65 to 70 mph in a full lean through a corner! They probably thought we had electric bikes. | ||
| Sergio |
That sounds like a fun story Etennuly, reminds me when I almost run out of gas coming back to Nice from the Prealpes mountains: it was late night, my '87 Honda Transalp was in reserve and I couldn’t find an open gas station, so I coasted all the way down to the city... Anyway, your story confirms that the tank should be 4.4 galls, then. I guess the suction point of my fuel pump may be a little displaced and that’s how my bike tank has lost almost a quarter. I am going to buy a "fuel friend" to bring with me when I am traveling, until I don’t get this fixed. | ||
| Etennuly |
Mine has done that short tank thing a couple of times. I think it may be the result of atmospheric conditions and fuel properties as well as riding conditions some time during that particular tank of gas. Several cold start warm ups on a single tank of gas will seemingly rob you of gas. More than you might think it would. Probably the single most prominent factor affecting gas mileage. The suction point of the fuel pump is close tight and fixed. It could not vary more than an ounce or so. (Message edited by Etennuly on April 07, 2017) | ||
| Greg_the_greek |
Damn, I must have been soo close to running out. Had the reserve go on while I was riding very spirited with some other people, noticed the Fuel light at about 9mi in and made it to about 25mi on the gauge before reaching a gas station. I thought It would hit 40mi on reserve, but guess not. | ||
| Tootal |
Mine went 36 miles before running out. Leaned the bike waaaay over to the pump side, fired it and launched it up as fast as it would go before it died. Coasted into gas station! | ||
| Ratbuell |
Owners manual tube.  MSR bottle.  17 miles you don't have to push. Just sayin'...  | ||
| Sergio |
I know, I am just waiting for this guy to arrive:  Should fit well behind the triple-tail. | ||
| Arcticktm |
I'm late to this, but +1 to Tootal. Not sure how far the fuel pump pick up is from true bottom, but it doesn't matter unless you have a cross over between the low points of the tank on each side. This is a common thing for dirt bike with large tanks that wrap around the frame, but a pick-up only on 1 side. When you run out, you lay the bike down on the fuel petcock/fuel pump side to get any remaining fuel to the pick up side of the tank. I did this on my Uly once and it gave me the extra mile or 2 to coast into the gas station. My KTM 1190 has a large tank that goes down both sides. However, KTM installed a crossover line the allow fuel to flow between the 2 sides of the tank near the lowest point. |
