Gas Gauge, full forever then empty

[roryred]

ok, not quite full forever and then empty but almost. Full for 2 weeks of riding, then full to empty in one day.. about the same miles every day. Is that normal-ish?

 

[branded0844]

Mine stays close to the full mark for about 100 to 150 miles and then it starts to drop pretty fast. I don't really pay much attention to the guage I use the trip meter in the speedo and just reset it when I fill up.

 

[HawkeyePierce]

Same here. 100 miles before it drops to full, another 100 miles to the empty mark, then another 70 to 80 miles before I need to flip it to reserve. Don

 

[colinp386]

There is as known issue with the connie fuel gauge. Go to the Tech Pages and look under Fuel System, Fuel Gauge Electrical Adjustment. Link I simply put s 220 ohm resistor in parallel with the plug and that fixes it. However re the original post it sounds like your sender unit is damaged, or the arm is bent such that its catching on the side of the tank. It's pretty easy to replace, just be real careful and only work outside and fully drain the tank first!

 

[Paulie]

IMHO parking a Conc tank anything but plumb FULL is askin fer trouble. 01 Conc, Mijami Floriduh OTP 06: http://tinyurl.com/2vk9o2 route map: http://tinyurl.com/4p7pmd

 

[timsatx]

As long as you are familiar with the gas mileage and your petcock works you can certainly get by. I am one of the lucky ones I guess. Mine seems to work just fine, I think the PO must have done something to it since it works almost perfect. Isn't one of the fixes (besides the resistor) tweaking the float arm? Tim

 

[Paulie]

Yup, I bent mine mebbe ~15* downward. The gauge works AOK, 1/2 full at a spot on the pump symbol, on reserve at the bottom of the red. For real accuracy, the trip meter's the ticket...total range = miles at reserve * 1.25 01 Conc, Mijami Floriduh OTP 06: http://tinyurl.com/2vk9o2 route map: http://tinyurl.com/4p7pmd

 

[slybonesjesse]

For real accuracy, the trip meter's the ticket...total range = miles at reserve * 1.25

I agree that I tend to use the trip meter as much as anything. But sometimes headwinds, and riding speeds will alter your consumption. Its nice to be able to spot you mileage dropping faster than normal. So its good to know how your gauge works. And only worry when you see it suddently start dropping when you dont expect it. For local commute I run to reserve every tank and flip the lever and see that it work, etc. Then fill up somewhere along the next 30 miles. There are plenty of stations locally. When I fill up within a mile or so of hitting reserve, and putting the bike on the center stand when I fill, I get 6.0 gallon on the pump. I generally calculate mileage by taking miles to reserve and divide by 6.0. So the mileage calc is averaged over the whole tank. Versus going for a ride and filling back up, and calcuating for the single ride. For long multi-day rides I like planned fuel stops around 200-225 mile range. I dont run to reserve on these trips, the goal is to not be in between cities out, in the boonies, trusting a station will show up in the next 40-45 miles. On the long rides I have planned start/stop spots for each day, and planned fuel stops as well. 2003 Concours, 57K COG #6953 IBA 28004 http://home.comcast.net/~slybones/Concours/connieMain.htm

 

[A_C]

Colin, Thanks for the tip. I found the gas gauge to be a joke, but this should do the trick. Colin