Fuel gauge and warning light

[chocker]

Well I was at the point where the tank gauge was showing empty and the low fuel light turned on (I had perviously filled the tank pretty high). This was at about 240 kms. I did another 10 kms on reserve. I then went to fill up the tank and it filled up to 16.075 litres. That should theoretically leave me with approximately 8 litres of fuel. Can some one tell me how many litres are supposed to be in the tank for reserve.

Mark

[soundmindryan]

  Wha?
So you drove 10 more km after the light came on? Are you saying that you turned on the reserve then or are you saying that because the light came on you were automatically in reserve?  Without going into all the mind-bending conversion calculations, what was your question? All my light does is remind me that I may run out of fuel somewhere in the near future. It can come on at different readings of my trip odo, depending upon the aggressiveness of my riding. I can expect at least another 25-30 miles (40-48km) from the time my light comes on until I have to switch to reserve.  I have repeatedly ridden 200 miles (322km) and have reached 220 mi (355km)BEFORE EVEN SWITCHING TO RESERVE. Then again, I've begun to run out of gas afer only a few miles of switching to reserve. What I'm trying to say is, it depends on your riding style during that fill-up. You'll just have to experiment and learn how your bike behaves regarding your fuel guage and reserve capacity. The time I went 220 miles, IIRC, I put in about 5.5 gal (21L). It's been a long time since I began to run out of gas, but I do remember it suprised me how low my trip odo was but I WAS riding it like I stole it at the time. It seems the more you slosh the gas around in the tank, the farther you can go before reserve, but your reserve is very limited in that instance. My experience, only.
Ryan

PS. Oh yeah. Your question. As Arnie has stated, and from my own experience, 21-22 liters should fill up an empty tank.

[chocker]

What I am saying is that the sending unit is not accurate and in turn it has made my bike cut off (shut down) way too early as I have stated previously in this thread. I am not really in the mood to continue on reserve until it runs out and I may be stuck somewhere without access to a gas station. I do use my trip meter as well. It's really an annoyance that I have to fill up when the tank has at least 8 litres left. I usually will get around 200 kms until the low fuel light goes on. This is very low even for spirited riding. Many people are getting at least 300 kms before this happens.

Thanks,
Mark

[flips]

Hi Mark.

I'm not sure what yamaha intended the reserve amount to be, but when I run my tank down to reserve switch time I can usually put 19-20 litres in,so its got approx 1-3 litres left. (22L tank.)

Cheers 

Jeff P.

[chocker]

It says on the specs for the bike that it has a 24 litre tank.

Mark

[moparman70]

Don't quote me but FJ1100 -- 24 litres  ( from Yamaha's Shop Manual ) -- FJ 1200 22 Litres.  Fuel light and reserve around 5 litres.

stevecc

[fj11.5]

Don't quote me but FJ1100 -- 24 litres  ( from Yamaha's Shop Manual ) -- FJ 1200 22 Litres.  Fuel light and reserve around 5 litres.

stevecc

that sounds pretty close mate, the 11,s have a larger tank, but a crappy cap

[Harvy]

Don't quote me but FJ1100 -- 24 litres  ( from Yamaha's Shop Manual ) -- FJ 1200 22 Litres.  Fuel light and reserve around 5 litres.

stevecc

that sounds pretty close mate, the 11,s have a larger tank, but a crappy cap

Rod, I believe the tank itself is the same dimensions on all FJs, The later models hold less because the filler neck is recessed into the tank so you cant fill to the top like on the early models.

Harvy

[fj11.5]

ahhh yes, that and the later tanks are flatter on top, where as the early ones are curved on top , at least my 84 one is 

[mr blackstock]

My gauge was jumpy from the start, inaccurate too.  Cleaning up the electrical connections helped, but the thing is useless, disconnect it and use your trip meter, fill up every 200kms regardless of riding style and you will never run out.

I gave up when my needle bounced so much, it is now stuck behind the needle stop at the bottom, yes thats right, it went all the way around and became stuck permanently on empty.

bloody silly thing.

[chocker]

I think I will only rely on my trip meter from now on. At least I know approximately how much kms I can do on a tank. Thanks for all the help, I appreciate it. Have a great weekend.

Mark

[Pat Conlon]

Again, calibrate the gas gauge by bending the float rod so that the gas gauge reads 1/2 tank when you have 12 liters of fuel in the tank, and call it a day.