Fuel Capacity

[auldian 1]

Went to fill up my 2018 NC750X DCT yesterday. It was flashing on the fuel gauge telling me it was on Reserve. Now I understood the official Reserve capacity is 3.7 litres (0.8 gals) and the total capacity of the tank is 17.2 litres (3.7 gals). So being on Reserve the tank should have taken 16.4 litres (3.5gals). But I was only able to put in 9.7 litres (2 gals). This suggests my fuel tank isn’t 17.2 litres but only 10.5 litres! Anyone else experienced this or can shed any light on this apparent discrepancy. 

[Neilr 1]

Tank capacity is 3.73 US gallons (14.1 L) including reserve.

[Empty_Ten 452]

Tank capacity is 14 litres, reserve light starts flashing when you have approximately 3 litres left.

 

How much fuel you use whilst on the reserve will obviously affect how much goes in the tank.

 

How you fill it up will also affect how much you'll get in the tank.  If you fill up on the side stand, you will get less in.    If you stop filling once the pump clicks, you'll get less in etc.

 

I fill mine on the centre stand and brim it right to the top (then let it settle).  The fuel gauge seems pretty accurate.  I normally refill within 5 miles of the fuel light coming on, using my method, I consistently get 11-11.4 litres in.

Edited April 5, 2022 by Empty_Ten

[embattle 332]

As others have said in essence don't think of the reverse as some sort of separate tank, it is just a low fuel warning.

[Scootabout 2,265]

4 hours ago, embattle said:

As others have said in essence don't think of the reverse as some sort of separate tank, it is just a low fuel warning.

 

Yes, it's a bit of a misnomer, lingering on from when there really used to be a separate reserve tank that you had to access by turning a tap.  Actually, I think the the SR125 I hired to take my test on in 2000 had that, so it's not as if it only applied to 1950s British bikes. 

[Rocker66 34,466]

17 minutes ago, Scootabout said:

 

Yes, it's a bit of a misnomer, lingering on from when there really used to be a separate reserve tank that you had to access by turning a tap.  Actually, I think the the SR125 I hired to take my test on in 2000 had that, so it's not as if it only applied to 1950s British bikes. 

To be pedantic there wasn’t actually a reserve tap just two outlet pipes into the tank one being taller than the other . Normal running used the taller one and then once the fuel level dropped below the top of that turning the tap to reserve brought the shorter one into play thus using the remaining fuel in the tank..

Edited April 5, 2022 by Rocker66

[DCTPaul 629]

Fuel Capacity... Tank Capacity, what ya can get in, not to be confused with what ya can get back out...

CCM R30 tank was small at 9lt and had twin taps, one each side as the tank 'Wings' went over the frame center spine... but even with both taps on Res, due to where the taps were located you could never get at the last bit of fuel...

Lovely 'Fun' bike, regret getting rid of that one...

Edited April 5, 2022 by DCTPaul

[fj_stuart 4,759]

My FJ1200 has an unusual "reserve" arrangement. There is a switch inside the fairing. When the bike appears to be running out of fuel you switch it to reserve for another 30 miles or so. But the unusual bit is that there is no reserve. When the level gets low the bike runs onto two cylinders to simulate running out and the switch merely restored all the cylinders. This seems strange but the FJ was from a time when bikers expected a reserve.

[Rocker66 34,466]

36 minutes ago, DCTPaul said:

Fuel Capacity... Tank Capacity, what ya can get in, not to be confused with what ya can get back out...

CCM R30 tank was small at 9lt and had twin taps, one each side as the tank 'Wings' went over the frame center spine... but even with both taps on Res, due to where the taps were located you could never get at the last bit of fuel...

Lovely 'Fun' bike, regret getting rid of that one...

With our old British bikes if you couldn’t get any more fuel out even with the tap in the reserve position often pushing the front up an incline such as a bank would get you the last bit out of fuel out. If you were lucky this would get you to a garage of which there were more about back then.

[MatBin 5,099]

13 hours ago, fj_stuart said:

My FJ1200 has an unusual "reserve" arrangement. There is a switch inside the fairing. When the bike appears to be running out of fuel you switch it to reserve for another 30 miles or so. But the unusual bit is that there is no reserve. When the level gets low the bike runs onto two cylinders to simulate running out and the switch merely restored all the cylinders. This seems strange but the FJ was from a time when bikers expected a reserve.

Wouldn't fancy pushing an FJ1200 to a fuel station, unless it was 100yds away and down hill. I have pushed a few, including an R80RT, with panniers, albeit empty (much like the fuel tank)

[fj_stuart 4,759]

7 minutes ago, MatBin said:

Wouldn't fancy pushing an FJ1200 to a fuel station, unless it was 100yds away and down hill. 

The FJ has a fuel gauge, a low fuel warning light and a (kid on) reserve so you shouldn't run out of fuel....but of course I have. It was when I had a job 2 miles from my house and I kept thinking "I'll do one more journey before I need to fill up". But pushing the FJ was a great way to warm up on a cold evening!

[alhendo1 3,053]

On 05/04/2022 at 22:20, Rocker66 said:

To be pedantic there wasn’t actually a reserve tap just two outlet pipes into the tank one being taller than the other . Normal running used the taller one and then once the fuel level dropped below the top of that turning the tap to reserve brought the shorter one into play thus using the remaining fuel in the tank..

This is the setup I had on my Diversion 600...once you got used to the location of the fuel tap you'd be riding along and feel the engine stutter slightly...reach down,turn the tap and carry on....I knew I had at least 40 miles before fill up....I liked the fuel tap set up. To be fair both my Enfield and CB500x fuel gauges are accurate so no big deal....I just preferred the fuel tap.

[Rocker66 34,466]

27 minutes ago, alhendo1 said:

This is the setup I had on my Diversion 600...once you got used to the location of the fuel tap you'd be riding along and feel the engine stutter slightly...reach down,turn the tap and carry on....I knew I had at least 40 miles before fill up....I liked the fuel tap set up. To be fair both my Enfield and CB500x fuel gauges are accurate so no big deal....I just preferred the fuel tap.

I’m with you on that.

[deecat 318]

Hands up,who has forgotten to turn the fuel tap back from reserve in the days before fuel gauges.

[Rocker66 34,466]

✋

[alhendo1 3,053]

28 minutes ago, deecat said:

Hands up,who has forgotten to turn the fuel tap back from reserve in the days before fuel gauges.

Guilty😅fortunately never ran out though....

[Slowboy 20,538]

👍

[DCTPaul 629]

Yam 1000 Exup had an electrical switch for a solenoid to switch to Reserve....

The Markings were on the edge of the fairing... not the switch.

When doing some fix up i ran the bike without the fairing for a while.

Yep... Switch was in Res, so it drank the whole tank leaving me high n dry...

 

Gardner bloke, who happened to also be a bike rider stopped with half a can of petrol in his pickup... and wouldn't take any money.

 

Karma always comes around, thats why i always stop to see if i can help... another time it could be my Wife with car trouble, or one of my kids on a scoot, bike or car.

 

My Wife n kids know if ya stuck ask someone with a bike... It's what sets us apart from the rest.

 

Edited April 7, 2022 by DCTPaul

[baben 11,778]

On 05/04/2022 at 16:55, auldian said:

Went to fill up my 2018 NC750X DCT yesterday. It was flashing on the fuel gauge telling me it was on Reserve. Now I understood the official Reserve capacity is 3.7 litres (0.8 gals) and the total capacity of the tank is 17.2 litres (3.7 gals). So being on Reserve the tank should have taken 16.4 litres (3.5gals). But I was only able to put in 9.7 litres (2 gals). This suggests my fuel tank isn’t 17.2 litres but only 10.5 litres! Anyone else experienced this or can shed any light on this apparent discrepancy. 

American gallons are 3.8 litre, British are 4.54 which is where your confusion arises. Tank capacity is about 14 litres so your 9.7 litres to full sounds reasonable. I prefer to look at miles covered - my reserve flashes on at about 160 miles plus, depending on my riding . My last fill up was 9.75 litres and reserve had just come on.

[Rocker66 34,466]

Some years ago Sue had a demo bike out which ran out on the A2 and was already on reserve. Luckily she managed to freewheel to a laybye and pull in . This was before everybody had mobiles so no way of contacting the bike shop or me. A police officer came by and she waved him down but he just waved back . By good fortune a biker came by on his way to work in Faversham and responded to her wave  so Sue asked him to call the shop.when he got there. Instead of that he rode back to to the shop in Canterbury to let them know what had happenedThey brought out a gallon of fuel and as they were pouring it into the bike a guty who had been sitting in his van approached them and told them if he had known what the problem was he would have given Sue the fuel he had in his van but as Sue was a woman on her own he didn’t like to approach her.

[lowrumblefan 52]

On 05/04/2022 at 17:09, Empty_Ten said:

Tank capacity is 14 litres, reserve light starts flashing when you have approximately 3 litres left.

 

How much fuel you use whilst on the reserve will obviously affect how much goes in the tank.

 

How you fill it up will also affect how much you'll get in the tank.  If you fill up on the side stand, you will get less in.    If you stop filling once the pump clicks, you'll get less in etc.

 

I fill mine on the centre stand and brim it right to the top (then let it settle).  The fuel gauge seems pretty accurate.  I normally refill within 5 miles of the fuel light coming on, using my method, I consistently get 11-11.4 litres in.

I refill mine shortly after the reserve mile count shows up on the dash and never got more than 9 Liters in using the side stand so it looks like I could do another 60 miles, or at least 40 miles without risking running out but I don’t fancy experimenting so it’s a bit annoying as I might be able to refill less often. Maybe there’s a way I could figure it out safely but can’t think of it ?

[jeremyr62 2,574]

31 minutes ago, lowrumblefan said:

Maybe there’s a way I could figure it out safely but can’t think of it ?

Watch this. He did it for you.

 

 

[MatBin 5,099]

0.8 ogallons @80mpg will give you 64miles

gearbox sounded like it was from a BMW.

Edited June 30, 2022 by MatBin

[count von count 118]

I get jumpy as soon as the fuel indicator flips to “reserve” so it’s straight off to the nearest fuel station for me. Love the way the trip meter resets itself after refuelling.

 

[RC166 696]

Thanks for that Jeremy62. That is good to know. I get very twitchy at 30 miles!