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"Low fuel" warning

J

JoeFaz

Tuned and Synch'ed
Joined
Jul 7, 2010
Messages
66
Location
San Francisco
When my low fuel light comes on ('09 Norge), after several minutes I notice the odo will switch from its normal reading of total miles and begin to count up from 0.0. What is this supposed to be telling me? Is it indicating how many miles I've gone since the light went on? I have cars which do similar but they tell me how many miles I have LEFT to go until empty which has proved to be handy info on many occasions. The Norge read out is confounding me, though, since by simply looking at my trip meter I'll know how far I've gone, anyway. :?
 
JoeFaz said:
When my low fuel light comes on ('09 Norge), after several minutes I notice the odo will switch from its normal reading of total miles and begin to count up from 0.0. What is this supposed to be telling me? Is it indicating how many miles I've gone since the light went on? I have cars which do similar but they tell me how many miles I have LEFT to go until empty which has proved to be handy info on many occasions. The Norge read out is confounding me, though, since by simply looking at my trip meter I'll know how far I've gone, anyway. :?
Click to expand...


It only tells you how far you have gone since the light came on. Not extremely useful, but that is the way it is.
 
How far has anyone travelled before running out after the needle has hit the stop? I did 23 miles without running out one time. :D
 
I learned a long time ago never to trust any sort of fuel gauge, low warning light, etc. on ANY bike. On my Norge so far, I have had the light go on and ridden until the needle was pretty much bottomed out. One time it took just about 4.5 gallons meaning I had quite a ways to go. Yesterday, same set of circumstances, it took 5.6 gallons! I'm glad I didn't think, "oh well, I still have a gallon and a half". :eek:
Also, my needle never goes all the way to the top, even when I squeeze in as much gas as she'll take.
 
Joe,

If the gauge never reads full, it may be the sending unit. It is possible to replace the sending unit without too much difficulty. You could change the sending unit when you change the fuel filter.
 
I find the system telling me how many miles I have run since the light came on to be the most useful option. Sometimes when I am out riding I may not notice the light when it first comes on, so I may not realize that it has already been on for 5 miles or so. This way I know at what point I have been riding on what used to be "reserve".
The other systems where they tell you how far before you run out of gas, do you really think they actually know when you are going to run out of gas? They take an educated guess based on input from their various sensors and apply those inputs to a formula someone came up with. It is not likely to be very accurate as it has no idea how you will be riding for the remainder of the tank. It is much like the mpg reading that tells you how many miles per gallon you are getting at any given moment and how you have been averaging for the tank. Both readings are optimistic on my bike and many people I have heard from. Because it can't actually measure the fuel being used. It tracks the time the injectors are open, assumes a given fuel pressure, and calculates how much fuel it thinks you have used over the distance traveled or speed you are traveling at.
The way I see it, one number is a real known number, the distance you have been traveling since the light came on. From there you can make decisions based on what you know to be.
The other option is a made up number that, while probably somewhat close to what will actually happen, is not a real indication of what will actually happen.
My car as an less arbitrary system that tells you how much fuel is left in fine detail (tenths of a gallon), but even that system has the flaw of being limited by the resolution of the sensor so that it is not truly accurate and so still the best way to go is to track mileage from when it went to that last gallon reading.

I guess it comes down to what I expect from my vehicle vs what I expect from myself. I am fairly confident that I am still smarter than my vehicles and thus would rather the vehicle just stick to the facts as it can sense them and let me make the decisions.
 
Excellent point, GuzziMoto, and a well written post. I salute you. I will know look at my warning light in a whole new light...so to speak! ;)
 
While we are on the subject of fuel, do any of you have a difficult time getting the fuel hose into the filler hole in the tank? Here in Ca. we have these ridiculous big fat heavy pump handles shrouded in rubber rings allegedly to seal up the filler hole so no fumes escape[1]. I can not get it to fully fit in my tank so I have to use two hands, one to fill and the other to hold the damn rings back so the gas will flow. The few times I managed to fit it in all the way, the "full sensor" failed to activate and gas went all over my tank. Is this just the way it is?

[1] Speaking of fumes, when I open my tank I almost always get a pretty strong suction of air. A couple times, especially on hot days with less than a full tank, the bike doesn't want to start right away. If I release the pressure in the tank, that alleviates the problem. Is this normal or is a breather in my tank fouled somewhere?
 
I'll be very interested to see the responses to JoeFaz's question [[1] Speaking of fumes, when I open my tank I almost always get a pretty strong suction of air. A couple times, especially on hot days with less than a full tank, the bike doesn't want to start right away. If I release the pressure in the tank, that alleviates the problem. Is this normal or is a breather in my tank fouled somewhere?]

I had that same experience a few weeks ago, took it to my dealer who said their should be no vacuum and found that the breather hose was pinched by a zip tie. But I don't think that solved my problem as there is still suction and I don't think this is good for the motor etc.
 
Modern bikes has, by design, compromised venting systems. It is that way on purpose to reduce fuel vapor emissions.
There are a few threads on the subject, search for canister removal.
There is a one way valve in the vent system. As I recall it only lets air into the tank. That means that pressure can't escape. There have also been reports of the one way valve being installed backwards.
Either way, that valve can be removed. Doing so does void your Ca smog approval...... Whatever that means to you.
 
Not worried about Ca. smog as they don't require tests on motorcycles...YET. Is the canister you speak of the one under the passenger portion of the seat? It sits perpendicular to the frame and has a couple hoses going in and one (or two?) going out. If I simply disconnect the hoses and plug them, or as I have done on other bikes, connected one small piece of hose to both the "IN" and "OUT" ports will that in effect render the canister useless? Does this canister have anything to do with the popping on throttle roll-off, as well?
 
I'm not offering an explanation of what the fuel tank ventilation does or doesn't do. Here's a couple of pics from the Guzzi parts books. One shows the California (USA) version, the other is sold to the rest of the world. I've made my 1200 Sport like the 'rest of the world.' It still makes mild popping sounds on the over run, but other than that, I've experienced no gas tank swelling, etc, since making the change in 2010.





Note - the 'rest of the world' ventilation simply drops two lines to 'ground.' A couple of plugs replaces the vent lines into the throttle bodies. I think you can imagine that it might reduce some popping ................... actually, the line marked as "14" (bottom pic) was already on the Sport, and it's what I used to vent the two lines from the fuel tank.
 
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