Maximum range

[frank5079]

I left home this morning at 6:40am to go to work, about 28 miles away. I forgot to fill up last Saturday, and I had 105 miles on the clock. I figured that the gas station I normally hit is about 8 miles away so by then the low fuel light should come on. As I approach the exit, the low fuel light still hadn't come on and I decided to go on. Well I get to the next exit and my odometer is reading 126 when the low fuel light comes on, so I hit the reserve button and decide to go for broke, thinking I have about a half gallon left, good for another 15 miles. So I take the next exit, then the engine started to act like it was starting to miss. I turn right at the next intersection and hit the Speedway gas station, with 130 miles on the clock. So I fill up and the pump shuts at 3.8; I continue to pump a little more and the filler neck starts to overflow. Final reading, 4.1 gallons!!! I must've been running on fumes!!! :surprise:

 

[one2dmax]

Yep, you used it all and then some.

 

[Biker Dash]

Yeah... You sucked it dry...
(that doesn't sound right...)

 

[Sentinel357]

Whenever I ride in areas that I am not familiar with I try to find out where the gas stations are first. I get worried right around the 100 mile mark.

 

[frank5079]

Whenever I ride in areas that I am not familiar with I try to find out where the gas stations are first. I get worried right around the 100 mile mark.

I have a mental fuel gauge that I use with the trip odometer, 0 miles is full tank, 30 miles is 3/4, 60 miles is 1/2, 90 miles is 3/4, low fuel light kicks in around 115, 120 is red zone, and 130 you're walking....

 

[invalidsession]

I'm not real easy on the throttle but even so, a mix of spirited and steady riding rarely sees me on the north side of 90 miles before the red light from hell kicks in.
Bugger it, if I wanted economy I would have bought a Honda 250 Rebel but that's not the point of a V-Max is it ?


Chris.

 

[bxl3969]

I get about 100 miles before my light comes on riding in town and on the freeway.

 

[frank5079]

I get about 100 miles before my light comes on riding in town and on the freeway.

I've been riding rather conservatively lately, keeping my speed to about 70 to 75 on the freeway, and my mileage has really gotten better; my low fuel light now comes on between 118 to 119 miles....

 

[Redbone]

I get around 40 mpg and normally with my 4 gal tank I would go 120 miles between fillups. I now have a 5 gal tank installed and was able to squeeze 183 miles out of it, when I filled up it said 4.8 gallons! Bad thing was that my low fuel light did not light up. Until I get it fixed I'll keep my fillups to the 160 mile mark.

 

[HyperPete]

This morning my fuel light came on at 120 miles and I switched to reserve. AT 129.4 I ran out of gas. (Fortunately there was a truck/trailer with lawn mowers warming up across the street and I was able to purchase a gallon of gas to get me to the gas station.)
Well, at least I now know that I only get 9 miles on the reserve!

 

[silverado6x6]

Has anyone thought of a more obvious alert device like a small strobe or a buzzer tied into the low fuel light?
Or modded a second one slightly higher in the tank so you have more advance warning?

 

[HyperPete]

*OR* modded the existing reserve light to trigger earlier?

I was in the middle of nowhere when my light came on. 9 miles was not enough to get me to the closest gas station. I need to remember to watch that trip odometer more closely!

 

[silverado6x6]

Either a modded low fuel sensor so you get more range or a programmable display that calculates mileage and then gives you a warning, basically a speedo or GPS trip computer.
I will be thinking about this, I have a bunch of goldwing fuel tanks with fuel level senders, I may just fabricate a real fuel level gauge like I do use on my Ventures and Goldwings. It's possible to use a venture sending unit, the trick is matching it to a gauge, my older wings use a gauge, the Venture uses an led display.
I seem to recall some of the Chinese multi gauge units have a fuel level option.

 

[HyperPete]

I've never seen the sending unit from a VMax. Is it a float? If so, it should be a simple matter to adjust that to light up earlier.

 

[Miles Long]

This morning my fuel light came on at 120 miles and I switched to reserve. AT 129.4 I ran out of gas. (Fortunately there was a truck/trailer with lawn mowers warming up across the street and I was able to purchase a gallon of gas to get me to the gas station.)
Well, at least I now know that I only get 9 miles on the reserve!

Something fishy about that, Pete.The light usually begins to flicker a few miles before the "On" circuit for the pump actually kicks out, and you have to switch to the "Res" circuit. I would suspect that the Res. circuit is not working.
Cheers!

 

[D-Max2012]

Does anyone know IF the bulb for the fuel has to be a certain resistance? I would like to change it out for a high power LED.. That bulb is almost invisible during the day.

 

[HyperPete]

When I looked down and noticed the light it was lit fully. I switched over to reserve. I have had it sputter and cough on me as I ran out in the past, and switching to reserver gave me additional range. I think it's working properly Assuming it came on as I left my house and I did not notice it I did, that would be an additional 5 miles. That's possible...

 

[D-Max2012]

Leaving Lake Tiorati at Harriman State Park (Bear Mountain) when my 91 started choking out on me. I was like, Oh Shit!! LOL. That's when I looked down and saw that Red Eyed Devil glaring back at me. Flipped on to reserve, but had to ride another 7+ miles to get to a station. That was truly an uneasy 7+ miles. Put back in 3.98 gallons. too close for comfort.

It would be nice if someone would construct a sender unit to replace the stock one, that allows connection a real gauge. I could dispense with the pump stalling as a warning "IF" I could keep an eye on my fuel level while I ride.

 

[DMAN999]

KJShover and a few others installed a Fuel Gugae on their Max.
Take a look through this thread:
http://vmaxforum.net/showthread.php?t=11928

 

[[email protected]]

Does anyone know IF the bulb for the fuel has to be a certain resistance? I would like to change it out for a high power LED.. That bulb is almost invisible during the day.

Yes, It does have to be a certain resistance to work properly. Others have tried to swap in a LED and then have issues because of this. There is a work around with resistors but, I've never seen a writeup on it.