Yamaha has some serious explaining to do

[micah2074]

No lever. No beeping. 
Blinking let’s you know your playing Russian roulette. 

[2and3cylinders]

3 hours ago, bwringer said:

Dumb question, but my manual is not nearby: what's this "reserve" you're talking about?

I've been down to the very last bar on the gauge before, but does something else happen after that? Does it start blinking, is there a secret lever to flip, do beepers start beeping, or what?

2015 here. And according to the on-board stuff, I'm averaging around 43mpg for general vigorous plonking around. Less if ridden in full attack mode, of course. And yep, the first segment usually disappears right at 100 miles.

 I get about the same mileage as you Described

 After the last bar starts blinking the display then defaults to a count up screen and you have to hit the rocker between screens to go back to whatever screen you are on or one of your own you've got point 67 gallons left at that point pun

 Conservatively you can get 20 miles out of it after that I start sweating

[DavidS]

On 9/27/2022 at 4:01 PM, 2and3cylinders said:

 I get about the same mileage as you Described

 After the last bar starts blinking the display then defaults to a count up screen and you have to hit the rocker between screens to go back to whatever screen you are on or one of your own you've got point 67 gallons left at that point pun

 Conservatively you can get 20 miles out of it after that I start sweating

That's great information, although I hope I never see that. I try to get gas way before i get to that kind of empty, but traveling on long distance trips, I have definitely missed a turn off (or two) and have been worried about making it to the next station without running out of fuel. In reality, I think the bike holds some gas that the fuel gauge can't measure, so you probably have a few more miles of safety. (Not saying I know this for sure, just my guess based on the way the bike seems to go beyond the max mileage I should be getting since my last fill-up)

I use the 200 mile mark as my max distance before getting gas. This means I'm in the gas station by the time it hits 200 miles. This is just my rule of thumb, and I typically stop when I'm around 150 miles because I'm a wuss, and don't want to have to explain to someone why I had to call them to bring me gas or bail me out.

[2and3cylinders]

"I think the bike holds some gas that the fuel gauge can't measure"

 

Au contraire, I think there is gas in the tank that cannot make it to the fuel pump without pitching the bike side to side, front to back to shake it loose, not something you want to try at 50 mph. I've gone on reserve (last bar flashed & count up screen appears) many times.  Problem is if you've be 1/2 hammering & 1/2 droning, you don't have a feel for how much father you can go despite what the trip meter & mpg readouts say.

The first bar disappears between 90 & 109 miles, never more, then I get about 20 or so miles for each bar thereafter at an actual average of 39 ~ 42 mpg; rarely ever more (even on E0 91).

Unless I've been taking it easy the whole tankful, I don't push it past 185, leaving about .4 gallons of backwash to spare, likely less available.

[duhs10]

It has to do with the geometry of the tank and the fuel level sensor used. The following is referencing the FZ-09 which we know shares a lot of similarities to the FJs and Tracers.

 

[2and3cylinders]

Finally a " "Scientific explanation! 

[OldBikers]

That was how my FZ-01 fuel gauge worked.  The T9GT freaked me out the first time it dropped from full to half full.  I'm used to it now and know that when that happens I have about another 110 miles left in the tank.  Using the fuel consumed on the right dash also helps out.

[RaYzerman]

Here's another scientific explanation, taken from my Kawi Versys 1000..... fuel gauge not moving until half a tank is consumed.... monitor trip meter.  Kawi computer does display Range to empty, and it is pretty good, but very accurate once that half tank is reached.

It's all got to do with tank shape and how far below the full level the sender's float is...... as in duhs10's post.  Here is a cross-section of the Kawi tank for another bit of perspective.....