toast Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 Is there any rhyme or reason to the blocks on the gas gauge? You would think the largest block would represent a half tank and then it would go from there. Or each bar would represent a gallon and it would warn you when you hit the last .8 of a gallon. I get to around 145 miles and it starts blinking but when I fill up it only takes ~3.3 gallons with over a gallon left. Filling up after the first block is around 1.1-1.2 gallons. Is mine just terribly calibrated or do they all do this? I know it's full because I can see the fuel sloshing in there after filling up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenPenguin Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 They all do that. I think when the light goes on and your trip-f starts, you have about a gallon or so left. Try to use your regular trip meters more so then relying on the gas gauge. Its really annoying that the first half of the tank is just one giant block. Not helpful at all. I also noticed that if you start the bike on the sidestand, the level with show lower, and once you start riding it will go up a notch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scholgs Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 I know from bitter experience I have 28 miles to go on my tank from the gauge blinking to a spluttering stop in the middle of Old Street roundabout. I simply wasn't brimming it when I was filling it, and the tank is wider at the top so I found with the nozzle in the hole, it'll click off when I can still get about 4 litres of fuel in there. I thought mine was poorly calibrated and wouldn't believe it when it told me it was on reserve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member hooligans3 Posted June 29, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted June 29, 2015 It's the shape of the tank....Wider at the top and narrower at the bottom. The tank will drain like a funnel.....The float measuring the fuel will drop slow at first, and then faster as the volume of fuel remaining decreases. Also most fuel injected vehicles (car or bike) will flash a low fuel warning well in advance of the tank being completely empty. Fuel is used to cool the electric pump, and running the tank dry can be really hard on FI systems. The FJ-09 has a wonky fuel gauge display (large block for half the range), but it is 1000 times better than no gauge at all. All of us riders of a certain age (40+), have spent most of our lives watching the odometer or trip 1, and anticipating/dreading a yellow light. It could be worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
root Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 Is there any rhyme or reason to the blocks on the gas gauge? You would think the largest block would represent a half tank and then it would go from there. Or each bar would represent a gallon and it would warn you when you hit the last .8 of a gallon. I get to around 145 miles and it starts blinking but when I fill up it only takes ~3.3 gallons with over a gallon left. Filling up after the first block is around 1.1-1.2 gallons. Is mine just terribly calibrated or do they all do this? I know it's full because I can see the fuel sloshing in there after filling up. I think of it as about 0.8 - 1 gallon in reserve. I believe the owner's manual states 0.8 gallons in "reserve" after the gauge starts flashing. It's easier for me to think of it like the old bikes where you have to switch over to reserve, almost as if you had 2 tanks. Back in the day, you either opened your tank and looked inside to see how much gas you had, or you rode until you ran out of gas in the normal tank, flipped it over to reserve while coasting down the road, restarted the bike either by dropping the clutch or using the starter then made a mental note to stop at the next station. I know there's not an actually sectioned off reserve on the FJ, but there is a "logical" reserve. The gauge ignores the reserve and will flash when the "normal" tank is empty and start to count the number of miles driven on reserve. The biggest bar is about half of the amount that is not in reserve. The remaining bars are each roughly 1/8 of of the amount not in reserve. It was a little alarming the first couple tank fulls as it didn't seem to drop linearly. I had a heads up thanks to this forum that it didn't operate linearly though. In all reality, every car I've driven stayed on full for an abnormally long time and seemed to drop quicker the closer it got to empty. On the FJ it is no different. They just make the bars the different sizes to more accurately gauge what's actually in the tank. The precision of a gauge is not always a reflection of it's accuracy. IMHO, a car's gauge is more precise but not necessarily accurate to that precision. The FJ's gauge is not as precise, but as long as the bike is upright, it seems accurate within the range of the top bar. ... I also noticed that if you start the bike on the sidestand, the level with show lower, and once you start riding it will go up a notch. I have noticed this as well. I've actually had it trigger reserve while on the side stand and come off reserve 1/4 mile down the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deersSlayer Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 The FJ-09 has a wonky fuel gauge display (large block for half the range), but it is 1000 times better than no gauge at all. All of us riders of a certain age (40+), have spent most of our lives watching the odometer or trip 1, and anticipating/dreading a yellow light. It could be worse. Yes, my first bikes didn't have a yellow light either. Engine sputters, reach down and flip the fuel petcock to reserve. The 'could be worse' back then was when the petcock was already on reserve! O_o FJ-09, 690 Enduro R. Back Roads. Period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member jimf Posted June 29, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted June 29, 2015 The FJ-09 has a wonky fuel gauge display (large block for half the range), but it is 1000 times better than no gauge at all. All of us riders of a certain age (40+), have spent most of our lives watching the odometer or trip 1, and anticipating/dreading a yellow light. It could be worse. Yes, my first bikes didn't have a yellow light either. Engine sputters, reach down and flip the fuel petcock to reserve. The 'could be worse' back then was when the petcock was already on reserve! O_o My first bike, a Suzuki Intruder 800, was like that. First time it happened was on my second ever long(ish) ride on a motorcycle -- itself the return leg of my first ever long(ish) ride -- I was in fairly heavy traffic in the left lane of Storrow Drive in Boston, which is to say "really not the place you want your engine to suddenly lose power", especially as a rider who had only been riding for ~6 weeks. Since then I've not been a fan of the petcock approach to low fuel warnings, and got a lot more attentive to the odometer, even on bikes like the FJ where there's something akin to a real fuel gauge. 2015 FJ-09 (Mary Kate) 2007 Daytona 675 (Tabitha, ret.) 1998 Vulcan 800 (Ret.) 2001 SV650S (Veronica, Ret.) 2000 Intruder 800 (Ret.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
root Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 The FJ-09 has a wonky fuel gauge display (large block for half the range), but it is 1000 times better than no gauge at all. All of us riders of a certain age (40+), have spent most of our lives watching the odometer or trip 1, and anticipating/dreading a yellow light. It could be worse. Yes, my first bikes didn't have a yellow light either. Engine sputters, reach down and flip the fuel petcock to reserve. The 'could be worse' back then was when the petcock was already on reserve! O_o Yep. Still have one in the garage like that. Only 2 lights on the dash, a neutral light and a single light to tell you one if your turn signals was on. It used the same light for left or right, so the only way to know which was on was to look at your switch or look at the actual turn signals. I just took that out on a short ride this last weekend. Great little bike. It had been sitting in the garage since March when I bought the FJ but it fired right up when I got it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nekura Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 it annoys the shit out of me too, but I guess the tank shape comment makes sense. I reset Trip1 after every fill up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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