2 years or older Motorcycle with no fuel gauge

Re: 2 years or ***earlier*** Motorcycle with no fuel gauge

meester_jamie said:
I have wondered,,, do fuel injection bikes have gauges.. and carb bikes don't have gauge?

do fuel injected bikes have a petcock? I thought if there is no way to switch to reserve,, then they would "need" a gauge

all previous bikes I have owned would be called vintage here..all carb,, no gauges.. with petcocks.. but a '02 Honda Shadow.. no gauge, carbs..petcock... and my '97 Road King is injected and has a wildly inaccurate gauge.. no petcock..
Click to expand...

There is no connection between whether there is a fuel gauge and whether it has fuel injection or not. My cbr125 has a fuel gauge. My zx10r does not. Both are fuel injected.

There IS a connection between the existence of a "petcock" manual shutoff valve, and whether the engine is fuel injected or not. The much higher pressure involved in fuel injection systems isn't compatible with a traditional "petcock" manual shutoff valve. Also, it isn't good for the fuel injection pump to run dry (e.g. when you have to switch to reserve). Therefore ... Fuel injected bikes don't have a "petcock" - there is no "switching to reserve". This is independent of whether there is a fuel gauge or not. It will either have a gauge, or a simple warning lamp. When the warning lamp comes on ... you are now "on reserve".

Fancy systems with trip computers might provide more information than just the warning lamp. Some of them have an extra trip-meter that starts counting after the low-fuel warning lamp comes on, some of them are capable of counting the amount of fuel used even though there isn't an actual gauge (modern fuel injection systems know this with good accuracy).
 
Re: 2 years or ***earlier*** Motorcycle with no fuel gauge

Not having a fuel gauge is not that big of a deal. What I really hate is not having a warning light.
I had a 1999 Honda Magna - 160km range - no gauge, no light = pain in the butt.
KLR650 has huge range at least so it's not much of a concern, and the reserve gives you at least 40km.
 
Last edited:
Re: 2 years or ***earlier*** Motorcycle with no fuel gauge

You really don't need one, especially if you have a warning light. Just get in the habit of resetting trip it's really no big deal

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 
Jimsun said:
Thanks guys and sorry i meant to say 2 years or earlier.

/facepalm
Click to expand...

I am curious, are you just looking for a list of every bike that does not have a fuel gage in the last 2 years? Whats the purpose of the question? Why do you need to know what bikes do not have a fuel gage?
 
When touring, it is a good idea to know how far a full tank of fuel will take you.
On my bike its about 350 km.
So I reset the trip odometer each time I fill up and refill at about 300 km, regardless of what the fuel gauge says.
 
Re: 2 years or ***earlier*** Motorcycle with no fuel gauge

My bike's fuel gauge goes directly from full to half empty. There is no 3/4. Then it stays on reserve for 120kms. Except for that one time that it didn't... :(

I finally noticed the small print on the underside of the fuel gauge. It read: "For entertainment purposes only"
 
Matt Rain said:
My buddy's 1992 FZR600 doesn't have one. On our first ride together, I saw his rear wheel lock up suddenly and I was convinced that his engine had seized. A good samaritan flicked his petcock to Reserve and off we went. :D
Click to expand...
A carburetted bike will not lock up the rear wheel when the gas is low and you need to flip to reserve. The bike simply slows down as if the throttle was closed.
 
Tripletrouble said:
A carburetted bike will not lock up the rear wheel when the gas is low and you need to flip to reserve. The bike simply slows down as if the throttle was closed.
Click to expand...
Isn't the same true for fuel injected? It makes no sense that the wheel would lock up unless that bike had some crazy engine braking.
 
He probably downshifted too agressively as he was losing power? Either way, he just didn't know about his petcock and the reserve setting.
 
My Sabre had one originally and I'll take his word that my FJ had one. Other than that, none had a gauge, but my present one has a low fuel light. I've always used the trip meter to monitor fuel use.
 
Re: 2 years or ***earlier*** Motorcycle with no fuel gauge

JamJam said:
My '14 R6 is fuel injected, has no fuel gauge and no petcock. But it does have a low fuel light as well as a F-trip meter.... it automatically starts from 0 as soon as low fuel light come on
Click to expand...

Same on my 2012 G650GS
 
Re: 2 years or ***earlier*** Motorcycle with no fuel gauge

2008 - 2012 Ninja 250, fuel injected version, mainly in Euro market.

main-qimg-2cf4991ef2caf774615d11e4c3d82cb7
 
Re: 2 years or ***earlier*** Motorcycle with no fuel gauge

also as r6 rider. I never felt the need to have a fuel gauge to be honest. although ive been in the situation where you just leave out for a ride and all of a sudden your fuel light comes on because you got caught up in conversation and forgot to tell the group you didn't fill up leaving home.
 
Re: 2 years or ***earlier*** Motorcycle with no fuel gauge

Don't really feel the need for one on my bike either.
The reserve light usually comes on ~250km at which point I still have 4L of gas which will last ~100km.
 
Tripletrouble said:
A carburetted bike will not lock up the rear wheel when the gas is low and you need to flip to reserve. The bike simply slows down as if the throttle was closed.
Click to expand...

Yep. Happened to me riding a ZX6e (carbed and fuel gauge). The petcock on that model is impossible to turn while riding, so I always left it on reserve to get the full range. I knew to watch both trip meter and fuel gauge due to the shape of the tank. Most of the fuel is in the upper portion and Kawasaki decided 1/2 tank on the gauge corresponded to the lower, smaller (less than 1/2) volume. As a result, the needle starts dropping quickly when you get to that point. The engine guzzles gas when you get throttle-happy, too. Combined, the empty tank can be a stealthy hunter. Fortunately, I was only a few KM short of a gas station and a few friends with a car weren't far behind.

I don't know how universal the practice is, but the station attendant wouldn't lend me a small gas can to get the bike going, so I could return to fill up. I was doubly lucky that there was an open hardware store next door that sold gas cans.
 
Last edited:
Flywheel said:
I don't know how universal the practice is, but the station attendant wouldn't lend me a small gas can to get the bike going, so I could return to fill up. I was doubly lucky that there was an open hardware store next door that sold gas cans.
Click to expand...

I think there is some liability issue now or something. Common practice as far as I know in Ontario. Sad state of affairs.
 
Out of the bike in my garage.

2002 CBR600F4i "nope" just reserve light.
2012 FZ6R "Yes"
2013 Ninja 300 "Yes"

Although i never worried about running out of gas on the CBR because it does give you some "find a gas station" mileage. Never had an issue.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom