Low fuel idiot light?

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Dec 30, 2010
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Houston, TX
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I personally like long mile rides so I will be doing anther on the 'Wing eventually. I have never minded riding on the slab. Definitely the way to eat miles. I usually use 50 mph as a planning guide to net mileage. After stops for food, fuel and "rest" its pretty hard to average more than that.

Let me know next time you are up this way.
 

Phil Tarman

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There's been quite a bit of discussion on the Long Distance Riders list lately about Bun Burner Golds (1500 miles in 24 hours). It got kicked off by a young woman from Reno who rides a Ninja 250. She had been at the Team Lyle Insanity event where I'd finally finished a BBG. Her post on LD-Riders was about finally getting a successful BBG -- it was her 8th try. She briefly told the story of what had happened on all 8 attempts and it got some of the rest of us telling our stories.

Like Doug says, the SS1K average speed is "only" 41.666 mph. So it's definitely not a matter of speed, but it is definitely a matter of managing your own energy and circadian rhythm, etc. Like Chris's ending the ride in the dark in the rain in the mountains.

The BBG is a more serious challenge, because the required average speed is 62.5 mph, and, like Chuck said, even on interstates getting your trip average up above the low 50s takes concentration and discipline. Most folks who have lots more experience than I do say it's one of the Iron Butt Association's hardest rides. The Coast-to-Coast 50 (50 hours, usually between Jacksonville and San Diego) is considered less of a challenge by most people who've done them both.

I think my biggest gas scare on the Epic Ride was in I-10 in west Texas. I'd gotten gas at Ft Hancock, east of El Paso, and when I got to Kent, just west of the I-10 / I-20 intersection, I'd only gone 104 miles and I was (or thought I was) fat with fuel. By the time I'd gotten to Balmorhea, only 33 miles farther east, I wasn't feeling so sure. The wind was blowing (an unusual occurrence in West Texas, I'm sure), and I was getting antsy about making Ft Stockton. I kept going slower and slower and the distance to Ft Stockton kept feeling farther and farther. As it turned out, I got there with nearly .7 gallon in the tank. But it was a long and lonely slog. I doubt if I'll ever pass Kent without buying gas again.
 

DirtFlier

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I looked at the fuel consumption readout for a few days when my NT was new in late-2009 but never again. I did the same with my second bike (NC700XD). The readings go up and down so much depending on throttle position, speed, incline, etc., so it'd be tough to calculate how far you could ride on that tank. That's why they provide a fuel gauge!
 
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Jun 14, 2012
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Richardson, TX
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You guys keep mentioning West Texas,,, Upon returning from a visit to Vegas and some quality riding with Rick Ryan a couple of years ago, I got the worst mileage I have ever gotten. It was March and the temps were in the 40s and the wind was howling out of the east straight down I10. On one tank I got 32 mpg. There was one hill that I was climbing into the wind, throttle wide open and barely doing 70 mph
I never came close to running out of gas because I was so cold I was stopping once an hour. I eventually ended up wearing every piece of cold weather gear I had brought. That was one of the worst days I have ever spent on a bike and I wasn't even wet.
The day before, I rode from Vegas to Van Horn and everything went perfectly

BTW, averaging 62 mph is a huge ask, It pretty much requires sustained speeds of 85-90 mph between stops, coupled with very short pit stops
 
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I am averaging 62 and 64 mpg, my best 68. My commute on I-10 run 65-70mph 82 mile round trip 5 days a week. love my NT
WOW !!! 68 mpg must have been with a Tornado behind you. That would give you 365 miles (590km) on a tank. Even averaging 62-64 MPG is fantastic.
I am a gentle rider and rarely hit 65MPH. My average is the equivalent of 59-60MPG US (3.95L/100km).

Macka
 
OP
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Turbo DV8
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Silicon Valley
To the OP's original question- nothing personal but why would you want an idiot light on a bike that already has a fuel gauge? If you're not going to trust the gauge, are you going to put more trust in a silly light?

Or am I reading the question wrong?
I want an idiot light on this bike because it has an idiot fuel gauge. No, I just wanted to know if it had one, like my CX650 Turbo. Better to ask beforehand, than to assume it has one out on the road.

My worst gas mileage was also in West Texas. Head wind, combined with two closed gas stations. My pillion and I pushed the bike the last 1/4 mile to the next gas station after we ran out. She was pushing. Just as I was huffing and chuffing, trying to get my overloaded bike up the incline, I yelled back at her to don't give up, we are almost there. When I pushed it up to the pump, I turned around to find her 50 feet behind. ***? There are several pictures of that overloaded bike in the "No Comment" section of Motorcycle Consumer news back in the early '90's. It was a CX500D.

Then on another trip through west Texas, I planned to get gas at a place I had gotten gas on a previous trip. But it was closed. For good. A lot of gas stations that were once there ten or fifteen years earlier, are gone. I didn't have enough gas to go back. So I went to the next intersection, which in Texas is never less than 50 miles. Not knowing the area, or how far it was to Wherever, I approached a sole car parked on the side. The occupant was dead asleep. So, according to my map, I could go north 15 miles, opposite the direction I wanted to go, to get gas, then 15 miles back to where I was. Or, I could continue south in the direction I wanted to go, 90 miles or so to the next gas. I had developed a sense for how many miles I could go after hitting reserve, factoring in head winds, grades, etc. I did a mental calculation of, "If I hit reserve before this many many miles south, I have to turn back and go north. Well, I hit that mileage early. So I turned around and went back to the intersection. The driver was awake. "Oh, no.", he said. "They next gas north is 30 miles." Fudge. I could not make that. So I began to backtrack west to the only town I could maybe reach, which had no gas station, but at least it had people. On the way, I approached a road construction crew that was not there earlier. It's funny how a couple pieces of heavy equipment and a few guys can look like an oasis. I explained my dilemma, and he radioed to one of the guys in the field, who brought over in his bulldozer scoop a five gallon jug of gas. They refused payment, maybe because the taxpayers already paid for it.

Then there's the time I ran out of gas in Death Valley, but that's another story ...
 
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Phil Tarman

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Just for information, I filled up Thursday just as the gas gauge on my bike was touchng the bottom of the red and the top of the empty line and it took 4.308 gallons.
 
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