Curvy fuel consumption and light.

[craig dow]

filled bike sv 650 s 1999 curvie right up on tuesday done 130 miles on it and not thrashing it at all about 60mph and now thats the petrol low light flashing , is this right as thought id get more out of it , when does the light come on , ie harf or quarter of a tank left if im useing to much petrol what could it be , thanks for any help

[Bibio]

depends how much you are putting in it. easy way to tell fuel consumption is keep your receipts and write down the mileage on each one each time you fill up.

so start with full tank run around then fill tank up again to roughly where you filled the last time, when you get your receipt writ down the mileage on the back. continue this for around 6 fill ups and you can then work out your average mpg/mpl.

[DJ123]

light comes on at 4.5 litres (one gallon) tank is only 17 litres

[craig dow]

ok thanks for that will do that , just thought i would get a lot more miles on a full tank , will work it out , over the month
thanks again

[Scythe92]

ok thanks for that will do that , just thought i would get a lot more miles on a full tank , will work it out , over the month
thanks again

When the light comes on, it's only a quarter of a tank remaining. I did a good 30 odd miles until my next stage comes on, when the light flashes to tell you to fill.

[alfa.rbt]

depends on the riding style I get 120-160 miles to flashing light on the full tank of fuel. I've been getting a bit worse milage out the tank before I changed a plugs and balanced a carbs. Give it a good service and it should better if you not happy with it.

[muddydude]

Between 140-150 on full tank b4 light comes on for me

[Rob969]

light starts flashing at approx 3.5litres and goes solid at 1.5litres.
I average about 135miles till the light comes on, bit more if i'm on a long run

[craig dow]

ok , think its not bad then . i might not be rideing it great either , as only 3 weeks since past test , so i am a bit careful , well may be to much , so slow right down on bends , and dont go over 60 at the mow as all open roads i use it for every day , so thanks a lot , will have to work out petrol money now for the month , lol , thanks again

[theboatman]

I manage anywhere from 90 if I'm really hammering it, to 170 if I ride carefully *note: I still ride fast, just no hard acceleration...*

[missyburd]

Been getting between 145 and 160 miles till the light on, get about 30 miles till solid...still not run it till empty yet to find out...

[Bordtea]

Tend to be getting about 140 miles from brimmed tank to flashing fuel light, works out at something like 53mpg which is about right, perhaps slightly on the low side.

[theboatman]

I think this massively depends on your build, if you're 6'3 bloke then you'll aways less than a small lass like missyburd.

[craig dow]

ha ha , im only 5ft 5 lol , and not big built at all , think im getting what every one eles is out of there bike , so thanks very much , been good to see that every one averages about the same ,

[chuck43]

Or if you run till light comes on, set the trip straight away, get to fuel station, put full tank in, and remeber how much it cost eactly and price per litre & the trip milage, this way you will know how many miles you have done since light came on. (eg 3miles) set the trip again and run untill light comes on, remember milage set the trip again and run to same milage with light on (eg 3miles). Add the 3 miles to the milage you did, Then go to http://www.fuel-economy.co.uk/calc.shtml and scrol down to real-life mpg, enter how much fuel was at time you bought it, how much money you put in the bike, and how many miles you done and it works it for you. bit quicker than monitoring it for weeks and writing everything down on recipets etc

[startrek.steve]

Change your air filter

[SoulKiss]

Or if you run till light comes on, set the trip straight away, get to fuel station, put full tank in, and remeber how much it cost eactly and price per litre & the trip milage, this way you will know how many miles you have done since light came on. (eg 3miles) set the trip again and run untill light comes on, remember milage set the trip again and run to same milage with light on (eg 3miles). Add the 3 miles to the milage you did, Then go to http://www.fuel-economy.co.uk/calc.shtml and scrol down to real-life mpg, enter how much fuel was at time you bought it, how much money you put in the bike, and how many miles you done and it works it for you. bit quicker than monitoring it for weeks and writing everything down on recipets etc

Why remember 2 things (cost and amount paid) when you can just remember 1 thing - the amount of fuel you put in the tank?

My method on my pointy is

Fill tank as full as it goes, make note of how much fuel put in (12.34l) and the milage done since last filled up (140.8). Divide the amount of fuel by 4.54 to convert litres to gallons, then divide the milage by that amount, which gives a figure of 51.76 in this case (my last set of figures)

Its not exact, but close enough.

[andreis]

light comes on at 4.5 litres (one gallon) tank is only 17 litres

I think the curvy's tank size is 16L and from the pointy on it became 17L.
OH, and the light comes on at 3.5, as others have already mentioned.

[missyburd]

Just get a receipt with every fuel-up, make a note of the number of miles on your trip and use fuelly.com to track mpg, it's a no-brainer :-P

[craig dow]

ok thanks will do , i fill up twice a aweek so no problem
thanks a lot

[jambo]

Curvy:
13L to flashy light
14.5L to solid light
16L to pushing the bike

130 miles to 13L = 45.4 mpg

HTH
Jambo

[punyXpress]

I manage anywhere from 90 if I'm really hammering it, to 170 if I ride carefully *note: I still ride fast, just no hard acceleration...*
That's cos it was well run in. ;)

[punyXpress]

Been getting between 145 and 160 miles till the light on, get about 30 miles till solid...still not run it till empty yet to find out...
. . . just how heavy the little *** really is! ;)

[craig dow]

ha ha the little *** is 11 stone and im 5ft 5 , lol , so is 45.5 mpg good for a 1999 sv 650s with full faireing , on real open roads with lots of wind going along cost every day , and just passeing my test 3 weeks agao and new to bikes , so dont thrash it
thanks again for your help ,

[Scythe92]

I get 160 miles or so to flashing light - 55mpg.

My general riding is usually back lane stuff, and I tend to use the whole rev range, and engine brake quite a lot, pretty impressed with that!

[garynortheast]

Anywhere from 155 to 175 miles to the flashing light. Seen 196 miles before now, light on solid and still some fuel left.

[Serdna]

A little tip you might not know about if you are new to biking, if you fill up the tank is full to the brim you still have air at the top of the tank. However if you sit on the bike as you fill up and when it is full you rock the bike with your knees side to side the fuel works into that air gap filling the tank to the brim.

A few notes;



You cant accurately work out MPG this way because you cant be sure you are putting exactly the same level of fuel each time
If you fill the tank this full and then stick it on the side stand straight away some petrol might overflow down the overflow pipe. Best to pay at pump and ride off straight away or if not use this technique but stop before u cant fit any more in.
If you fill the tank this full then ride round the corner and leave it parked in the sun it WILL overflow all over your tank due to the petrol expanding in the heat.

I always do it this way and after 2 early mishaps with petrol everywhere i have had no problems. You never know, that extra 0.5L might mean that you dont have to push the bike 2 miles to a petrol station;)