82 miles until the light went on! and other stuff

So the last two time I put petrol in the bike, the light has come on around 82 miles!
Normally (riding in central London) I get around 95 miles, and the bike is performing really badly.

I read about someone talking about doing power wheelies on here (allthough that was a later model of the sv, not the 2000 model) and i thought: "blimey, my bike can't even do a wheelie if i had a ramp!"

The bike is really performing badly, no "go" in it.
I tried changing the air filter, but that didn't do much.
Same with spark plugs, got brand new ones in there, but still performing really badly.
Now, with the odd fuel consumption i thought that perhaps the carbs needs balancing, and im getting that done when im taking it in for a service this weekend, but can it be something else?

Since it seems to be taking more fuel than normal, i don't think there are anything clogging up the tubes either.

Anyone has any ideas what i can be if it isn't the carbs? (something i can check my self that is)

Regards,
J

Could the choke be sticking on? I think that could cause those symptoms. Worth a look!

I am no expert on these matters but it certainly sounds like a carb issue.

85 - 95 miles to the light is seriously bad.
I would normally get arounf 135 on my K5.

Hopefully the service work will get the problem sorted.

Does the exhaust stink of fuel?

Thanks for the reply.
I don't think it's the choke, I checked that, and it makes a rather odd noice (this is going to look rather silly) but when it's idling it's more like:
"blu blub blub blub"
than the
"wra wra wra wra"
sound that is supposed to be there.

Originally Posted by Grinch

Does the exhaust stink of fuel?

Nope

Originally Posted by localhost

Thanks for the reply.
I don't think it's the choke, I checked that, and it makes a rather odd noice (this is going to look rather silly) but when it's idling it's more like:
"blu blub blub blub"
than the
"wra wra wra wra"
sound that is supposed to be there.

Good description Sorry I can't be more help - good luck getting it sorted

Originally Posted by GC-SV

85 - 95 miles to the light is seriously bad.
I would normally get arounf 135 on my K5.

Sorry but in Central London you might be filtering through but you still have to stop for the traffic lights and so 100 miles to the tank would very good. I get around 30 mpg but I fill up with the bike on the side stand so I normally get around 90 miles out of the tank. I do ride a little spirited though but I doubt it would make a huge difference if I didn't as you're still having to stop a lot when going through London.

Now I have been out on rides out of London and I do get much better consumption when I'm not having to constantly stop so I know there's nothing wrong with my bike, it's just London isn't a good place to be in a bike or a car if you want a good fuel consumption rate.

Originally Posted by localhost

Thanks for the reply.
I don't think it's the choke, I checked that, and it makes a rather odd noice (this is going to look rather silly) but when it's idling it's more like:
"blu blub blub blub"
than the
"wra wra wra wra"
sound that is supposed to be there.

LMFAO love the description just spat me tea out my nose!

On motorways I get about 120 - 140 miles per tank. When I do weekend riding (see thrashing) it can be as low as 95. What filter did you replace it with. If it's an aftermarket high performance filter you may need to get the bike re-jetted as I did on my Bandit 600 after fitting a K&N as it ran very lurchy.