Let's Laugh at my Expense!

sburns

sburns

Well-known member
Forum Sponsor
I ran out of gas today!!

Never happened before, in any vehicle, first time for everything!

So what happened? Lately I've been going to Port Perry the native gas station for cheaper fuel. Hop on the bike, and it tells me I have 90k range. Should be more then enough (from daHood to PP). I check this on my way and find out I should have 20 k left. Nope at about 25k range the bike starts sputtering and revving like mad. I pull over. Try starting it, nothing, lots of spark but no go.

CAA to the rescue!
(BTW they only give you 7 litres).

Worst part about this I was like 3k away from the gas station.... :(

Well I know now what the range is, and not.
 
Depending on the shape of the tank, some bikes have a bit of gas on either the left or right lowers of the tank. So if you gently lean your bike over you can get the fuel from the full side to empty side. If your bike has a similar tank design, that will cover your 3km with tons to spare:)
 
The power was off in Wilno on Sunday. I was a bit concerned. :) Luckily the grill and fryer at the Inn run on propane.

It turns out that Barry's Bay still had power, thankfully. So I still don't know the range of the KTM but coming home I got 235km indicated out of it and still had about 1/3 of a tank left. I can report that it gets better mileage at uhm... 5500 RPM in 4th, shall we say, than it does at under 5,000 RPM. That sweet spot in the rev range isn't just where the revs smooth out.

Still blows my mind that a 1301cc v-twin is getting anywhere near 300km out of a 17L tank. Especially with >180hp.
 
Been close before...but never actually ran out.

Good times when the GPS tells you there's a gas station, and it's no longer there...or when it tells you to get to the 400 or 11, and then you have to go SOUTH, and then come back NORTH to get to that gas station.

Whatever tank I had...I filled up 0.1L less than full capacity.

Glad you were able to get gas though! Lesson learned!
 
@sburns I was in a similar situation last weekend. Range said 90 kms when i started riding. Turns out Honda's gauge bars/ estimated range is not at all accurate. It seems to overestimate range at the beginning. And then as tank nears empty- the estimated range drops like a rock. Thankfully made it to a gas station on time (with 20 kms estimated range remaining)
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1216.jpeg
    IMG_1216.jpeg
    1.1 MB · Views: 3
wolfpack27616 said:
@sburns I was in a similar situation last weekend. Range said 90 kms when i started riding. Turns out Honda's gauge bars/ estimated range is not at all accurate. It seems to overestimate range at the beginning. And then as tank nears empty- the estimated range drops like a rock. Thankfully made it to a gas station on time (with 20 kms estimated range remaining)
Click to expand...
Yes now that this has happened I've searched online and this is a common issues with AT's and not surprising other Honda's (I believe your bike has the same engine as the AT's). So now I know not to let the range indicator go below 30km. I guess I found out the hard way!
 
mimico_polak said:
Been close before...but never actually ran out.

Good times when the GPS tells you there's a gas station, and it's no longer there...or when it tells you to get to the 400 or 11, and then you have to go SOUTH, and then come back NORTH to get to that gas station.

Whatever tank I had...I filled up 0.1L less than full capacity.

Glad you were able to get gas though! Lesson learned!
Click to expand...
Garmin seems to think every convenience store in Canada has gas pumps
 
My bikes stop showing estimated range once it's below ~50km, that's when I know I'm on "reserve" fuel. I did manage to run out once as I was pulling into the gas station.
 
shanekingsley said:
Depending on the shape of the tank, some bikes have a bit of gas on either the left or right lowers of the tank. So if you gently lean your bike over you can get the fuel from the full side to empty side. If your bike has a similar tank design, that will cover your 3km with tons to spare:)
Click to expand...
I tried some stuff when I pulled over (maybe not enough), but still nothing. Honestly I didn't like the feel of the sporadic rev's, way to jumpy and kinda unsafe.
 
High Flya said:
My bikes stop showing estimated range once it's below ~50km, that's when I know I'm on "reserve" fuel. I did manage to run out once as I was pulling into the gas station.
Click to expand...
My wifes stupid car gives range in single km (eg 382 left, 381 left) until it gets to 50km left and then sticks with <50. Obviously the manufacturer has almost zero confidence in their prediction. Single digit predictions when more gas is left are just embarrassing. Stick with 5 or 10 km intervals. Even those may be within the error bounds.
 
shanekingsley said:
Depending on the shape of the tank, some bikes have a bit of gas on either the left or right lowers of the tank. So if you gently lean your bike over you can get the fuel from the full side to empty side. If your bike has a similar tank design, that will cover your 3km with tons to spare:)
Click to expand...
Did that a lot with scooters back in India.

Being hostlers, we were always short of cash. The fuel that went into the tank was just enough to get us to college and back, and sometimes we ran out.

Tilting to one side got us a few extra kilometres sometimes 😊
 
kurtrules said:
Did that a lot with scooters back in India.

Being hostlers, we were always short of cash. The fuel that went into the tank was just enough to get us to college and back, and sometimes we ran out.

Tilting to one side got us a few extra kilometres sometimes 😊
Click to expand...
Thats the first thing that came to my mind as well. The Bajaj Chetak tilt maneuver
 
I've run of of gas twice.

Once in the mid 70's in my 1968 Buick Wildcat convertible with a 430 V8 in it. It got about 6 miles to the gallon on a good day.

Second time on a backroad south of Barry's Bay a few years ago on my Tracer GT. Buddy had a siphon tube and we filled a 500ml water bottle a few times to get me to a local station.

No legitimate excuse, both incidents the result of stupidity and carelessness.
Forum Sponsor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom