How far have you driven on Reserve Fuel?

I have nerves of steel.

I punched holes in the fuel filler neck a while back or this trip would have wound up differently.

Decided to go to Kerrville 9-15-15. Topped of the bike with 1.188 gallons of fuel before I left.

From San Angelo to Kerrville it was 90MPH speedo/85MPH GPS bucking a headwind the whole way. Three miles southeast of Junction on I-10 I came up on three V-Twin riders with pipes loud enough for me to hear with me 100 yards behind them. Seems like they were having difficulty maintaining 80MPH uphill as I could hear their engines hitting -hard-. I blew past them and waved nicely.

Twenty-one miles Southeast of Junction on I-10 I ran out of Main Fuel. What the heck? This was Main Fuel gone in just 121 miles. I switched to Reserve and for a few moments considered turning around and heading the 21 miles safely back to Junction to refuel which I knew I could make without running out of gas.

"No way" I told myself. I pressed on with 30 more miles to go before I hit Kerrville. I prayed I didn't run out of fuel. Hoping that if I did run out of fuel, that the nice V-Twin riders I blew past earlier would help me out. I never let off the throttle and continued at speed.

I made it to Kerrville running 33.9 miles on Reserve.

When I got to Kerrville I put five -point- seven zero six gallons of fuel in the tank. Yes, that is 5.706 gallons of fuel. I drove 154.9 miles on 5.706 gallons of fuel yielding a spectacularly craptastic fuel mileage of 27.14MPG during this leg of the trip.

I drove around Kerrville and Hunt, Texas and had a wonderful time. When I was returning home I refueled in Junction this time and I refueled again when I got back to San Angelo. Total trip miles for this trip was 345.1. I used a total of 10.596 gallons of fuel during this trip yielding a fuel mileage of 32.56MPG for the trip total.

Best I did two up pulling a loaded trailer, @ 70 mph was 24.2 miles. I rolled into the gas station on.1 gallons

today had 35.1 miles filled up 18.8 litres..left 3 litres in tank..dont know math to convert

Not sure on the 2nd Gen's how it all works but on the faster 1st Gen's I can tell you for a fact that it is possible to run them so far that they actually will run out of gas - at least on Tweeks anyway.. On a side note, my wife, "Tippy", can also verify that pushing a fully loaded 1st Gen to a gas station is a harder job than being the one steering it - at least that is her opinion

Puc where's your shirt? you Indian? most pictures with you in them your shirtless.

I rode on the reserve about 26 miles coming back from Tennessee a few years back. It started sputtering while on the Interstate. thankfully the gauge and light actually worked correctly, so I can count the miles

Puc where's your shirt? Stored in the "Men's Clothing Department" - a.k.a. the net on the back of the bike (you dont actually think Tip would allow that smelly thing to be stored in the "Women's Clothing Department" (a.k.a. the left saddle bag) do you?

you Indian? Yep, Cherokee - on my mother's side = not enough to allow me to open a Casino but plenty enough to allow me to ride for hours and hours and hours in the desert regions neked with no sunscreen needed and to LOVE that dry arrid heat!! most pictures with you in them your shirtless.

BAD, VERY BAD VISUAL.....lol

First a question that I have asked before: When you punch a hole in the lip, isn't there a chance a spark would cause a BIG problem?

I'm not sure about the ventures but on my RSTD, here is how it works. When the guage goes to "F", the countdown begins, and when the engine starts sputtering, I switch it over to reserve.

Now if I'm riding normally that will be at around 15 miles on "F", (before I switch it to reserve) then I can go another probably 30 miles, but like when I was out west, (pulling a trailer) sometimes it would be at 7 to 8 miles, then I'd say I can go about 15 miles. Mileage was 26/27mpg then, so I judge how far I can go by how many miles on "F" before I switch it to reserve.

So the wind plays the biggest part in this for me. And I have a smaller tank to boot.

Lets see.

Carry the one, divide by zero, then add in the days of the week till payday..... Yup, not much fuel left.

Not sure on the 2nd Gen's how it all works but on the faster 1st Gen's I can tell you for a fact that it is possible to run them so far that they actually will run out of gas -

And since the first gens are faster, I bet they run outta gas faster too. Like the refueling pic!

First a question that I have asked before: When you punch a hole in the lip, isn't there a chance a spark would cause a BIG problem?

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In the "industry" brass tools are used for "non-sparking purposes. Typically, two steel surfaces will not spark if they are clean, cool, and you have not been grinding on them, when you give them "one-shot" whacks to make a hole in the thin fuel neck. The fuel vapor is what you have to worry about, and to minimize that, have a full tank when you attempt this. Also, doesn't hurt to have a fan blowing on the tank as well.

On mine, the F was actually on for 2 miles, I just did not notice it till the bike died. I guess the factory got the float level pretty close to the reserve fuel intake level when they made it.

Wind and speed play havoc with my fuel mileage as well. I have gotten as low as 27MPG and as high as 40MPG.

I wanted to see one time how far I could go on reserve. Packed a small gerry can. I got 70 kms or 43 miles in old school conversion, when she ran out.

That was running at 110 kmph or about 65 mph on a calm day.

Yesterday went 55 Kms on the yellow light.. but probably about 15 Kms of that before she started sputtering and had to switch to reserve.. Most I've pushed it is 60 Kms When my light comes on the guage is still showing a bar..

I know I have a 6 gallon tank,but it never holds 6 gallons.

I had an 03 Harley with a 5 gal. Tank that I've put 5.1 gallons in before. Gas cap felt like it had a vacuum seal on it when I removed it.

JMO: Running 85/90 into a headwind. I would think 27.14 mpg might be about normal.

06 RSTD. I left the gas valve on reserve all the time. When the gas gauge hit "F" and there were two "Bars" showing I could drive 65 more miles at 65 mph and still have fuel in the tank to stretch a little bit more. I wasn't feeling real comfortable about it though.

I have a venture now, of the same vintage. I haven't stretched the bigger tank past that mark yet. Perhaps next summer...

You guys are nuts! I try and gas up around 120-150 miles and don't like to ride over 75mph indicated. Usually lots of gas left. Fuel level drops rapidly on either scoot over 80 indicated! I let others pass me...I'm good with that.

Guess I don't like to walk....

JMO: Running 85/90 into a headwind. I would think 27.14 mpg might be about normal.

Yeah, it is. Aerodynamics of a barn door.

06 RSTD. I left the gas valve on reserve all the time. When the gas gauge hit "F" and there were two "Bars" showing I could drive 65 more miles at 65 mph and still have fuel in the tank to stretch a little bit more. I wasn't feeling real comfortable about it though.

 

I have a venture now, of the same vintage. I haven't stretched the bigger tank past that mark yet. Perhaps next summer...

I think on mine, the factory got the float rod, somehow perfectly, aligned with the bottom of the main fuel screen inlet. The 'F" was only on for 2 miles and I didn't notice it when it came on. I knew I was outta main fuel because the bike died. If I was in town, no worries. However, I was on the highway, in the middle of nowhere. This was the first time I tested the distance I could go at speed. Past the 25 mile mark on "F" was a little nerve racking as I knew my gas mileage always sucks the faster I was going. I was assuming 30MPG when I made the decision to continue on, 30 miles away from Kerrville. I scared myself more when I actually fuelled up and found that I was only 0.3 gallons away from walking/pushing.

Strangely, this made the rest of the trip more fun because I knew now that I could now go 160 miles, and flat out fly, without worries.

You guys are nuts! I try and gas up around 120-150 miles and don't like to ride over 75mph indicated. Usually lots of gas left. Fuel level drops rapidly on either scoot over 80 indicated! I let others pass me...I'm good with that.

Guess I don't like to walk....

I think the sweet spot on engine-running on mine starts at 75MPH and continues on from there. Absolutely smooth. Just like Arizona where you live, I have to drive 2 to 3 hours in any direction, just to "Start" a trip, since I live in the middle of nowhere. Sure am glad the "55 MPH" limit is gone.

I don't like that walking thing either. Pushing is a distinct fear.

((I don't like that walking thing either. Pushing is a distinct fear.))

Yep!

I've ridden a long way on reserve, and it has been documented in many very old threads. I have a six gallon tank, and It holds six gallons, and I can use all of it. That has also been documented in many old threads. There are specific things necessary for this, and they also have been documented in many old threads.

For the record, I have run 56 miles on reserve without running out of gas. I filled up with 5.96 gallons. I WAS a bit worried on that run! Under bad conditions (stupid speed and head winds, etc.), my reserve has been dry in 40 miles. I do not think I have ever gotten less than 40 miles on reserve. All of this is dependent on proper bike setup, tuning, and individual riding styles. YMMV

Goose

I have a 2nd Gen RSTD with Venture tank, V-Max rear, Venture trunk, etc. I found that on trips when the low fuel indicator starts counting (before reserve is turned on) I have gone just over 17 miles before I start to run out of fuel. I have never fully run out of fuel, but my mileage is typically between 32 and 36 miles per gallon. On the low end pulling my little trailer, on the high end running 50 - 60 mph on the highway. If I run 75 - 80, mileage drops down. Generally on the interstate, 70 is just comfortable for me and the little bike sounds happy with the V-Max gears / RPM. Anyway, so twice I have gone 30 miles on reserve and not run out.

A funny story. I mentioned I have a Venture trunk. It came with the helmet locks, but of course these were keyed differently from the ignition saddle bags, and original RSTD helmet lock. So I purchased a set of lock cylinders, ignition switch etc off of ebay with keys so all could match. I had swapped out all except the ignition switch. Oh did I mention I swapped the gas cap? So everything matched except the ignition switch that I figured I would get to later. So wife and I run off on a little Saturday morning adventure. No real plan, just a ride. We were about 40 miles from home and we were low enough on fuel that I was looking for the odometer to switch. A gas station came into view and not being familiar with the area, I figured what the heck, I'll stop for fuel now. Wife runs to the ladies room, I go to unlock the gas cap and... I only brought the ignition key and forgot the key that matched everything else. I had not way of removing the gas cap. Yikes! So we headed back home. I was doing the math on mileage and past experience about twice per minute the entire ride home. We did make it all the way home, had to use reserve of course. What an anxious little ride back for both of us.