My bike consistently runs out of gas

[rpoppen]

I've found the 'miles to empty' function completely useless. When I first fill up, it gives a reading of 250ish, a reasonable number. But as I drive, the sum of miles actually traveled plus the 'miles to empty' greatly exceeds 300. So I reset the trip odo each time I fill up and, at a typical 50mpg, easily go 220 miles before stopping for gas, with plenty in reserve. I also don't trust the signal light.

BTW I've found my mileage goes way down if I'm forced to use anything less than 91 octane.

--Roger

[Jedi5150]

I'm starting to keep tabs on my fuel consumption, as well as intentionally putting a lot of miles on the tank. For long trips I like having a pretty decent idea of how many miles I can count on. Here are my two large mile numbers so far:

255 miles on the tank, OBC said 35 miles remaining, ran out of gas, no load. (unknown number of gallons to fill).
243 miles on the tank, OBC said 45 miles remaining, did not run dry, no load. (5.8 gallons to fill...and I always fill on the side-stand).

As I get more tanks under my belt I'm going to keep adding to the data. At this point I'm just thrilled to be getting 240+ miles to the tank. If I can reliably count on 200 miles to a tank under varied riding conditions, with varied loads, I'll be happy as can be. My miles remaining acts funky, and often tells me I have 300+ miles of range with used+ remaining. But what has remained very constant is my OBC telling me I get 41-42 MPG.

[redwing]

IMHO... I agree with everyone... the 'miles to empty' is useless. I have been using the trip meter to measure the gas in my tank. I left the house today with the 'mte' at about 90 and a trip setting of about 160 trip miles. The roads had gas stations every few miles. At 203 trip miles the gas light came on and the 'mte' went from around 65 to 39 'miles to empty' instantly... I watched the change. I added 4.8 gallons on the center stand. The gas appeared to cover about half an inch of the filler neck.
I'm discouraged about the 'miles to empty's' extreme undependability.

Robert

[Fjm]

My bike is a few weeks old and I havent run out of gas......yet.
My OBC is reading fairly close to my calculations. 45 MPG currently across various riding speeds and terrain. I prefer not to rely on computers. Total trip distance between fills is all I need.

[Anyname]

So the BMW owners manual says "The determined range is an approximate reading. BMW Motorad therefore recommends that you do not try to use the full range before refueling."

[Jedi5150]

So the BMW owners manual says "The determined range is an approximate reading. BMW Motorad therefore recommends that you do not try to use the full range before refueling."

Right.

According to the BMW tech I spoke with here is the reason for this; If the gas gauge doesn't work at all (ie: it never shows full or empty on the bar scale, etc.), they can fix that via the on board computer. If the bar scale is working but the "miles remaining" is not being entirely accurate, there is no fix for it. At least that's the scoop I got.

[dbrick]

That makes no sense, Jedi.

If the bar scale is working, then the bits that physically sense fuel level are working.
If the computer doesn't compute "miles to empty," then the computer's wonky.
If the computer figures it out, but the display doesn't show it, then the display is wonky.
Or one or more of the wires connecting these bits might be bad.

And all of it - at least on your bike - is still under warranty.

Sending you a PM, too.

[Anyname]

So when the little darling runs out of fuel, are both sides of the tank empty? I have memories of bikes with only one petcock and leaning the bike way over to shift gas from the side without a petcock to the side with.

[psycle.vt]

Surprisingly I have found the miles to empty to be pretty accurate, esp as I get closer to empty. For my trip back from Redmond without the fuel gauge , I used it and the trip odometer to safely make it back with no run dry situations.

Today coming back from NJ to VT, I filled in southern Jersey and with a side trip in northern Jersey, filled up in Springfield, MA at 260 miles with supposedly 34 miles left. Tank took 4.8 gal, which is about right for that. This was mix of stop and go on the Merritt, flow of traffic on the Tpk and more reasonable speeds as well. The mileage reading said 48mpg for most of the run. Interestingly, after the fill-up and traveling pretty much in the 70s, it said I was get 43-44 mpg and the fuel gauge and miles to empty agreed. Both fill-ups were "cheap" gas (Wawa in NJ, Pride in MA)

[bhmav8r]

Ran out three times - luckily didnt have to foot it . . .

So I use the trip odometer - 200 miles around town (The gule gauge showed about 3/8ths of a tank ) and ~5 gallons to refill - looks like roughly 40mpg.

Think that will keep me from running out again until the stealership reopens.

Happy Trails.

[MJB]

I don’t understand guys. I don't worry about my gas
I have a 2007 rr with 40,000km (about 25,000 miles)
This is my 4th summer season on the bike
I just ride and watch the gas gage
When it gets low, I fill up
I know when the yellow warning light comes on I have about 60km (37miles) to go.
As far as the "Miles to Go" feature I play with it.
It goes up and down depending on the type of riding I'm doing but it's pretty close overall. I never reset. Just fill up the tank and go

Mileage: Average City and Highway

The bike shows I get about 5 liters of gas per 100k, which equals about 55 miles per gallon.
I have tested this by setting the tip meter to 0, filling up, and then checking my mileage
On the last 3 gas stops:

Did 342km (212miles) and put in 17.3 liters of gas (4.75 us gallons). So this equals about 5 liters for 100km or 55mpg imperial - 46.5 miles per US gallon

Did 271km (168miles) and put in 14.2 liters of gas ( 3.78 us gallons). So this equals about 5.2 liters per 100km or 53mpg imperial - 44.5 miles per US gallon

Did 307km (191miles) and put in 15.3 liters of gas (4.04 us gallons). So this equals about 4.9 liters per 100km or 56 mpg imperial - 47 miles per US gallon

Tires

I am on my third set of tires with about 9000km (5,000miles) before I have to change tires. All 3 sets have been Metzeler Z6.
So I am averaging about 16,000km (10,000miles) for a set. I usually change both tires at once, but this time might just change the rear at 48,000km (30,000miles)

[2wheels]

MJB
Just to clarify and be a pedant, your mpg figures are for imperial gallons!

[MJB]

I have revised

[2wheelfish]

Be careful MJB....I did the same thing. Just read the guage and filled up when it was low and it worked great....until one day the gas gauge fooled me into reading what's not really there.

[deilenberger]

Michael,

You're using a lot of gas.. Since I got the O2 sensor on the left cylinder working right again, I've been averaging over 50MPG regularly (which is what I got when the bike was new when the O2 sensor was working right.) And it seems to be improving.

Today I filled up at 212 miles and put in 3.9 gallons. About 54 MPG. My OBC was showing 48 MPG (it always seems to be a bit pessimistic) and the mileage remaining was 88 miles (or about 1.6 gallons remaining in the tank.) It was my usual mixed riding - highway and back roads, some of the back roads were 2nd-3rd gear twisty roads.

For about 2 years I had a rough idle and mileage calculations in the mid 40's.. since I fixed the O2 sensor the bike is running better, idles smoothly and is getting wonderful gas mileage. Wish I could do that to the Cayenne.. (which makes up for all the gas I'm saving on the R12R.)

[r12gecko]

What exactly do you mean by "fixed the sensor"? Replaced it?

[deilenberger]

What exactly do you mean by "fixed the sensor"? Replaced it?

Actually - I did replace it (I had spares kicking around.. a good thing since they're $$$).. but that wasn't the fix. The fix was to find where the harness had chafed, insulate it, move it away from the transmission case, and put some plastic sleeving on it so it wouldn't happen again.

I've looked at other R12Rs - and this particular harness branch is run differently on mine. I'm guessing Hans had a few too many beers at lunch and then installed mine. I'd move it to where the others are run, except it requires removing everything under the tank to get at. Seemed easier to fix it my way..

[xbpod]

I have a new 2011 with about 750 miles on the clock. This is my first BMW, so reading the above posts, I'm guessing the MPG figures increases dramatically as the engine loosens up as the best I have managed is 170 miles to a tank.

Pete.

[Faylo]

I have a new 2011 with about 750 miles on the clock. This is my first BMW, so reading the above posts, I'm guessing the MPG figures increases dramatically as the engine loosens up as the best I have managed is 170 miles to a tank.

Pete.

My 2010 went from 42 mpg new to around 48 mpg at about 2700 miles. I started seeing improvement at around 1000 miles. I routinely fill up at 200 miles and usually squeeze a little over 4 gallons in to the top on centerstand. I am sure I could get close to 50 mpg if I could keep her at the speed limit on the highway.

[Cubdriver]

WOW, I just intentionally ran my 2009 R1200R out of gas in order to store it. I has 2200 miles on the odometer, and this tank was all consumed at about 7000 feet in Wyoming with a variety of speeds, but no around town sort of riding. I was shocked to see 311 miles on the trip meter beofre it quit on me!!! AT 253 miles, the fuel light came on and indicated 39 miles to go. In fact I got about 58 miles out of her. AND, the countdown went to Zero on the miles remaining screen 10 miles before it actually quit. Not that this is good, but it does show how inconsistent these fuel computers and sensors are. And DAMN I like riding that bike.