BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

While I'm generally happy with the computer upgrade (7.2 to 11.2) - one thing seems to be working oddly.. the fuel gauge/remaining miles.

When I got on the bike after the upgrade - the fuel gauge was reading empty, and the warning light was on. I purposely had run the tank fairly low taking it down to the dealer so the tank would be easier to lift.. it had about 40 miles remaining when I took it in.

I about immediately went and got gas - right across the street from the dealer, and within a mile - it was indicating full, and >253 miles remaining. That's the normal behavior.. looked fine and I didn't really pay any attention to it, until today.

Went for a ride - it was showing 220 or so remaining, a bit more than I expected (trip to the dealer is about 55-60 miles) - but not drastically off. Stopped to see a friend for a bit and BS - got on started it and it now showed 243 miles remaining - with 80 miles on the tank - and the gauge was at full.

Rode home, keeping an eye on the remaining miles - and watched it drop down about 4 miles per mile.. until it got to a low of 216 miles remaining (and the gauge no longer showing full). Then it started going back up - again rather quickly - until I pulled into my garage where it now indicates 226 miles remaining with about 90 miles on the tank.

The remaining miles and gauge had always been quite reliable and seemed like a reasonable guide. The mechanic did warn me that the outside temperature gauge might be wacky for a bit while it recalibrates itself.. but no warning on the fuel-level gauge or remaining miles.

Anyone else who has had the update had problems?

I'll check with the dealer tomorrow.. and watch the gauge on the way to work.. but if anyone else has the problem I'm wondering if 11.2 introduced a software bug, or if the system has to recalibrate itself. MPG seems about right - indicating 48 MPG (a bit higher than I usually get for this sort of urban riding, but not glaringly off..)

Don: I didn't notice if mine is acting weird, next time I take it out I'll check.

Don

My gauge is over-the-top optimistic - and remains so after the upgrade. I think the dealer is ordering another sensor - that'll be my third!

However, I don't think it goes up as dramatically as yours - but on a restart it will reset itself a bit higher than it read when I shut the bike down.

I just regard the bike as having no fuel gauge - and use the trip meter in the old-school way. I am chasing the dealer - i would like the fuel gauage I paid for with the OBC. I don't know if the low fule waring light is independent of the gauge - and not game to find out, so I re-fuel at <325 km / 200 miles.

EDIT -

Don, did you see this from Graf in the service bulletin thread?

I have a problem with gas gauge also.....as I ride more miles the gas bar displays full all the time and the miles left is actually going up instead of down..........

Caroanbill wrote:Don, did you see this from Graf in the service bulletin thread?

I have a problem with gas gauge also.....as I ride more miles the gas bar displays full all the time and the miles left is actually going up instead of down..........

Bill, I do remember this vaguely - but I seem to remember it had to do with the pre-update software I think, and it only occured if you didn't reset the AVG MPG for a long time. I think..

Do you have a link to that thread handy?

Thanks!

Here you go Donhttp://r1150r.org/board/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=14757 My guage is still DOA. Dealer although new is doing the right thing in that they are laying in a stock of replacement strips for those of us that have already talked with the service dept guys. Hopefully they'll have them in in a week or so.

Thanks.. that doesn't seem quite the same symptoms, although similar.

My gauge this AM seems to be drifting towards reality. I left the garage with 219 miles left, with 96 miles on the tank.. not too likely. Rode my 14 miles to work, it now indicates 176 miles left, and the bars indicate about 1/2 tank.. miles on the tank are 110. It is getting closer to reality.. I had reset the avg MPG when I left the garage (it was up around 48) - the first 2 miles the remaining mileage dropped by about 15 miles, then it slowly started leveling off.

I'll see how it looks on the way home tonight. Might just have to take the long route home to see..

deilenberger wrote:While I'm generally happy with the computer upgrade (7.2 to 11.2) - one thing seems to be working oddly.. the fuel gauge/remaining miles.

When I got on the bike after the upgrade - the fuel gauge was reading empty, and the warning light was on. I purposely had run the tank fairly low taking it down to the dealer so the tank would be easier to lift.. it had about 40 miles remaining when I took it in.

I about immediately went and got gas - right across the street from the dealer, and within a mile - it was indicating full, and >253 miles remaining. That's the normal behavior.. looked fine and I didn't really pay any attention to it, until today.

Went for a ride - it was showing 220 or so remaining, a bit more than I expected (trip to the dealer is about 55-60 miles) - but not drastically off. Stopped to see a friend for a bit and BS - got on started it and it now showed 243 miles remaining - with 80 miles on the tank - and the gauge was at full.

Rode home, keeping an eye on the remaining miles - and watched it drop down about 4 miles per mile.. until it got to a low of 216 miles remaining (and the gauge no longer showing full). Then it started going back up - again rather quickly - until I pulled into my garage where it now indicates 226 miles remaining with about 90 miles on the tank.

The remaining miles and gauge had always been quite reliable and seemed like a reasonable guide. The mechanic did warn me that the outside temperature gauge might be wacky for a bit while it recalibrates itself.. but no warning on the fuel-level gauge or remaining miles.

Anyone else who has had the update had problems?

I'll check with the dealer tomorrow.. and watch the gauge on the way to work.. but if anyone else has the problem I'm wondering if 11.2 introduced a software bug, or if the system has to recalibrate itself. MPG seems about right - indicating 48 MPG (a bit higher than I usually get for this sort of urban riding, but not glaringly off..)

Hi Don.....I have exactly the same problem.......there is already a tread about it......look for fuel gauge failure......this did not happend right after the software update though.....it happend about 1000 miles after it......but my sysmptoms are exactly the same as yours......in fact....you even commented on my tread.....the tread name fwas Computer Failure? i beleive........

Graf wrote:Hi Don.....I have exactly the same problem.......there is already a tread about it......look for fuel gauge failure......this did not happend right after the software update though.....it happend about 1000 miles after it......but my sysmptoms are exactly the same as yours......in fact....you even commented on my tread.....the tread name fwas Computer Failure? i beleive........

Alex - yes - found it last night (senior moment - I forgot about commenting on it..)

Has the behavior changed on yours at all? Mine seems to be drifting back towards reality as I go through this tank of fuel. Was the dealer any help with yours?

don't count on it fixing itself Don.....mine drifts back and forth...and every time i think that the problem resolved itself...it appears again. I was at my dealer on saturday....setting up the appt for brake recall and the fuel gauge problem....the mechanic said that this is becomming common....he has seen 2 bikes within one week with this problem......the strip or the connector to the strip inside a tank is bad......
i have another annoying problem creeping in over the weekend.......the starter button works intermitenly if i am in gear....clutch in....foot rest up......used to start all the time.....now it's 50/50......it starts fine in nutral......probably bad contact somewhere by the clutch......
getting a little frastrated....to the point that i want to paint the bike yellow.......like a lemon

Just thought I'd post an update.. I think I have it figured out..

The bar-gauge likes to show full until it actually drops about 2 gallons in the tank. Dunno why, but the miles to empty is actually very accurate now.

I recall FredRyder (Fred H) posting that he came as close to running the tank dry as he'd ever want to - and put 5.7 gallons in the tank.

I filled up tonight on the way home from work. The warning light had been on for about 10 miles, and the miles to empty showed 30 miles remaining. The bar-gauge showed the bottom two bars. I had gone 220 miles since I last filled up. The bike took 5.05 gallons of gas. The MPG reading for the tank was 43. I calculated the actual MPG - and it was 43.5 MPG. If I take the projected total miles to dry as 220 + 30 = 250 miles. Divide that by 43.5 - comes up with 5.7 gallons, which according to Fred is very close to the tank capacity when it's down to fumes.

It appears to actually be more accurate than it used to be. The warning light used to turn on at 190-200 miles (when getting around 45 MPG) and I would usually end up putting 4.6-4.7 gallons in.

Anyway - it seems to be working, and I would suggest that the software update didn't make things less accurate, it appears it made it more accurate. Not a bad thing.

...glad to hear it worked out for you Don........mine went to the dealer today to replace the break line and fix the fuel gauge problem
interesting thing...after telling me that my bike would be ready the same day and that they have all the parts....they called and said that the parts dissapeared (i bet somebody more important then me came by:-)...........they were good enough to provide a loaner bike...yes an R12R...silver.....and they do NOT usually do that....cudo's to SF BMW for not leaving me stranded......but they still should check their stock before promissing anything to a customer.....just venting