[Hilmee]

My fuel gauge is horribly inaccurate on a brand new 2011 RT A&C. I saw something in only one post in 2010 when doing a search for fuel gauge but nothing else. I have 3 gallons when my fuel light goes on. Are any others experiencing this?

Another horribly inaccurate gauge is the outside temperature. I've noticed it as much as 10 degrees off. For instance it said 93 degrees the other day and I drove by a temperature sign at a bank that said 83. Anyone else notice this?

 

[spyderdave]

I have not seen any posts about the fuel gauges being off, but I know that it can be hard to put a full tank of full in the RTs.

As to the temperature, a thermometer in a greenbelt in front of a bank my read lower than what the temperature one the actual road is reading. I have seen this in both of my cars as wells as my RT.

 

[zeebill]

Fuel guage is a PIS in my mind and useless. It bounces all over the place and sometimes only partially stops when at a long light. About 125 miles and it is time to look for fuel stop. I am lucky to get 28 MPG at best, usually about 26 after almost 7,000 miles. Keep it below 5000 RPM and drive like a little old lady and you get better mileage.

The temperature guage is located somewhere that is effected greatly by the engine heat and seems to read high except after a longer ride without stopping. If you stop and say go shopping for 20 minutes or so and come out and drive home it takes at least 5 miles of moving to be close to accurate but still reads way too high in the summer.

Most who claim 30+ MPG don't get over 4,000 RPM and allow the auto shift t6downshift to achive this it seems. I didn't buy this swoopy looking thing to drive little the little old lady next store and for what it cost it should give better MPG when driven spiritedly. Not the case I am afraid. Rotax engined sportsracer I drove 15 years ago went rountinely 143 MPH down the straights and got 35 MPG with a 1500 pound car. Shame on you BuRP if with todays computers you can't do equal or better!

It is what it is and I do enjoy the good parts but it sure needs a great deal of redesign and work. Most frustrating thing about it is we should not be the test riders which at times we seem to be. Bill

 

[Bob Denman]

I've heard that the digital fuel gauge in the "information center" is more accurate. Some folks hzve unplugged the gauge out in the pod for this reason...
I've also noticed that the outside temperature reading is usually off by a noticeable amount; now I'm going to watch closer to see if it does stabilize to a more accurate reading after a couple of miles...

 

[santa claus]

Fuel guage

Hello folks I am a new owner of a RT Limited and have just turned over 1000 miles , can only put in about 4.3 gal of gas in tank when it reads empty. The dealer said it had a 6.5 gal tank and the owners manual says the same. When I said some thing to the dealer they told me that the reserve is that when it is on empty it has 2 more gal.
The question is does any one have any thoughts or facts on this.
By the way other than the foot/heat factor I have only good things to say about the ride. I love it and am planing a ride from my home in Houston to Eastport, Me. (where I grew up) the first of Aug. I am so looking forward to this ride but hope I don't have to stop every 125 miles for gas.
thanks
Peter

 

[Slybird]

I've heard that the digital fuel gauge in the "information center" is more accurate. Some folks have unplugged the gauge out in the pod for this reason...
I've also noticed that the outside temperature reading is usually off by a noticeable amount; now I'm going to watch closer to see if it does stabilize to a more accurate reading after a couple of miles...

I totally agree with Bob about unplugging both the fuel gauge and the engine temp gauge. Both analog gauges are useless and by simply unplugging them, the digital readouts kick in and are FAR more accurate. Wish I had unplugged them 1,000's of miles ago!

 

[Bob Denman]

I got one right???

 

[StanProff]

This morning my gas gage was in the red and the low fuel light was on for probally 10 miles before I stopped for gas. I had 130 miles on the trip meter. Up to now the gage has been more accurate for some reason. I filled up and it held 4.4 gal. So with the gage on the bottom and the low fuel light on it still had 2.1 or 2.2 gal in the tank. until today i would drive 160 miles or so before getting fuel and have never seen the gage in the red or the low fuel light lit up. I guess i hit a bump or something.

 

[StanProff]

how hard is it to unplug the gage? Does the info pod automatically start reading the fuel level? Does the rear suspension graph show when you hit the button? I would perfer to do away with the fuel gage and mount a gps in that spot.

 

[ulflyer]

At about 130 mi and needle in the red it takes 4.4 or so to fill mine. Sounds like this is the "norm". I'm checking milage on each tank and once I get a good feel for how many miles between fill-ups I'll mainly use the trip.
Basically, it looks like about 150 max will do it for me.

FWIW, I'm a "little old man", run interstate with traffic, and in the mountians yesterday i was gearing it down to 2nd and 3rd most of time whether climbing or decending. RPM's were in the upper 5K much of time.
MPG was 31. On run home, about half was interstate cruising at 70 and I got 33 MPG. Previous two tanks were 31.

 

[Bob Denman]

Fuel mileage will improve as the miles accumulate and the engine loosens up...

 

[spyderdave]

A couple of things that I have learned/experienced over my years of riding about filling the gas tank.

1. SAFETY TIP -- always tip the nozzle over before trying to put it into the fuel tank. This will spill any gas onto the ground instead of onto your hot motorcycle. I have seen 1 flash fire from someone failing to do this. I usually do this right in front of the pump at the bottom of the island to keep any spilled gas where most people will not slip in it.
2. Don't ever fill up the tank and park. The expanding gas will vent as liquid instead of fumes. This will result in gas dripping and pooling under the bike as well as hard starting.
3. No two gas pumps are the same. Especially when they have the vapor recovery nozzles. They will always short fill the tank. It is necessary to manually fill the tank to full.
4. A difference of 1/2 gallon on a 4 gallon fillup is 12.5% That will change your mileage by about 5MPG assuming 30MPG as normal mileage and decrease your range by the same amount.

 

[will_md]

thanks

I am at 800 miles on the Spyder, I have been disappointed on the gas mileage, but I did not buy it for the gas mileage. I commute 50 miles to work and back needing to fill the bike every day. That said, the freedom on being on the bike is very satisfying. Though sometimes it can be hard to get back on the road because so many people come up to ask questions. My view is that is good, because if more people buy Spyders there will be a larger after market accessories.

 

[50fathomsdown]

Fuel warning

Hello folks I am a new owner of a RT Limited and have just turned over 1000 miles , can only put in about 4.3 gal of gas in tank when it reads empty. The dealer said it had a 6.5 gal tank and the owners manual says the same. When I said some thing to the dealer they told me that the reserve is that when it is on empty it has 2 more gal.
The question is does any one have any thoughts or facts on this.
By the way other than the foot/heat factor I have only good things to say about the ride. I love it and am planing a ride from my home in Houston to Eastport, Me. (where I grew up) the first of Aug. I am so looking forward to this ride but hope I don't have to stop every 125 miles for gas.
thanks
Peter

I have taken my tank down to the fuel warning light disregarding the gages early empty indication. It tanks back up to about 4.2 to 4.5 gals. Earlier indications via the gage reveal it holds 3 gals as it hits the red empty mark.
Also the long stems on the fuel handles in the gas pumps here in the US seem to give a fill up that's short of the 6 gal tank capacity.