i have the 2009 thunder blue 250.....is it just my bike or does anyone else relize thatthat the fuel gauge is crap.....when i fell it and i mean i visually see its full it reads 3/4 full....it reads empty when there is gas in it.............................................................................. ..................................not that i rely on my gauge its just that i bought it new and its seems shot, i'm taking it back to dealer to be replaced. i spent hard earned money and expect every thing to work right!!!!plus when i plan to sell it i want it flawless for the next 250 owner, for all i know it might be my son who can get permit in 2 yrs.:eek:

Mine usually reads full when full and empty when empty but I have had it run out of gas and still show nearly 1/4 of a tank! Yes, it seems variable for me, but one thing it has never done is show 3/4 full when it was full, so I wouldn't use that info to dismiss your problem.

That said, are you sure you are filling it all the way up? Just in case you don't know, you are not supposed to fully insert the dispenser like you would a car because it will stop long before the bike is actually full. This may be difficult in CA and possibly other states mandating similar mechanisms because they have weird vapor-recovery pumps that require you to simultaneously hold back a flexible piece around the nozzle while you dispense. I figure that some people may just insert it fully because that works too but they will not get a full tank.

It's like a kidney transplant with a bad match... the body rejects it. There's sposed to be a temp gauge there, the fuel gauge is being rejected.

It's like a kidney transplant with a bad match... the body rejects it. There's sposed to be a temp gauge there, the fuel gauge is being rejected.

What's funny is that the temp gauge is LESS needed on an FI bike and MORE needed on a carb'd bike and yet Kawi got it backwards! At least, that's how I understand it (EFI bikes don't have the same issues when running cold).

i dont put the nozzle in all the way, i sit on my bike so its upright and i fill it to about the rim were i can see it visibly full..usely about $7.00 bucks to fill

The fuel gauge reads more true when the bike is on the side stand. It's useless when you are riding.

i dont put the nozzle in all the way, i sit on my bike so its upright and i fill it to about the rim were i can see it visibly full..usely about $7.00 bucks to fill

If that's the case, you aren't getting anywhere NEAR empty!

My fuel "light" comes on when it needs gas and goes off when i put gas in, seems to do the job. The temperature gauge does a great job of showing the bike is always, always cold.

If it really is that bad then treat it like a light, when it gets below half start thinking about filling up, when its above half don't worry about it. Adjust to suit whatever it behaves like. On an old car i had, when it was full it read full for about a mile, then it crept down to just above 1/2 over the next week it would creep down to below 1/2 (time to think about fuel) and after that it would plummet down so quick it was not funny.

Even the light on the FI bike is not that accurate, it sometimes comes on if i hit the brakes hard, then goes off it i accelerate hard. Its never going to be accurate as the fuel is sloshing around in the tank, its hard to measure a moving target ;)

I use the kilometers (miles) travelled as a guide. I get about 320 k's once it hits the red line. I can then push it for a little bit more and have a 500ml to a litre left when I go to fill up, which will have got me another 20 to 30k's.

I only push it on the red line if its on the red line when I leave work. I know I can make it home. The best I have done is 410 kilometers on a tank.