Newgen Maximum Range / When to Fill Up

[NathanF]

How far have you personally gone on a single tank of gas on your newgen?

Since our fuel gauges are inaccurate, nannying pieces of junk, I'm trying to get a feel for maximum range. Obviously it depends a bit based on type of riding, how much you filled up, etc... but I'd like to know the absolute maximum range (Assuming long trip, all highway riding, staying in high gears low RPM more or less). I'd also like to know the average maximum range (Assuming mixed city and highway riding).

Gassing up is always a bother so I'd like to do it as infrequently as possible. That being the case, I'm not real interested in filling up at 180 miles like many do as a precaution, and I'm definitively not going to fill up when the useless gauge says empty, and I've got about 47 gallons of gas left in the tank.

This article provides the following numbers:

Low: 47.1 (226 miles projected)
Average: 51.2 mpg (246 miles projected)
High: 55.3 mpg (265 miles projected)

Those projections assume you start with exactly 4.8 gallons of gas though, and use up every bit of it. I wonder how much the tank really has in it though after a typical fill up, whether or not doing it while on the side stand or straight up makes a difference, etc.. We need a bike with a drained tank, a large scale to figure out that mystery for good.

Right now I'm at 179 miles on my bike, and I'm thinking about getting a little portable fuel container so I can push it all the way until empty. Just as an experiment.

[Alex]

Depends what type of mileage one gets. It's all over the board:

Gas Mileage- Is your a Sipper or iz it Sooopazz, yo!!

Multiply what you typically get by 4.8, and that's your maximum range. But - pushing a bike that has run out of gas is usually done only once, before people realize that it's a colossal pain in the ass. After that, they likely aren't as interested in draining the last drop out of the tank before finding a convenient station.

[headshrink]

I fill up at around 175-185 miles. I'm typically putting in ~4.3 gal at that point, so I wouldn't want to push it past that much. If I'm on a long weekend ride, I make sure to gas up at 150, because gas stations become spaced further apart.

[SSR]

I've hit 275km before (172 miles), but that gas light had been on empty for a bit. Typically (almost always) I fill up at 250km (156.25 miles)

[algerath]

I have noticed often that everyone complains about the gas gauge, I must be really lucky, mine is really pretty good, when it hits red I have .8 gal in the tank.

I hate filling up all the time too, but I would not push mine much past 200 miles. My mileage varies quite a bit, I have been down to .8 in as little as 190 and as much as 235. On the low end you may be pushing by 235-240.

I always stay on the bike and fill it upright to try to be consistent, it also is partly because I am kind of lazy, I can pull up close and swipe my card, pump the gas and go without getting up.

[NathanF]

Originally Posted by SSR

I've hit 275km before (172 miles), but that gas light had been on empty for a bit. Typically (almost always) I fill up at 250km (156.25 miles)

Your bike sounds like mine! Be careful about that gauge and light as they are notoriously inaccurate. If you're filling up at 160, you've basically got 40 guaranteed more miles to go, plus another 20-50 depending on your mpg.

Thanks for everyone's comments thus far.

[NathanF]

Originally Posted by algerath

I always stay on the bike and fill it upright to try to be consistent, it also is partly because I am kind of lazy, I can pull up close and swipe my card, pump the gas and go without getting up.

That is part of my motivation as well.

My scientific, empirical side would like to know if it really accomplishes anything though. It is conceivable the shape of the tank yields the same amount of gas when filled on its side versus straight up.

There is also the fairly reasonable argument that filling up while sitting on the bike is unsafe. If something goes wrong and gas goes everywhere, it's going right on a fairly important part of your body.

Still, my laziness will likely prevail until the first time I dowse myself in gasoline and/or set my crotch on fire.

[kingkang204]

I commute 100 miles monday-thursday for school. Going 65-70(speedo) on the freeway usually allows me to ride 220 before I fill it up. Although I do put extra in the gas tank.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by NathanF

My scientific, empirical side would like to know if it really accomplishes anything though. It is conceivable the shape of the tank yields the same amount of gas when filled on its side versus straight up.

It's pretty easy to check. Fill it up on the stand, then tilt the bike level to see how much new space is available. It ain't much.

[headshrink]

Originally Posted by NathanF

There is also the fairly reasonable argument that filling up while sitting on the bike is unsafe. If something goes wrong and gas goes everywhere, it's going right on a fairly important part of your body.

Don't forget the increased chance of dropping your bike, with fuel cap open.

This is a mistake people only make once.

[kingkang204]

Originally Posted by headshrink

Don't forget the increased chance of dropping your bike, with fuel cap open.

This is a mistake people only make once.

I almost did this once on my r6 the first day I got it, the kick stand wasn't 100% down and started to bend. I got sort of pinned in between the bike and the pump but was able to keep it up, I always tap the kickstand with my foot before I set it all the way down now.

[bob706]

I've run out at 263 and 267. It helps sometimes to ride with friends

[RedCromwell]

Originally Posted by algerath

I always stay on the bike and fill it upright to try to be consistent, it also is partly because I am kind of lazy, I can pull up close and swipe my card, pump the gas and go without getting up.

I always wanted to do that. I thought it seems more efficient to pull up, stay on the bike and do everything. I'm already standing, seems strange to get off the bike to pump the gas. But, I haven't tried it yet. Afraid I'll be the guy that loses his balance and falls over with his bike at the pump.

Originally Posted by kingkang204

I always tap the kickstand with my foot before I set it all the way down now.

I always do that with the kickstand too. I've read of others that realized too late that their kickstand wasn't fully extended.

******
Well, back to the OP, I usually fill up around 160 miles or so. I average about 53 MPG. Do equal parts city and highway riding.

[greatwhiteninja]

I usually fill up around 175 and holds right around 4gals..

[Snake]

Originally Posted by NathanF

Right now I'm at 179 miles on my bike, and I'm thinking about getting a little portable fuel container so I can push it all the way until empty. Just as an experiment.

Have you ran the tank empty yet? I'm interested to see how many miles you get by running the tank dry.

[greatwhiteninja]

Originally Posted by bob706

I've run out at 263 and 267. It helps sometimes to ride with friends

Originally Posted by Snake

Have you ran the tank empty yet? I'm interested to see how many miles you get by running the tank dry.

Guessing 260ish..

[Jiggles]

I would probably run out of gas around 160-180 miles. So I fill up under 150mi

[leed]

The longest I wait to fill is usually 220. Even then, I can still see fuel in the tank.

[NathanF]

Originally Posted by Snake

Have you ran the tank empty yet? I'm interested to see how many miles you get by running the tank dry.

No, not yet. In fact, I had to fill up tonight because a friend called for a long ride tomorrow afternoon. Bob (post above) seems to have already ran it dry though, so that's good enough for me.

In the mean time, I just put in 3.936g at 178.5 miles. That yields 45 mpg, which sounds about right given most of my recent riding has been mixed city. Plus I've got risers, so I'm more upright which creates more wind resistance. (My fat ass has nothing to do with it, mind you.)

All in all, that means I could have gone 217 miles total. And given that 45 mpg is towards the low end, it's probably reasonable to assume that the minimum range for a healthy bike doing mixed city or highway is 210 miles.

[NathanF]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

I would probably run out of gas around 160-180 miles. So I fill up under 150mi

Are you going by the gauge, or are you dividing the number of miles you've gone since last fill up by the amount of gas it took to fill up? If it's the former, you should give the latter a try and figure out your mpg. If you really ran out at 180 miles, you'd be getting 37.5 mpg, which is insanely low.

That damn gauge is to blame for everything thinking the Ninja's range is 180 miles. I swear mine is practically on E around 130 or some nonsense.

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by NathanF

Are you going by the gauge, or are you dividing the number of miles you've gone since last fill up by the amount of gas it took to fill up? If it's the former, you should give the latter a try and figure out your mpg. If you really ran out at 180 miles, you'd be getting 37.5 mpg, which is insanely low.

That damn gauge is to blame for everything thinking the Ninja's range is 180 miles. I swear mine is practically on E around 130 or some nonsense.

It's about what I usually get. I've risked running out of gas and broke 200MPT a couple times by hypermiling, but I don't get the usual 200MPT. I weigh 250 and I can smell gas in the exhaust but dealers tell me that there is nothing wrong.

I "ran out" twice but at least one of those times was probably the tank forming a vacuum because I only got 117 miles before I had to start pushing.

[Old Lemon]

i get 50 - 55 mpgs. this thread made me start thinking about how much gas i was putting into my bike and i usually filled it at around 150 miles, on its side stand so when im done my gauge says i have room for another half gallon. But filling up at 150 miles ive been filling it consistently with about 2.5 gallons. Which makes me believe i could go approximately 75 more miles. But when my needle gets to that one gallon mark i get scurred

[etiainen]

Go at least 200-230. You can make it.

Use your MPGs, and maybe even fuelly.com to keep track of them.

With that info, you can safely calculate your range, long as your filling to the top.

[Jiggles]

Fill up at 160 miles or you will run out

[etiainen]

Your gas tank is too small Jiggles.

[Jiggles]

I think your throttle hand is too small

[etiainen]

Woah woah woah...

Too far there brah. Lol.

[NDspd]

I usually fill her up at 1/4 tank left or around 3 gallons used. That usually give me a good safety margin in case anything somes up.

I have yet to run her dry though, no friends to help me out here.

[etiainen]

I think the most I filled up on my old Ninja was a bit over 4.3 gallons.

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

Fill up at 160 miles or you will run out

This.

[TeamGreen]

Originally Posted by CZroe

This.

Seriously I must get ****** mileage too because 160 is where i'm thinking about gas. The gauge is probably reading empty around 120 miles. I can never get the gauge to read completely full. I think the most i've put in it is just over 4 gallons.

[MikeBudd]

300-330 km per tank. More or less depending on if I ride aggressively

So that's like 190 miles if my mental math is rightish.

[NDspd]

I've never hit E yet, just because I don't want to run out and then be stranded. When I'm back in Ohio I might haul a 3 gallon jug with me so I can test the full maximum range.