[Urban Coyote]

The owner's manual of my 2007 Sportster 883 Custom shows that the low fuel warning light should come on when there is 1.0 gallon left in the 4.5 gallon tank.

Every time I fill my tank to the top and then wait til I see the low fuel light and then go fill the tank back up, the gas pumps always show that I only put in about 3.1 gallons in and that's filling it all the way to the rim. I should be able to put in 3.5 gallons if there is only 1 gallon(or less) left in a 4.5 gallon tank, correct?

So there's 0.4 gallons, almost a half gallon unaccounted for.

Could it be that the sensor showing that there is only one gallon left is a little off and I actually have approx 1.4 gallons left rather than just 1 or is it purposely set that way to leave a little reserve of fuel?

Not that I would complain too much about it since that means I'm getting a little bit better gas mileage than I thought if there is a little more fuel left in my tank than I figured.

But just curious.

 

[Jayhawks]

Right on

I thought the same thing the first time it lit up my wife's 2007 1200low. I thought I was really getting bad gas mileage because we should have gone more miles. I think ours also comes on earlier than 1 gallon. I always think it is a good idea to start logging the miles you get out of tank based on what you put and what you just road. I think there is slightly less than one gallon on our raod king when the light comes on.

 

[Guest]

My FXR has a fuel gauge, and if your sensor for the light is anything like the sender for the gauge, it varies quite a bit. The needle swings over a quarter of a tank range sometimes while accelerating or braking.

 

[BH121869]

My FXR has a fuel gauge, and if your sensor for the light is anything like the sender for the gauge, it varies quite a bit. The needle swings over a quarter of a tank range sometimes while accelerating or braking.

My fuel guage is useless on my 2000 ultra classic. It stays on full for 120 miles and then drops like a rock. The only time I ran it to see how far I could go it took 5.1 gallons to fill it when the light came on. The tank is only 5 gallons??? My friends road king has lights on the gas cap and they are useless too. We fill up every 150 to 160 miles and get about 35 to 38 MPG. My 1200 sporty has gone 170 miles before the reserve kicked in and it has the small tank.

 

[Guest]

My fuel guage is useless on my 2000 ultra classic. It stays on full for 120 miles and then drops like a rock. The only time I ran it to see how far I could go it took 5.1 gallons to fill it when the light came on. The tank is only 5 gallons??? My friends road king has lights on the gas cap and they are useless too. We fill up every 150 to 160 miles and get about 35 to 38 MPG. My 1200 sporty has gone 170 miles before the reserve kicked in and it has the small tank.

My gauge goes to E right about the time I have to switch to reserve, so it's pretty accurate on the low end. But I have a reserve so with the trip meter, the gauge is redundant. I never worry about not having a reserve option in my cars, but in the bike it scares me. I guess it's just what you're used to. Reserve kicks in at 3.5 of 4.3 gallons used, I usually hit it about 140-150 miles around town. Steady riding gets me about 10-20 more miles, haven't done a long highway trip yet.

 

[sowbelliedhog]

The fuel guage on my Electra Glide is about as accurate as the ambient air temp guage they put on these things. I replaced the air temp guage with an oil temperature guage, by..umm...Harley Davidson. Oh well, the numbers are too small to really read anyway!
Just start looking for fuel at about 150 miles. I get 40 mpg if I am lucky. Could be in the right wrist, I don't know.

 

[Crazy-Mitch]

Fuel Light

I have a 2005 883 Sportster Custom, but the fuel light does not work. I am currently clocking the milage per tank of gas to see what i get, but i was wondering if you had any adviceon what i should do as for my fuel light. i have already ran out of gas four times because of the fact that the light doesn't work.

 

[Sharky1948]

Could it be that the sensor showing that there is only one gallon left is a little off and I actually have approx 1.4 gallons left rather than just 1 or is it purposely set that way to leave a little reserve of fuel?

Yep, that's part of the issue. The other thing is that you most likely are not filling the tank to the top. I have an '07 XL1200C and it's challenging to completely top off the tank with modern gas nozzles.

 

[sowbelliedhog]

Mitch, have you tried to diagnose the problem? A new bulb or led should not cost much. I doubt it is out if it is an led.
I purchased the HD shop manual for my dresser. One of the best investments made. Spend the $34 for the Sporty version. You can then see how EVERYTHING works.
As far as all of the accuracy questions, take the guage for wht it is worth, just a ballpark estimate. I once had a 1970 Chevy, 20 gallon tank. It took 13 gallons to go from "full" to 1/2 tank, and 7 gallons from 1/2 to "empty". That was a drag.

 

[Urban Coyote]

Yep, that's part of the issue. The other thing is that you most likely are not filling the tank to the top. I have an '07 XL1200C and it's challenging to completely top off the tank with modern gas nozzles.

I am filling it to the top. I stand over my bike holding the pump nozzle up so I can slowly fill it all the way to the inside rim by the gas cap opening where the vent valve is without the pump auto-shutting off on me. I even have stood my bike straight upright while filling to see if it made any difference.

 

[Sharky1948]

Mitch, have you tried to diagnose the problem? A new bulb or led should not cost much. I doubt it is out if it is an led.
I purchased the HD shop manual for my dresser. One of the best investments made. Spend the $34 for the Sporty version. You can then see how EVERYTHING works.

Shop manual is a must for all bike owners IMHO.

From what I understand, the light is coming on...it's just a matter of when. So a bulb is not going to be the solution. It's the accuracy of the sensor, which as everyone agrees is a very common problem.

Bottom line...fill your tank as soon after the light comes on as possible, measure how much you put in, and then you'll know how much is left and what the range is (since you can accurately calculate that.)

 

[Guest]

DO NOT trust the fuel light.

Keep track of your miles and make sure you fill up when your odometer tells you it should be time to fill up rather than trusting your fuel gauge or low-fuel warning light.

The gauge on my Road King has been fairly accurate, but I will not wait for the fuel light to come on if my odometer is telling me it's time for gas.

The low-fuel light in any vehicle I've ever driven/ridden has been pretty unreliable...and I'm talking about cars, trucks, motorcycles, vans...EVERYTHING.

 

[Sharky1948]

DO NOT trust the fuel light.

The low-fuel light in any vehicle I've ever driven/ridden has been pretty unreliable...and I'm talking about cars, trucks, motorcycles, vans...EVERYTHING.

Don't forget airplanes! On my first student cross-country I had the light come on when turning out of the pattern just after take-off. (Senor affected by roll of the wings...) Really got my attention! I returned for fuel...there was plenty left (and about what my calculations said there should be.) Bottom line, trust your odometer (or Hobbs meter if you're flying.)