Fuel tank capacity

[WJBertrand]

I'm guessing Yamaha under rates their fuel capacity a little? My 2015 is advertised as 6.1 gallons. Here's my receipt from my fill up today. The bike was still running normally too.

-Jeff

 

[Kabish]

What annoys me incredibly is the computer that calculates your moles remaining. Today for example, fuel was blinking said I had 13 miles left. By the time I got to the gas station it was saying 8 miles. Bike is still new to me so I was freaking out.

Put 4.825 gallons in (right below neck) had 21% left in the tank. Very annoying, still don't have a good idea in the max miles I can go on a tank.

 

[Brick]

I'm on my second Tenere' a 2012 and a 2014 ES and I have NEVER been able to put anywhere that much gas in either of them. I always thought they had a 6.2 gallon tank???


Let's Ride!
Brick

 

[WJBertrand]

Forgot to mention that I went 282+ miles on this tank.


-Jeff

 

[markjenn]

Did you "burp" the tank full with short bursts? Maybe something has changed on the later models, but the earlier models were pretty consistently 5.7-5.8 if you were conservative on filling (to the bottom of the filler neck as Yamaha says to do) and 6.0-6.1 if you really worked at it. And there's always the possibility the station's pumps are mis-calibrated. Regardless, you were probably VERY close to hoofing it.

- Mark

 

[Kabish]

Sheesh, 282 miles? When I filled up today I was at 193 miles and the computer was "saying" I only had 8 miles left. Granted a lot of my commute is 25mph speed and is stop and go a lot.

Just find it funny every time I fill up it says my range is 400 something miles.... Really hate the computer on the bike..

 

[OX-34]

A couple of guesstimates there fellas.

1) The odo may be wrong.

2) The gas station pump may be wrong.

The tank is listed as 23 litres in most of the world, or 6.1 US gallons in a few places.

The most practical way to figure out the real volume is to run it dry and measure how much it takes to fill it up. Ok, that is not very practical in the breakdown lane on the side of the road. Instead, run it dry at home and have a known volume of fuel on hand in jerry cans to fill it up (at least 25 litres or 7 gallons). Once filled to wherever you call full (that varies from 'about that much' to the bottom of the filler neck or right up to the very brim) then fill the jerry can up again and calculate how much you used.

Of course point 2) above comes in to play when topping up the jerry can anyway if you're using gas station pumps.

To just find out how far you can go on a tank or how far you can go after it starts to blink, pack a jerry can and run the bike dry.

As for 'burping' the tank ,it is easier if you punch (not drill) holes into the filler neck:



If the estimated 'miles to empty' annoys, why not push the buttons to another data field?

 

[Checkswrecks]

There's a big difference between tank volume and usable fuel. Nearly all tanks provide expansion space at the top, so that filling and then parking the bike doesn't split a tank seam or result in fuel spills. Think in terms of filling up when nearly home, parking in the garage, the hot motor expands the gasoline, and it floods the floor from the vent. If there is a water heater or other open flame this could be a big problem.


As OX-34 notes, the usable fuel can be increased by punch an air hole in the filler neck.

 

[rider33]

I find that while all the electrical trickery is amusing on those long days on tour, the fuel things in particular are directional at best, a bit like a mercury thermometer that has slid down a bit in its casing & thus gives oddly entertaining readings. The "full until you go about 75 miles, then it drops about a third" gas gauge got my attention first. I also find the range numbers with a full tank in the 3 or even 4 hundred mile range sometimes to be a wee bit optimistic. It settles down a bit as the fuel gets used but I always seem to be putting in 4-5 gallons, never 6. Then again running bikes dry that have in-tank fuel pumps never seemed to be a good idea. Besides, while the S10 is lighter than my ST13 was, I still wouldn't want to be pushing it very far....

 

[OX-34]

...... Then again running bikes dry that have in-tank fuel pumps never seemed to be a good idea. .....

I wouldn't suggest regularly running the tank dry.

But for those that want to know how far they can go 'after the blinking' and how far they can go in total then running it dry just the once is what I recommend.

Of course, if riders are really obsessed with mileage and range then they can always bolt on one of these:

 

[WJBertrand]

I always have to top off the tank of a motorcycle. The gas nozzles here in CA have vapor sleeve that has to be pushed back an inch or so before gas will flow. This results in the nozzle poking well down into the tank preventing a complete fill. You have to finish off holding the sleeve back manually. After the automatic shut off I usually add gas until it just stays above that disk in the neck. I also usually fill with the bike on the center stand.

My bike will easily make two and half round trips to work (46 miles each way) but my mind was somewhere else last night and I forgot to fill up before leaving work. By the time I noticed the low fuel warning I was more than 1/2 way home and in a no man's land where the last stations were about 8 miles behind me and the next stations were still 8-9 miles ahead. I figure if I was going to run out I might as well press on as I'd be closer to home and it would be a shorter drive for Diane to come rescue me with the lawn mower gas can. As it turned out I made it to the next available pumps with the engine still running normally.

Those pumps are pretty tightly calibrated by law so I doubt the pump was inaccurate. I suspect Yamaha's 6.1 gallon rating is a skosh conservative. The 282 miles was from the bikes ODO but my GPS, when synced to the bike's ODO, shows it to be a percent or two higher than what the GPS records. I figure real mileage, assuming the GPS is more correct, was probably closer to the mid 270s.

 

[yz454]

I have done 6.4 gallons and still running when pulled in .

 

[WJBertrand]

I have done 6.4 gallons and still running when pulled in .

Amazing, makes me think I might have made it all the way to my regular station close to home which is probably another 4-5 miles from where I stopped.

 

[silvergoose]

Being a little older than most of the members, I find that after 2-21/2 hours of riding it's time to drain on and fill the other. This plan assures plenty of fuel is on hand should I need to ride a bit further down the road.


Good Luck

 

[nico_yyz]

i always carry a 1 gallon rotopax. 2 gallons on trips in the middle of nowhere.

 

[arjayes]

I have done 6.4 gallons and still running when pulled in .

Sure you didn't leave a puddle of gas behind?

Must have been a wacky pump. It's not possible to cram 6.4 gallons into a 6.2 gallon tank in my universe.

 

[yz454]

Maybe but I have done more than once .

 

[rider33]

I always have to top off the tank of a motorcycle. The gas nozzles here in CA have vapor sleeve that has to be pushed back an inch or so before gas will flow. This results in the nozzle poking well down into the tank preventing a complete fill. You have to finish off holding the sleeve back manually. After the automatic shut off I usually add gas until it just stays above that disk in the neck. I also usually fill with the bike on the center stand....

the first time I rode thru Northern California those things had me baffled as in "WTF is this thing doing here?". Then I remembered an odd bit from the Aerostich catalog & it all snapped into focus:

http://www.aerostich.com/tools/tools/small-things/e-z-fill-nozzle-key.html

 

[ScoutDogMan]

On my 2016 ES, I figured I have at least 50 mies left when the light starts to blink and it indicates low fuel. The mile read out is not correct, it showed "0" miles and according to what I put in it, I had 30-40 miles left in it. On mine, it looks like the light starts blinking
when there is about 1 gallon left in the tank. Based on my milage last week on a 800+ mile trip (I averaged 51.3 mpg), that leaves about 50 miles after blinking indicator.

 

[trikepilot]

Before i left on TAT, i wanted to know exactly my range and limit after light came on so i ran her dry. Under normal and varied throttle use, the light came on at 230 and the motor stopped at 290. So 60mi was ny absolute limit once the light came on. I figured i would push to 40 if needed. But the longest fuel gap has turned out to be around 160mi so it was a non-issue

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