Newer NC Fuel Light Blinking Early?

[BrinkHouse]

Hey guys! I just went on an awesome moto camping trip this weekend on my NC. Crossed the 1,000 mile mark on my way home which was sweet. Something I've been noticing since I got the bike is that the fuel light starts blinking really quickly. I know a lot of people here say they can get 260+ miles per fill up and I'm wondering when your fuel light starts blinking? Mine usually starts around 130-160 miles which seems quite low. On my last tank I got to 200 miles before I filled because I thought for sure I was nearing the bottom with how long the light had been blinking but found that I had only burned 3 gallons. Seems sketchy to just ride blindly on with the fuel gauge blinking but clearly I could've pushed on a ways more.

What are your experiences? Is my fuel light out of whack or is this a common issue? Loving the bike otherwise!

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[SergeantChuck]

I'm sure everyone has thier own system but I do not pay attention to the fuel light. Mine does not generally come on until I'm around 190-200 miles. Others may be different. When I first came to this forum someone was talking about this same issue. A member posted something about using a 200 miles rule. That is what I do. When I hit 200 miles I think about fueling up. Granted I carry an extra can of fuel on the bike and there are threads with ideas how to go about doing this so I don't get very worried about running out. Unless your out in the middle of knowhere 200 is a good number. You should have an easy 20 miles left to find a station. I do with my bike.

 

[fumanii]

My fuel light started flashing this morning when I hit about 160 miles. When I filled up my tank, I only put in 2.55 gallons and it was filled. It is a little worrisome.

 

[Craig92DA9]

I can only tell you how my bike behaves its a 2012NC700XC, fuel light comes on between 175 and 185 miles every time, i average 65mpg and if i get fuel within a few miles of the light coming on it will take 2.7gal, so my light comes on with 1 gallon left as opposed to the owners manual which states the fuel light will come on with 0.7gallons in reserve. Hope this was helpful. Oh and I have 5800 miles on mine and this has been consistent from day one, 180 miles and 2.7 gallons used. I have only had one or two tanks deviate from this formula and it was due to me being extra throttle happy.

 

[bamamate]

Mine usually comes on 180-200 miles. I've noticed on flat ground it seems to wait later than when in the hills. Ran out yesterday at 248 miles. I had spare gas with me and was seeing how far I could go. That tank came out to 70mpg including the spare gas.

 

[L.B.S.]

It's not an exact science; take a tour through "fuel gauge" on wikipedia, and you will wonder how the things even work at all, heh heh.

Would you rather have your fuel gauge falsely tell you are getting low on fuel before, or after, you have already run out? I'm ok with mine fibbing to the coming on "too soon" side of the coin.

Combining the variables involved with different day to day rides, like speed/distance/headwind/altitude/bike to bike manufacturing tolerences/etc., it's awesome if they work and are accurate (some lucky sob's lol) but as long as it doesn't do what my fancy and twice as expensive BMW did, let me run out bone dry while cheerfully telling me I had near 100 km's of fuel remaining, I'm not going to fault it too much.

I guess one could take the fuel sender out of the tank, bend the float arm a little bit, and see if that did anything, but you are on your own there, lol. Trying to measure out the resistance values as far as the potentiometre goes compared to what the specs are is another thing, but yuck, not for me.

Moaning to the Dealer and trying for a Warranty re/re is certainly possible I imagine, if it truly bothers you.

 

[AdamW]

My fuel light started flashing this morning when I hit about 160 miles. When I filled up my tank, I only put in 2.55 gallons and it was filled. It is a little worrisome.

This has been my experience also. But I'm not too bothers by it. I'd rather gas up more often then risk running out. Maybe I'll start the 200-mile rule. Meanwhile, I'm still amazed by a motorcycle speedometer that is actually accurate! My Aprilia Scarabeo 500 speedo was pretty consistently 10% faster than real life. Now I can ride without doing arithmetic.

 

[SergeantChuck]

Mine usually comes on 180-200 miles. I've noticed on flat ground it seems to wait later than when in the hills. Ran out yesterday at 248 miles. I had spare gas with me and was seeing how far I could go. That tank came out to 70mpg including the spare gas.

Seeing this happen gave me more confidence in pushing mine further. At 210 miles I only put 2.91 gallons of fuel in the bike. We did some pretty hard riding and I still had several miles left. In my opinion she will do 200 miles easy and I bank on that. Unless your riding at 80mph for an entire tank. That will definetly make a difference.

 

[Dennis M]

While out for a ride this morning mine started blinking at 198 miles, I had 225.5 miles on it when I put gas in, 3.027 Gal. 74.5 MPG my best so far,

 

[Monterey10]

Mine seems to go from 2 bars to flashing in an instant. It's not very linear. If I recall, about 169 miles. It's still breaking in.

 

[Naked_Duc]

The fuel light does come on early, which is a good thing, I think. For mine NCX, it's almost like clock work. At about 200 commuting miles, the light will start flashing. I know it would take 2.8 gallon to fill up at that point. It also tells me that I have about 1 gallon of gas left, which would get me roughly 70 miles before it's bone dry.

After awhile, you will get to know your NCX better and understand what she is telling you.

 

[Old Can Ride]

Why does everyone worry about running out of gas? You meet the nicest people on a Honda, especially when you run out of gas. I have found only the real nice folks ever stop to help.

 

[danrev]

I've had the same experience as many others. Mine starts blinking around 165-170 miles and I usually put in about 2.5 -2.7 gals. When I figured my average mileage a few weeks ago it came out at 70.2 mpg. So the 200 mile rule ought to be well within the parameters. But somehow I haven't gotten the courage to push it that far with that gauge flashing at me. Maybe there's something to be said for the old days when you didn't have a fuel gauge. You took the cap off, looked in the tank and rocked the bike from side to side to see if anything was sloshing around. Or you waited until you ran out and then reached down and turned the reserve valve and looked for a gas station.

 

[FlaNC700X]

Mine 160-180. Just started with fully so we'll see. Everyone knows I dog my Nancy.

 

[bikerguy]

You guys must be babying the heck out of it to get 70+. best I've gotten is 65.

 

[SergeantChuck]

You guys must be babying the heck out of it to get 70+. best I've gotten is 65.

I don't really baby mine. Thirteen miles of back roads where I have about five stops. I accelerate pretty hard off of those. I cruise at 60mph until I hit interstate. I am very aggressive when entering the interstate and I usually run between 70-75. Do that for 17 miles. My average lately has been 68+

 

[PJM]

My NCXa usually starts blinking at around 300k, and the most I've ever managed to get in there was 10.5 litres.
So pretty much 4 litres left is the norm at 300k.

Doing the maths, I should be good to get 400k out of a tank.

Once my fuel bottle arrives (posted today) I'll give her a full tank run and see what I get.

 

[670cc]

Mine seems to go from 2 bars to flashing in an instant. It's not very linear. If I recall, about 169 miles. It's still breaking in.

They all go from 2 bars to flashing in an instant. If it's down to one bar, it's flashing. There is no fuel gauge state showing a solid single bar.

Greg

 

[BrinkHouse]

Thanks for all the responses guys! Puts my mind at ease and I definitely plan to implement the 200 mile rule!

Happy riding.

 

[tew47]

After 15 miles with the low fuel light blinking I was getting worried. Filled up and had a gallon lift, only took 2.7 gal.