Fuel tank size

Motorcycling
1

Hi folks, I have a 2002 CBR600F, which allegedly has an 18 litre fuel tank. I’ve noticed that I’ll get about 120 miles out of a full tank before I have the ‘oh-my-God-for-the-love-of-Christ-fill-up-now-because-all-four-reserve-fuel-segments-are-flashing-on-the-dash’ moment. When I do, if I brim the tank again, I’ll only be sticking in about 15 litres to fill the tank. This works out as mileage of about 36mpg, which I understand is pretty normal for this bike when ridden in the city at peak hours.

So… what’s happening with the other 3 litres? Is my reserve fuel indicator lying; do I really have about 3l (another 25 miles) left when it’s telling me it’s running on fumes? I certainly can’t hear that there’s a whole lot of fuel left in there if I slosh it around a bit before filling up. Or do I really just have a 15l tank? Anyone else with a CBR600F noticed this before?

*I realise that I could just ride around the block near a petrol station and see how long I can go before it packs up, but that seems like a bit of a pain in the arse.

2

When the light flashes that prob another 20 miles. It most probably is your reserve.

3

The reserve lights on the CBR come on at roughly 100 miles - the dash shows four segments underneath a ‘RES’ display. After maybe 10 more miles the first segment starts flashing, then the first two, then first three, then all four flash together. That will be about 120 miles. That is (according to the manual) the ‘****-your-pants-and-get-to-a-pump-quick’ moment. Are you saying that at that moment you reckon that is actually where I’m plumbing the reserve supply, rather than 20 miles earlier?

4

ride to the end of the reserve. Then take a petrol can and drain the tank into it. Measure contents of can.

5

What a remarkably lucid and sensible suggestion that I should have not been too lazy to have done already. Thanks; I’ll give it a go.

6

Well riding untill it runs out and draining what’s left is one way, and probably the most accurate, but, kind of a pain in the butt.

I think I’d rather take a few litres with me, brim off the tank/note mileage, ride until the reserve stuff starts/note mileage, ride until it dies/note mileage. Then use the canned fuel to get to a gas station.

You still won’t know how much the tank/reserve/whatever holds but you will, more importantly, know what your absolute range is.

Then, as LiM and I discovered while we were out playing today, spirited riding will have a significant effect on m.p.g.

7

If you wanted to be really anal, you could do the above for different riding conditions.

8

you could get your tank ‘blown’ by a specialist and gain a litre or two :wink: …by that i mean the tank is pressurised and expanded slightly to hold more fuel.some racer’s would even dent tanks to reduce the volume to keep within regulations in the past

9

Hmmm cheers for that GP - hadn’t heard of that before. Might be something to look into if I ever get fed up of filling it up so regularly; at the moment I’m not touring on it so I don’t have to fill up mid-ride.