Drinking Fuel?

[Ritzah]

Hi all, i think that my ER500 maybe running abit rich, i have only been able to get 135miles from a tank, and 2 days ago i put in £5 as the petrol gauge was in the red, so that put the gauge above half way, say almost 3/4, now 2days later, its gone abit below half already, i do about about 40miles a day, commuting, is this average for a 500 twin or do you think that something may be wrong? like the carbs may need cleaning, or something needs checking out?

Cheers

[wantser]

From my experience with the ER-5, which was for a week whilst doing my DAS, the petrol gauge on those things are not very reliable. One minute you are half full the next few minutes you are on empty.
The problem with petrol gauges on motorbikes is the shape and size of the tank. Becouse of the sloping sides and sloshing about it is very hard to get accurate readings.
You are much better of using the mile counter to judge your range.
Fill her up, zero it, ride it till you hit reserve and see what you get. Thats your range. Use the reserve to get to a petrol station.
Best no to go too far away from a petrol station the first time you do this!!

So it maybe that your bike is running fine.

Hope this helps

Wantser
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[Ritzah]

yeh, i was thinking that aswell, going up and down hills can really throw the gauge off quite abit, maybe its just me being paranoid about my new(ish) bike.

[wantser]

If its running rich, you would be able to smell it.......but then if you are paranoid about it, you will probably smell it anyway even if it wasnt.

I have a 1980's vtwin and that gets about 145 miles to a tank. 165 ran right down. Thats with tenners worth (ish) in the tank.

Wantser
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An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field

[jamieclayton9]

er5 are usally pretty good for doin 50-60ish to the gallon but if you ride it hard it will only do about 35ish. cheers. jamie
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all my previous rides, c50 steppie, h100s, cb250n superdream, gpz500s, gsf600s bandit, gsf1200s bandit, zx6r, thunderace, dr350, sv650s, cb600f hornet ooohhhhh and the mrs

[stinkwheel]

The other thing to remember if the tank is anything like the one on my GPZ500 is that it is very wide at the top. When the tank looks like it is full (when the fuel is up to the bottom of the filling 'spout'), you can usually fit another 3 or 4 litres in there.

My GPZ has a 4 gallon tank, you can usually count on 165 miles of fairly enthusiastic riding with a bit of fast (80-85mph) cruising on the motorway thrown in before reserve, this drops to 120-130miles if you are giving it some welly. If you ride sensibly and within the speed limit (yeah right), you get over 200 miles to a tank.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Ritzah]

Ok thanks guys, i think it might be that i ragg it 3/4 of the time, i'll try and ride more reasonable going to and from work, then blast it on the w.e's.

[Superlight]

Oh, the bike's drinking fuel...

I thought you wanted to know what mixers go well with unleaded.
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If it doesn't move but should, use the WD-40.
If it shouldn't move but does, use the Duct Tape.

[instigator]

Enjoy the mpg you get on that thing, it goes downhill from here on in....

The most I ever got was just short of 169 miles to a tank on my A4 er5. And the fuel gauge never worked either.

[Whosthedaddy]

[quote="wantser"]If its running rich, you would be able to smell it.......but then if you are paranoid about it, you will probably smell it anyway even if it wasnt.quote]

Please explain

Everytime I ride my ZXR, which I suspect could do with a tune or service, my hands stink of petrol
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Current : MSX 125 Past : CBR 900RR Monkeybike : c50 LAC : ZXR750 H2 : FZR600 : ZX7R P3 : YW100 : TRX850: Trophy 900 T309 : GSXR 600 L0: Monkeybike : XJ6S Whosthedaddy

[phantomtek]

I haven't got one on my ER5 so I'm just gonna have to do what Dodsi says, fill it to the top and run it right down counting how many miles it takes to do so. Then that's my MPG.

It's not bad for MPG either