Question How far did you go on reserve?

[Janus]

I once went about 35 miles with my wife and a small amount of luggage in saddlebags on reserve. I don't think I've ever been as gentle on the throttle. I filled up just north of 3.5 gallons.

Other than when we saw the glow of many deer's eyes on the shoulder after sunset, getting to the gas station was the most tense part of the ride. We rode out to the Tulelake concentration camp in northern California. It was an odd feeling looking at what remained of a dark chapter in American history.

Beautiful country though

 

[Twincam]

Bike is new, 5000km so far. And yes I have 2 side paniers and will be equipped with a 40 liters dry bag for the trip. This will add some drag for sure, good point!

The road will be pretty flat but one quarter of it will be gravel/hardpack.

I really like the MSR fuel bottles idea. I can make room for those easily! 2 one liter bottle should give me peace of mind!

 

[670cc]

A

Bike is new, 5000km so far. And yes I have 2 side paniers and will be equipped with a 40 liters dry bag for the trip. This will add some drag for sure, good point!

The road will be pretty flat but one quarter of it will be gravel/hardpack.

I really like the MSR fuel bottles idea. I can make room for those easily! 2 one liter bottle should give me peace of mind!

Although MSR brand has a popular “proven” fuel bottle, I see there is also available a Primus brand bottle in various sizes up to 1.5 liter. I noted in my shopping research that the Primus seemed to be priced lower than the MSR. I have no experience with the Primus bottle, but I may try one. My MSR bottle has been reliable.

 

[the Ferret]

There aren't many places, here is the states anyway, even out west, where you will go over 200 miles between stations, unless you take a really convoluted route. East of St Louis it would be virtually impossible without trying really hard. Like I have said, I have ridden thru 43 states of the lower 48 states now and have not run out of gas yet, and 4 of the states I haven't ridden thru are on the east coast with plenty of stations around. In places of low station density, you don't want to pass a lot of them up, even if you still have 1/2 tank of fuel on the gauge. Out in Oregon I was headed to ride Rattlesnake Grade (Org Rt 3 Wash Rt 129) and passed a sign that said " Next gas 177 Miles" and looked down and saw I was on a half tank on my ST 1300, and turned around and went back to the last town a few miles back to fill up before going and riding the route. 177 miles out there is a desolate stretch of road.

Rattlesnake Grade

 

[Twincam]

Although MSR brand has a popular “proven” fuel bottle, I see there is also available a Primus brand bottle in various sizes up to 1.5 liter. I noted in my shopping research that the Primus seemed to be priced lower than the MSR. I have no experience with the Primus bottle, but I may try one. My MSR bottle has been reliable.

Ohh, thanks for the tip. I will be looking for those!

 

[TacomaJD]

I don't test reserve. Light was flashing once, no idea how many miles I went after it started flashing, as I was on my 2013 and it doesn't start counting miles when it starts flashing like my 2016 does. Regardless, I left the house going on a ride one morning, figured I had enough gas to make it across the river to that gas station about 15 miles away (instead of the one 5 miles from my house), and I made it until about 1.5 miles from the gas station and ran out of gas on the long river bridge. Luckily my buddy was with me, went to gas station, bought a 32 oz Gatorade, poured it out, filled with gas, and brought it to me while I waited with the bike on the bridge. Now, it starts flashing, I'm finding a gas station within 10-15 miles if at all possible.

 

[melensdad]

Ohh, thanks for the tip. I will be looking for those!

Couple of things.

1 - I've used SOTO, PRIMUS and MSR fuel bottles. All are good quality. Buy what you can find at the best price.

2 - we had several threads about carrying fuel over the years. Here is one I did before I did a scoot across Ontario from Thunder Bay to the St Lawrence Seaway. I was looking to carry 1 gallon of fuel. So all cost comparisons are per gallon. On page 2 of the thread I did breakdown of the information I found, with costs at the time.

LINK -- > https://www.nc700-forum.com/threads/fuel-bladders-instead-of-msr-bottles.14651/​

​

And FWIW, here is a link to a Desert Fox fuel bladder review. This is the 3L size. I own the 5L size. But the write up may give you more to think about? --> https://www.nc700-forum.com/threads/review-desert-fox-3l-trail-fuel-cell.19089/​

 

[dduelin]

Good advice Bigbird. I know it is not the best scenario.
I am planning a trip that has a strecth of almost 230 miles of no man's land. (370 km). I am curious to see if I will make it without extra fuel. I would prefer not to bring extra fuel on the back rack.

This is how I approach situations like this. The leg is 230 miles and I want to burn 3.2 gallons and arrive with a comfortable reserve. 230/3.2= 71.88 mpg. If the terrain is reasonably flat or rolling gently and winds are not excessive headwinds I will need to keep my speed to 55 or less. If I’m comfortable burning 3.5 gallons and expecting ~66 mpg I can up it a bit to 55-60. On my 2012 I used to carry a MSRP fuel bottle but I never had occasion to use it and when I got my 2015 I never installed the tool tube carrier for the fuel bottle.

 

[Twincam]

Couple of things.

1 - I've used SOTO, PRIMUS and MSR fuel bottles. All are good quality. Buy what you can find at the best price.

2 - we had several threads about carrying fuel over the years. Here is one I did before I did a scoot across Ontario from Thunder Bay to the St Lawrence Seaway. I was looking to carry 1 gallon of fuel. So all cost comparisons are per gallon. On page 2 of the thread I did breakdown of the information I found, with costs at the time.

LINK -- > https://www.nc700-forum.com/threads/fuel-bladders-instead-of-msr-bottles.14651/​

​

And FWIW, here is a link to a Desert Fox fuel bladder review. This is the 3L size. I own the 5L size. But the write up may give you more to think about? --> https://www.nc700-forum.com/threads/review-desert-fox-3l-trail-fuel-cell.19089/​

That is very useful information! Thanks a lot!

 

[Floowid]

A couple things. There is a video I just watched a few nights ago by a NC750X rider in England. He filmed himself riding on reserve until it quit. I think he got in excess of 60 miles. You can look up the video, skip to the end for the actual number. On a recent trip back from Palm Springs to Utah I planned a trip up through the Mojave desert. There is a stretch of about 180 miles of nothing from Palm Desert up to the Nevada state line. In my ignorance and stupidity I stopped a town too soon (I thought I was already in 29 Palms... I wasn't) to fill up and ended up going an extra 30 miles. I was about 20 miles into reserve when I made it to the gas station in Nevada. I put in just a little over 3 gallons so I probably had at least a half gallon left. I was riding rather conservatively in the 55 to 70 mph range and I went 210 miles with another probably 25 more until completely empty. I don't think I would plan a 230 mile stretch without a fuel bottle or two, but I think I could have made it.

 

[Lomunchi]

I've gotten al the way to work having left with the last bar flashing. That's 18 miles. Then I filled her up ASAP.

 

[the Ferret]

Today I went on reserve at 201.5 miles, went an additional 37.1 miles on flashing reserve as it counted up to .5 gallons used. Pulled into a station and filled up. Took 3.1 gallons. 238.6 miles on 3.1 gals is 76.9 mpg