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Record-Breaking Day - 3.646 Gallons over 263 Miles

Naked_Duc

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I don't know if it's a game I like to play in my head or it's just OCD but I just love to calculate how much fuel I have left in the tank at the end of the work week. My commute is now 46 miles/day round trip and that would equal to about 230 miles per week, plus a little more for side trips and errands. The goal is to make it to Friday and gas up on the way home, at the same gas station, at the same pump. Thru out the week, I would make mental notes on when I lose each bar on the fuel gauge, weather variables, and mileage. Then I would guess how much gas I need to put in for that week of riding.

After almost 3 years of riding the NCX, I know all too well what type of MPG I would get with the given condition and distance, plus and minus a few. So I am pretty confident that I would make it to the gas station in the end, even if I have to push the envelope a bit. Well, this time, I did just that - pushed it a bit too far.

My previous record of putting in 3.61 gallons, cover 259 miles (71.6MPG). I was sweating a bit and was surprised that I only have .1 gallon left, or 7 miles away from pushing the bike. LUCKY. This time around, I had to break 260 miles just so I could end up at the same gas station (I've passed so many on the way home). Just when I got to the gas station, stopped in the center turn lane, waiting to turn left into the gas station, the engine cut out. NOOOOOO, did I just run out of gas?

I tried to start the bike. The engine barely cranked over. I rocked the bike side to side, trying to get some fuel into the fuel pump (wishful thinking?). It didn't help. Then the starter seemed to stopped working and the engine wouldn't even crank over. So I pushed the bike across 2 lanes of traffic into the gas station. It took 3.646 gallons (over 263 miles; 74.5MPG)!

The bike fired up after that. I wonder if there is a safety feature that disengage the starter when the fuel pump is dry. Anyway, 3.65 gallons is all it would take. Lesson learned!
 
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nice MPG

just dont do it too often.... the fuel pump uses the fuel to keep itself cool.

and so does the wallet,its needs refreshing now and again.
got these little devils in mine...
813943d1373150786-shame-you-lbs-walle.jpg
 
Haha! That's one way to get a thrill! That so reminds me of the Seinfeld episode with Kramer test driving the car and driving it down to empty. :D

[video]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TuEdU_lrtZk[/video]
 
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I would play it a little safer from now on. You'd hate to get debris from the bottom of your tank into the fuel pump/lines when your fuel tank runs out...or burn up a fuel pump for that matter. Kudos on being able to do that though. For me, math is another language all together...:rolleyes:
 
Running the tank down to the bottom and beyond ensures your fuel system picks up all the crud that has accumulated in the bottom of the tank. :-(
 
Running the tank down to the bottom and beyond ensures your fuel system picks up all the crud that has accumulated in the bottom of the tank. :-(

Yes, but the OP routinely runs the tank low so the crud never accumulated.

As for other posts that mention fuel pump cooling, I have to wonder if that's an old wive's tale based on older pump designs. Are modern pumps really prone to overheating? The thing is, the pump is cooled by the fuel running through it. If the engine is still running, even down to the last drop, there was still fuel flowing, thus still cooling. When the fuel runs out, the show's over, and the rider is not riding with a pump lacking cooling because he can't.
 
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I don't have the nerve to ride that far. I can respect the games people play. Some folks do Iron Butt type riding. Others see how fast they can go. Still others see how far they can go on one tank. It's all part of the fun, but now Naked_Duc KNOWS how far he can go. Happy riding.

Interesting thought 670. It makes sense that if the engine is running, there is fuel in the fuel pump. In the days of carburetors and float bowls that would keep an engine running after the fuel pump had run dry, I could see it being an issue. With pressurized fuel injection cutting the engine off if there isn't sufficient pressure, I wouldn't worry about it.

We could ask Fuzzy if he kept his tank dry. Or we could ask OCR how many times he's run his out of gas and if he's worried about it.
 
Haha! That's one way to get a thrill! That so reminds me of the Seinfeld episode with Kramer test driving the car and driving it down to empty. :D

[video]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TuEdU_lrtZk[/video]

TOTALLY. That's exactly what I was thinking as I broke the 260 mile mark.

As for routinely running low on the tank and pulling in cruds into the fuel pump. Is that really an issue? I almost always put in over 3 gallons per fill up and regularly put in 3.3 - 3.5 gallons.
 
TOTALLY. That's exactly what I was thinking as I broke the 260 mile mark.

As for routinely running low on the tank and pulling in cruds into the fuel pump. Is that really an issue? I almost always put in over 3 gallons per fill up and regularly put in 3.3 - 3.5 gallons.

maybe is an issue, maybe is not.

fuel pump failure sucks... self induced pump failure sucks even more.

i would avoid it if possible, in my area there is gas station every few miles,so i dont see the need to push it. there is no financial gain from pushing it. but if you are having lots of fun doing it.... go at it!!! it is worth the risk.

i would not worry too much about the crud i just like to keep the pump as cool as possible
 
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I wouldn't worry about crud in the tank, unless you are siphoning your fuel from other vehicles or leaving the cap off.
It's not like you're dealing with a 25 year old tank that has been empty half the time.
 
Wow! I get nervous went the last bar on the fuel gauge starts blinking and rarely put 3 gallons in the tank, closer to 2.7.

Brave people.
 
My father beat into my head to never let your fuel tank get below a quarter of its capacity. Keep in mind I only use the bike to commute. I fill mine up right after the third bar disappears.

It's your bike and your system seem to work most of the time so enjoy the time between fuel stations.
 
My father beat into my head to never let your fuel tank get below a quarter of its capacity. Keep in mind I only use the bike to commute. I fill mine up right after the third bar disappears.

It's your bike and your system seem to work most of the time so enjoy the time between fuel stations.

[video=youtube;dVSjCvGFMnM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVSjCvGFMnM[/video]
 
Hmm, crud at the bottom of your tank. I reckon that's an old wive's tale, personally. (No offence to any old wives intended).

Think about it. You ride along. What is the fuel in your tank doing as you hit each bump, swerve from side to side, etc? I get this funny feeling that the fuel does a little bit of sloshing. As it sloshes, I have a feeling that the crud in your tank, should it be there, gets mixed into the fuel a little bit, and may even get sucked into your fuel pump! Eek! That's even when your tank has lots of fuel in it!

So personally I don't see that running your tank low is going to have a huge impact. Now, leaving a steel tank mostly empty for long periods of time, sitting unused in a shed somewhere, well that may lead to rust occurring on unprotected steel. But on a bike that is used regularly, that is regularly filled up, run down, filled up, run down, etc, etc, well that tank is getting continually coated with fuel as the fuel sloshes around the tank during use. It won't have too much opportunity to rust. If you don't use your bike much, keep that tank full. If you use it all the time, don't worry about it.

I like to wear my bikes out, and not worry about rusting them out!

Oh, and congrats on the great tank/distance!
 
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I guess I shouldn't have joked about subtracting the pushing... I ran out of gas tonight. Took 3.645 gallons. Did 254.5 miles => 69.8 MPG

and after pushing 1/3 mile... I didn't subtract sh*t...
 
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