[billnoroville]

Have 650 miles on bike now. Decided to fill up Saturday, ride as much freeway as I can at 65-73 and try to use 6th as much as possible and use STD mode. Most of the freeway for this unscientific test were level 4 lane roads.

At first I thought my gage was broken as the
fifth element went off at 66 miles. I thought wow, I've got 4 more elements to go.
forth element turned off at 90 WTF? 24 miles
third element turned off at 102 double WTF 12 miles
second element turned off at 117 15 miles
first element started flashing at 130 15 miles

fuel mileage for test 135.3 miles 3.143 gallons so 43.04 mpg (not great but ok) .557 gal remained or good for maybe 23 miles or 158 miles total on tank.

Not picking on the bike just reporting an observation.

 

[eolith]

dude! stop picking on the bike!



j/k

Seriously I was thinking about doing a similar test. I'd like to take a day and do an all freeway test, a tank going one direction, then a tank coming back, just to get a really good feel for the max range.

 

[Heli12345]

I had the same issue on my Ninja 300. It seems to be that way on all bikes that have electronic fuel gauges. Not an issue for me, personally, as it still reports low fuel pretty accurately, but I never did enjoy the accuracy of everything in-between. Really, it is just there to give you a baseline, not an exact and accurate amount of what you have left.

 

[RichBinAZ]

I'm actually doing the same thing right now - trying to see roughly when the bars go away on the fuel gage - have not got thru the whole tank yet - with my commute, that should be wednesday, or I'll be pushing it.

5th bar went at 72 miles
4th bar went at 92 miles
3rd bar went at 104 miles
2nd bar went at tbd miles - I missed this on the way in to work
1st bar went at 138 miles - Made it home @149 miles with the light still flashing. I think I will be filling it up tomorrow

It takes a while for the first bar to go, then it drops like a rock

SO filled it up today at 150 miles, 3.25 gallons - 46mpg. The bar had been flashing for 12 miles according to the trip meter

 

[billnoroville]

eloith, I really like the FZ-09 but everything is not as good as it could/should be as others have pointed out so if that is picking on it , ...GUILTY. lol. beat you too it.

RichBinAZ your numbers so far are not all that different.

Heli12345 yeah, my CTX's gage is only slightly better. I am working on my baseline for longer trips. We all ride differently and load differently so good reason for differences in MPG that I am reading here on the forum. For me it sort of looks like 140 should be doable.

 

[eolith]

another test I'm considering is riding to see when the fuel actually runs out. Just how many miles at what mileage/conditions will it run once it starts that last bar flashing and the f-trip kicks in?

if all else fails, it'll give opportunities for a properly hydrated rider to evacuate unecessary fluids...

 

[Coreytrevor]

I've checked mine and it has .7 gallons left once flashing, I think that's what Yamaha says too. Mine also gets a lot better mpg at 65 than at 72-73.

 

[redeye]

another test I'm considering is riding to see when the fuel actually runs out. Just how many miles at what mileage/conditions will it run once it starts that last bar flashing and the f-trip kicks in?

Recently, I took the f-trip to roughly 22 miles. If memory serves, I then added somewhere just under 3.4 US gallons. I don't intend to push my luck on this too often. As others have mentioned, stopping near the time this last bar is flashing requires 3.0 gallons or very close to that figure.

 

[BDVF2014]

Sounds pretty much on par to me for a sport bike. 120 mile range if you're riding like an absolute maniac. All that means is that you have to stop and fuel up at least every 2 hours or so (which you should be doing anyways).

 

[versysrider]

Have 650 miles on bike now. Decided to fill up Saturday, ride as much freeway as I can at 65-73 and try to use 6th as much as possible and use STD mode. Most of the freeway for this unscientific test were level 4 lane roads.

At first I thought my gage was broken as the
fifth element went off at 66 miles. I thought wow, I've got 4 more elements to go.
forth element turned off at 90 WTF? 24 miles
third element turned off at 102 double WTF 12 miles
second element turned off at 117 15 miles
first element started flashing at 130 15 miles

fuel mileage for test 135.3 miles 3.143 gallons so 43.04 mpg (not great but ok) .557 gal remained or good for maybe 23 miles or 158 miles total on tank.

Not picking on the bike just reporting an observation.

I thought it was strange too, how long it took for the first bar to drop off the fuel gauge, and the last three bars much more quickly. Then I was looking at the gas tank, and realized it holds much more fuel up high where the tank is flared out, above your knees. There is very little taper to the tank lower where your legs grip it. That is the reason the first bar takes the longest to drop off, it's all in the shape of the tank.

 

[Tuga]

We need to keep in mind that by the time the 5th bar goes off, the tank is pretty much half way down!!! Is this normal in bikes of this nature, or is just a poor fuel level sensors design? Seems like the sensors are separeted by equal distances, not respecting the tank shape!

 

[redeye]

My CBR250R had the opposite situation with its LCD fuel gauge. On that motorcycle's forum, many of us discussed the mysterious "6th bar" which many owners had never seen and the rest of us claimed only lasted for 10 miles or so. We even discussed how to slosh the fuel around a little bit during refueling to get an air bubble out of the tank and allow a little more fuel in because that was the only way you would ever see the 6th bar. The other five bars disappeared at a much more consistent rate.

The FZ-09's fuel gauge probably explains the "poor fuel economy" on the first tank of gas. My guess is the tank wasn't nearly as full of fuel as the gas gauge suggested when I rode off the lot. In the grand scheme of things, it's almost meaningless. But when you're starting with a baseline of zero experience on a brand new motorcycle, the first experience leaves an impression far out of proportion to its importance.

 

[BDVF2014]

Use the odometer and simple mathematics, like people have been doing forever.

 

[DNFDOUG]

I never trust the gauges. I reset the odometer every fill-up and expect to stop every 120 miles on my CBR.

 

[Tuga]

I guess I was just trying to get to bottom of this issue and understand the reason behind the unaccurate gauge! All my previous bikes did not have fuel gauges so this is not a problem for me!

 

[billnoroville]

I have been riding since 1963 and I started this thread to see if others observed what I observed. The answer was yes.

Is the gas gage an issue? NO.
Was the post an observation YES.
Is it conversation among new owners, YES. (thanks to all who have or will chime in)
Am I bitching about the FZ-09 ? NO. I take it for what it is (or isn't)

Please note,
I still figure my mileage the old fashion way, miles divided by gallons pumped.
The only time I see the estimated average mpg is when I click through the setting for what I want (I never use it)
I still reset my trip 1 at each fill up and use trip 2 for miles since last chain oil. Some things never change even with technology.

 

[billnoroville]

Another question about fuel mileage since I will be taking longer trips this summer. If traveling mostly freeway in 6th gear, say 70mph. would I get better gas mileage in STD or B mode.

My assumption is that there is no difference.

Sure cranking the throttle to pass would be different in STD or B mode but that is not the question
because I know that everyone who owns one knows that answer.

Anyone do any tests that showed something different at cruising speed?

 

[Rayminator]

Another question about fuel mileage since I will be taking longer trips this summer. If traveling mostly freeway in 6th gear, say 70mph. would I get better gas mileage in STD or B mode.

My assumption is that there is no difference.

Sure cranking the throttle to pass would be different in STD or B mode but that is not the question
because I know that everyone who owns one knows that answer.

Anyone do any tests that showed something different at cruising speed?

I have done the secondary road drone, in both "B" Mode and Std.,....at first, I thought I was getting better mileage using B, but was able to hit 50+ MPG in either
mode. I will admit, to trying for "good" gas mileage.

Steady highway 70-75 is about 46-47 MPG, if it is not windy.

Running 75+ it drops to around 42-43 MPG.

 

[Warrior108]

I'm just happy to have somewhat of a fuel gauge. I've found myself in the mountains west of Denver already sitting in a 3 house / 1 bar town with no gas station and doing math on a napkin trying to figure out if I should take road A which was only 20 miles but uphill or road B which is 35 miles but mostly downhill. There was no gauge on that bike btw ('03 Yamaha Warrior) but it also had a range of about 120 miles per tank. All you have to keep in mind with the FZ-09 is that when the bars start moving, you should think about getting gas .. that, and you need to plan your trips and refuels as with any bike if you're in an area where gas stations can be scarce. The FZ-09 is not much change for me I guess from my past bikes. Just balance the fun with the tank size and you won't mind very much. Besides, I'm not sure about everyone else but I bought this for fun and not mpg.

 

[billnoroville]

Rayminator, thanks for testing. I probably will ride in standard then for the added power for passing.

Warrior108, I owed a Hawk GT and with it's small tank and I too had done math wondering best course to take to get back to a gas station. I bought this bike for the Hawk replacement and so far feel it has met that. We all know it is the FUN bike to own and I do have some fun riding some local twistlies at my old man pace and just riding it in general is fun too.

I am pretty sure nobody bought it for it's gas mileage but every time one spends a full day riding, thinking about your next fuel up comes to mind. I think conservative throttle and STD or B mode will get the optimum mileage which may be closer to 50 than 40. Not a lot of difference in 3 gallons but sometimes could be.