A question for those of you who have had your CTX's for a while: How accurate is the "range" indicator when the orange gas pump starts flashing at you? I haven't ridden mine enough to know this. Can you trust what it says, or do I need to use caution here? The last thing I want is to run out of gas some distance away from a gas station. I don't think that would be any fun at all.
Accuracy of the "range" gauge
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While not running mine completely empty, I've run it down to .2 Gallon.
Another thing I've noticed over the years is, when you are on reserve, you have a tendency to drive more conservatively. Thus getting more mpg. So just judging from my own experience, I'd say you probably will get a bit more than the range indicator shows.
It is gauging distance based upon avg mpg for the whole tank since fill up.
YMMV.
Another thing I've noticed over the years is, when you are on reserve, you have a tendency to drive more conservatively. Thus getting more mpg. So just judging from my own experience, I'd say you probably will get a bit more than the range indicator shows.
It is gauging distance based upon avg mpg for the whole tank since fill up.
YMMV.
It will vary greatly with how you are riding the bike. I take it the same as I take that indicator in my cages... with a big grain of salt. I haven't tried this on the bike, but with my Murano I've taken that range left number down to zero and beyond by more than 5 miles once and still had a tenth of a gallon or two left per the "official" tank size. On the other hand I wouldn't want to trust it that far. After many tanks you get a feel for how far the bike will go between fill ups and I always set one of the trip meters at fill up to refer to. If that gauge says 30 miles left I try to get to a station within the next 5-15. Watch it and see if it is consistent or if it drops fast or even increases as it may sometimes. It is actually constantly being calculated based on instant mpg. I've seen it show 35 miles left and 4 miles later still show the same, and if I push the bike then 4 miles later it shows 20 miles left. I usually try to get the tank filled as soon as I can when I see it show up when I am in town. If out on the road someplace I'll try to stop to fill the tank before it gets there, otherwise ASAP.
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I also reset my first tripometer at every refill. I find the gas gauge accurate, but I see no reason not to maintain a backup with just a press of a button.
I make a habit of refilling at the first sign of the gas tank light. Knowing I have one gallon left, I can usually estimate my miles remaining based on my expected road conditions, e.g. city or highway [35 miles or 50?].
Long story short, I never think to look at the "range" indicator screen. I figure I can estimate the future better than the ECU program. So can you.
"Never trust a computer...." Steve Wozniak
I make a habit of refilling at the first sign of the gas tank light. Knowing I have one gallon left, I can usually estimate my miles remaining based on my expected road conditions, e.g. city or highway [35 miles or 50?].
Long story short, I never think to look at the "range" indicator screen. I figure I can estimate the future better than the ECU program. So can you.
"Never trust a computer...." Steve Wozniak
On my bike, the remaining liters gauge is lying by about -1 litre (i.e. telling you've got 3 l left when in fact that's 2 l), if we are to trust the tank capacity given in the specs is real.
The remaining kilometres gauge appears to be accurate down to about +5 km (i.e. telling you've got 1 km left when you have 6 km), taking into account the fact that it's dynamically evaluated from the instantaneous MPG value.
One point to note is that you can never ride a fuel-injected vehicle for as long as you could a carbureted one (i.e. bone dry) because the kind of fuel pump the former uses needs to have some fuel left around its intake to function.
The lowest I got so far was when I refilled 18.83 l (so 670 ml left in tank, if we are to trust the spec) and the gauge said 1.5 l left and 6 km to go. At that time, the orange fuel pump idiot light was steady on, not flashing.
The remaining kilometres gauge appears to be accurate down to about +5 km (i.e. telling you've got 1 km left when you have 6 km), taking into account the fact that it's dynamically evaluated from the instantaneous MPG value.
One point to note is that you can never ride a fuel-injected vehicle for as long as you could a carbureted one (i.e. bone dry) because the kind of fuel pump the former uses needs to have some fuel left around its intake to function.
The lowest I got so far was when I refilled 18.83 l (so 670 ml left in tank, if we are to trust the spec) and the gauge said 1.5 l left and 6 km to go. At that time, the orange fuel pump idiot light was steady on, not flashing.
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The manual says to stop filling when the gasoline reaches the bottom of the filler pipe. The capacity is based on that level. Most of us fill up beyond that point, so we go beyond the listed capacity of the tank.
I only fill beyond the filler pipe on half of it... But that's cuz the bike is on the side stand. Since that pipe is in the middle of the top of the tank I figure that's full enough. 
Oh, and I always thought, but don't know for sure, that the range remaining was based on the fuel tank sensor that reads how much is left in the tank, and the instant mpg calculator. So over filling the tank would be irrelevant for indicating range left. But of course it would be very relevant to how much is put back in.
Oh, and I always thought, but don't know for sure, that the range remaining was based on the fuel tank sensor that reads how much is left in the tank, and the instant mpg calculator. So over filling the tank would be irrelevant for indicating range left. But of course it would be very relevant to how much is put back in.
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So after reading this thread, I thought I would add some data points for further discussion having a long ride planned for today.
I went 203 miles at primarily highway speeds - 60 to 70mph for me.
The reserve on the dash info center said 41 miles more on the range and .9 gallons left.
I put in 4.3 gallons to fill it up to mid neck which is where I fill to consistently.
I went 203 miles at primarily highway speeds - 60 to 70mph for me.
The reserve on the dash info center said 41 miles more on the range and .9 gallons left.
I put in 4.3 gallons to fill it up to mid neck which is where I fill to consistently.
Sounds right for about 47.2 mpg average for those miles and approximate fill level. If you had to stop at a light and a short drive on city streets to get to the gas station that would result in slightly lower mpg (45.6 mpg) to match the range indicated on the gallons left.
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When I took mine down to less than 10 miles, it stopped reading numbers and simply read --. I knew that I was less than 5 miles from the station, and I made it fine. I put 5.076 Gallons in the tank. Since it is only suppose to have a 5.1 Gallon tank, I'd say I rolled in on fumes. I do tend to over fill the tank. A bad habit that I picked up from the XJ650 which only has 3.5 Gallon tank and no gauge. I always hit the trip at each fill up and watch that to decide when to refuel. I am enjoying having a fuel gauge and warning light. It is going to come back to bite me when I ride the XJ.
Man what language are you speaking? What is all this L and km talk?
Seriously - I would LOVE to ride my CTX around the Emerald Isle! BUT NOT IN DUBLIN! Never been in a city with so many one way streets which lead back to where one started! I love the Irish culture and people! The best!!!!
Every single city has its quirks, like they say for trekking: there's no such thing as bad weather, only improper gear!
You can solve the street issue with a decent GPS or one week's experience riding the routes you're interested in. On the other hand, Dublin is a paradise to ride in compared to my home town (Bucharest, Romania) where basically every single Taxi driver is out to kill you.
You can solve the street issue with a decent GPS or one week's experience riding the routes you're interested in. On the other hand, Dublin is a paradise to ride in compared to my home town (Bucharest, Romania) where basically every single Taxi driver is out to kill you.
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so i am guessing there is no worry about damaging the fuel pump with the fuel level so low. Light starts blinking i go find a filling station.... never seen dashes... lowest miles left i have seen is 25 remaining.
Ok, I am assuming the miles left only shows up after you get the low fuel light on ? I say this as I don't have that display available and never gotten low.
And the low fuel light goes from a solid to blinking ?
I'd like to know this before I get out of town. I swear I saw nothing of this in my owners manual.
I for one never let fuel get low as fuel pumps rely on fuel for cooling. This has been pretty much a guarantee of a fuel pump failure on MINI coopers, most women drivers have had fuel pump failures because of their tendency to run cars low or out of fuel. And on a direct injected car like the MINI when the primary pump runs out it starves the very expensive high pressure fuel pump (2500psi) and ends up a big repair bill if out of warranty.
And the low fuel light goes from a solid to blinking ?
I'd like to know this before I get out of town. I swear I saw nothing of this in my owners manual.
I for one never let fuel get low as fuel pumps rely on fuel for cooling. This has been pretty much a guarantee of a fuel pump failure on MINI coopers, most women drivers have had fuel pump failures because of their tendency to run cars low or out of fuel. And on a direct injected car like the MINI when the primary pump runs out it starves the very expensive high pressure fuel pump (2500psi) and ends up a big repair bill if out of warranty.
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