Hitchcocks Forum

So, I'm starting to get a few more miles under the wheels of my Electra now and have a couple of questions. Firstly, can anyone tell me at what point the fuel light should come on? i.e. how much fuel is left, so I know how far before I have to push it? Secondly, this afternoon as the speedo hit 70mph the fuel light started blinking, I stopped for fuel and it took 7 ltr to fill so I'm guessing that was too early for the light to be on? I tried it with a full tank and this time the fuel light started blinking as the speedo hit 75mph. So my question is, do I have a wiring fault? Or is it a case of "they all do that sir"? I'd just like to know the light is going to work when needed, as there's no trip fitted I can't rely on that to tell me when I'm getting low as I normally do. Also, I checked the fuel consumption and recorded 73mpg, seems pretty good to me but I keep reading on t'internet that these bikes will easily better 80mpg, what do you guys get? I should point out here that normal cruising speed is around 60mph, the 70mph this afternoon was just a short blast to escape the Scania driver who seemed rather too keen on examining my rear tyre. Thanks.

Sorry to say but it does sound like a fuel sender problem. On a decent run I get just under 90mpg on my 7,500 mile C5 and around town it drops to about 80mpg. My fuel light comes on with 3 litres to go so about 35-40 miles with a bit in hand. Remember that the AVL engine takes at least 2,000 miles to bed in properly and the mpg will only get better - also the vibrations tend to lessen as the engine loosens up.

I get 90mpg out of my Electra X (ish.) I don't ever believe fuel gauges and warning lights. On every bike my wife and I buy we do a run it until it stops fuel test, to get a real world check of how far will it go on a tank test.

Personally I wouldn't let an EFI engine run dry. The fuel pump is cooled by the fuel passing through it and it doesn't do the pump much good to let it run dry. Also, the filter on the pump is it renewable.

I fill mine up asap after the light starts flashing, which first manifests itself on braking (fuel slosh). I haven't a clue what mpg it does, I'm afraid, because it's not run in yet. Anyway, these bikes are all different and what I get won't be very relevant to anyone else, especially if their bike has been modified. The fuel light shouldn't flash at speed though; my guess is the bike's trying to tell you to stop thrashing it.......

lol - you could be right. But that's kinda why I like low powered bikes, you can actually use ALL the available power without risk to limb or licence. No, I wouldn't deliberately run a bike dry either, especially an older one, you never know what might be lurking in that final cupful of fuel. I did have a thought regarding consumption too;- on the tankful of fuel I checked, I wasn't riding the Enfield, my mate was because the mag had died on his Panther. Which means he was keeping up with my Transalp,,,,,,,, It also means that the mileage we covered was taken from the Honda's accurate speedo rather than from the "ahem" optimistic one on the Enfield,,,,, I'm guessing the Enfield's speedo would have told me we'd covered a few more miles than we actually had and hence given a slightly better mpg figure.

The low fuel lamp does flash when braking, we can ignore that; the low fuel sensor is not connected through the ECU so that does not magically reduce consumption by going into limp mode like some cars do. The fuel pump does not run when the tank is empty, been there, done that. My low fuel lamp failed, don't rely on it. When finally running out the bike sputters and cuts out, it may or not re-start and then die. If the pump cannot find fuel, it cuts out; it's not going to overheat.

The fuel pump can be removed. I'm not doing that (if it ain't bust..) but other electric pumps I've had had apart had a thimble filter on their inlet.

The C5 saddle tank is not symmetrical, there's less on the right where the sensor lies due to a big depression to clear the rocker cover than on the left for the pump to suck. When getting low, petrol has to leap from one side to the other to get used; you can run out with fuel in the tank; tip bike onto left peg to get the dregs and coast downhill to nearest petrol.

Keep the lawnmower can full and carry a mobile phone to call wife with SatNav position, running out on a D-road only suitable for ox-carts can confuse a SatNav 'cos they're not all on the map.

You'll only get maximum fuel consumption numbers cruising in top gear. If you're more often ducking between 2nd and 3rd, occasionally getting into 4th for 40-odd miles and only 5th on bigger roads like I do, then half of that "85mpg" is likely. I assume it uses what it uses, I don't make a note but guessing 30-50mpg.

Thanks for all the replies. My fuel light doesn't light under braking, I can say that for sure because I noticed an odd feeling from the front yesterday and braked hard a few times to confirm my suspicions, sure enough the head bearing needed nipping up a touch when I got home. I'm not too stressed about fuel consumption, just looking for a rough guide to tank range, I ride out every week with a couple of mates in rural France and our routes often take us well away from fuel stations. Normally we're only looking at 150 to 200 miles round trip though, the Transalp can do the 200 on it's 18 litre tank, the Harley has the fuel light on at 150, if the Enfield is anywhere near that we should be okay. Loved the suggestion that my missus would drive out, (anything up to 100 miles from home!) and bring me petrol if I was daft enough to run out, yeah right! In fact one day when the Harley was running low I said to my two good buddies that I needed to head into civilisation to find fuel because it would be a long way to push the bike home, their response was,,,,, "lonely too",,,,,,,,,

The C5 tank is given as 14.5 +/- 1 litres which is probably good for 150-200 miles ridden they way I do in rural west Berkshire, Hampshire and Wiltshire where the roads are more wiggly than the rural France I've cycled in. At 85mpg (laugh) the 3.2 gallons is good for 270 miles.