AK 550 gas mileage

[cerberus]

My red gas bar starts flashing at 75 miles on the A trip meter. I got home at about 77 miles on the meter and measured the gas dept with a stick and came up with about 1.5 inch. I’m trying to figure out how long I can go on the fuel red flashing bar. Thank you for the help, I’m not good at math.

[randyo]

how many gallons to fill ?

75 miles seems real low, I go about 180 miles to a flashing red, and takes 2.75-2.8 gals to fill, If we have a 3.8 gallon tank, there should be 1 gallon left

[rjs987]

On my trip back home on Sunday from a camping trip I was able to go 173 miles to where the last red bar dropped away and the red "E" started flashing. That tank was actually the worse mpg I've seen in many months at only just under 54 mpg. I usually see more like 140-150 miles (depending on mpg) to when the red bar starts to flash and I've calculated about another 37-40 miles or so before that goes away and the red "E" starts flashing. Then I figured I have another 15-20 miles based on how much I put back in to fill the tank. Then again, on that tank I filled it with only 3.226 gal just .7 miles after the red E started flashing so maybe I could have gone another 35 miles before the tank went dry. Didn't want to test that theory and was at the gas station where I intended to stop for a fill up anyway.

I agree, 75 miles is really really low unless you didn't fill the tank to the plate at the filler neck.

I have determined before that the tank is at least 3.9 gallons capacity (14.76 L minimum). I drained the tank as much as I could with a siphon hose and then measured how much I put back in to fill it. I knew I didn't get all of the gas out but was able to put in 3.764 gallons to fill it (measured in Liters at 14.25 L). There was definitely at least .13 gallons left in there.

[cerberus]

Thank you all for the help. For the record all my riding is in the city. Thanks again.

[leomagnus]

Thats good to know about the gas mileage. The gas gauge is definitely not a linear measurement. I usually fill around the second red bar. I did check gas mileage, which was mostly highway miles averaging 65-70 mph. I was getting anywhere from 59-64 mpg at those speeds. FYI

Dean

[rjs987]

And another reminder...
NEVER go by the average or instant mpg showing on the meter. That is always WAY optimistic. I usually see the ave mpg showing me 70-71 mpg but when I calculate based on gallons to fill and miles for that tank it comes out around 55-57 mpg.

[leomagnus]

I actually used my calculator, miles travelled/gallons put in the tank, always starting with a full tank. You are right though, the darn MPG gauge does estimate on the high side.

[rjs987]

Just filled the tank tonight. On my ride yesterday the last red bar started flashing just before the end of the ride. I didn't stop for gas then since the station I go to would have 5 cars in each of the 6 lines available so I waited until tonight. I went 45 minutes before closing and there were only 6 cars total for 12 pumps available so no waiting in line. I put in 2.735 gallons. The red bar was flashing about 3-4 miles before I filled up. I calculated that tank to give me 54.1+ mpg. If I ran it dry I would have been able to go just over 208 miles on that tank. I rode just over 21 miles today just shopping. That means I'd likely get 49 miles on the flashing red bar and another 14 miles on the flashing red "E" before running out. Just good to know stuff. Temps during all rides for this tank were mostly between 75-80F with some parts of some rides lower.