Explanation of 2014 Fuel Gauge

[the Ferret]

....or the best that I can come up with lol.

There is a confusing and convoluted chart in the owners manual, page 21. I could draw out the chart for publication here, but I decided to take a pic of the one in the owners manual. I don't think this will violate any copywrited material issues, but will let Guth make that call. In the interest of clearing up confusion about these gauges I think showing the chart is necessary. It's a complicated and crazy system.



Lets follow the arrow on the diagram, shall we?

(all of this btw is controlled by the pushing the small black button on the left on gauge package under the speedometer on 2014 stds and 2014 dlxs).

Starting with our odometer which shows the total number of miles on the motorcycle [this can never be reset and will accumulate for the life of the motorcycle], in the case of Honda's diagram this motorcycle has 1225 miles on it....

Push the small black button once and you get Trip A

Honda's example shows you have gone 500 miles since the last time Trip A was reset. Press the button again and you get average fuel mileage since trip A was last reset..in this case 50 mpg. Press the button again and you get fuel consumption for Trip A since the last time Trip A was reset, in this case 10 gallons

[so in Hondas example, since the last time Trip A was reset, you went 500 miles , used 10 gallons of gas and averaged 50 mpg..ie: 500 miles divided by 10 gals of gas=50mpg].

Press the black button again and you get TRIP B

This shows the same exact information as Trip A only since the last time the Trip B button was reset. In Hondas sample Trip B was reset 250 miles ago. Press the button again and you get average fuel mileage on that 250 miles. Again on Hondas sample we averaged 50 mpg. Press it again and you get total fuel consumed on Trip B since it was last reset, in this case 5 Gals..

[so on the Trip B meter, it was reset 250 miles ago and in the last 250 miles you used 5 gals of fuel for an average of 50 mpg..ie: 250 miles on 5 gals of fuel =50 mpg]

[*Note unlike Honda's example, it is highly unlikely you will get the exact same ave mpg figure for Trip A and Trip B, in my experience, unless you reset them at the exact same time]

Press the black button again and you get current fuel mileage

Press it again and you will be back to the odometer and start the cycle all over again

Once you get down to 1 bar remaining on the fuel gauge, and that bar starts flashing, according to the chart the display moves to the available driving distance ie : how far you can go before pushing.

by pushing the black button again you will get amount of fuel remaining before pushing

According to the manual of the 14 std when the bar starts flashing you have .9 US gallons left. On the 14 DLX you have 1.1 US gallons left

OK.. so the TRIP A and TRIP B modes can be reset anytime, by going to that mode, and pushing and holding the left black button for approx. 2 seconds. This can be done separately and independently for each mode. You can zero Trip A and it won't affect Trip B or vice versa.

For example: I use trip A for my daily ride mileage which I record and then reset TRIP A every morning.

I use Trip B for total miles on a tank of gas which I reset only when I refill the fuel tank. I know from experience I can go over 220 miles on a tank of gas, so whenever I'm out riding and before the last bar starts flashing, I can check Trip B and know how close I am to really needing gas.

note: also..I would swear that my gauge flashes back and forth between available driving distance and odometer once it goes to the available driving distance mode. Now I have to go nearly run out of gas to verify lol

 

[Cresty_imp]

One other thing I have noticed is that the average fuel mileage and fuel consumption in either A or B mode, will not display if the kill switch is in the on position. If you shut down with the kill switch you will not see the two above displays until the switch is returned to off. (Interesting)
Any day you can get vertical and ride your bike is a good day.

 

[the Ferret]

I'm only at 125 miles on this tank and 2 bars showing so will report what I get once it gets down to 1 and then 1 flashing.

 

[Carguy1959_imp]

Crusty is exactly right, just tried mine and with the kill switch on, no mpg readings.

 

[Rocky_imp]

Thanks for taking the time and trouble to post that ferret.

 

[Toddman_imp]

...and all I want are self cancelling turn signals...lol

 

[the Ferret]

ok got out for a good ride tonight. When I reported last I was down to 2 bars, so started on 2 bars, 30 miles or so into the ride it went to 1 bar and finally with 172 miles on the tank the last bar started flashing....
then the display automatically went to 75 (indicating 75 miles until empty). [or if you do the math 247 miles possible on a full tank]
I pressed the black button once and it said 1.0 gal (indicating 1 gallon until empty).
I pushed the button again and it went to odometer,
pressed the button again and it went to Trip A and the display said 70.
Next time I looked down the odometer reading was showing.
Next time I looked it said 69,
then again the odometer
when I pulled into my driveway at dark, it was indicating 68 miles until empty,
so I pressed the button and it still read 1.0 gals to empty.



Honda doesn't explain this anywhere in the manual or indicate that this going back and forth between odometer and miles until empty will happen. I assume it will happen as I described on every 14 std and dlx.

Hope this helps, if anyone has any different experience let me know.

 

[flynrider]

ok got out for a good ride tonight. When I reported last I was down to 2 bars, so started on 2 bars, 30 miles or so into the ride it went to 1 bar and finally with 172 miles on the tank the last bar started flashing....
then the display automatically went to 75 (indicating 75 miles until empty). [or if you do the math 247 miles possible on a full tank]
I pressed the black button once and it said 1.0 gal (indicating 1 gallon until empty).
I pushed the button again and it went to odometer,
pressed the button again and it went to Trip A and the display said 70.
Next time I looked down the odometer reading was showing.
Next time I looked it said 69,
then again the odometer
when I pulled into my driveway at dark, it was indicating 68 miles until empty,
so I pressed the button and it still read 1.0 gals to empty.



Honda doesn't explain this anywhere in the manual or indicate that this going back and forth between odometer and miles until empty will happen. I assume it will happen as I described on every 14 std and dlx.

Hope this helps, if anyone has any different experience let me know.

So it was assuming you'd be getting 75 mpg? That sounds optomistic even for you, Ferret!

 

[the Ferret]

Lol, true, true.

 

[JustPassinThru_imp]

I've noticed that the gague mechanism is a bit erratic.

For example, it will, in the morning on a cold startup, show one segment more fuel than it did when I parked it. Actually, thats almost always true after a shutdown. Must be the angle of the side-stand.

When it gets to the flashing segment, it will bounce back and forth. Again, actually, that's pretty common over the range...it'll be full, then drop one segment, than it comes back up, back and forth until it stabilizes one down.

When it's at the last segment, if it comes up a bit it turns off the flasher feature and will revert to odometer. It will do that several times, before deciding it really is coming up on empty.

I'm guessing it's the gas splasing around on the electronic sensors that take the place of a tank float.

 

[the Ferret]

That would be my guess to JPT. i've also noticed the additional bar showing up and dissapearing when going up or down hill

Btw there is a float arm in the tank and a panel with 6 contacts that the back half of the float arm contacts. i have a pic someplace and will see if I can find it.

 

[Lord Popgun]

Well I was going to say our bikes do have a float and that there are some pics of it somewhere, but Ferret beat me to it! Here is a link to it in the parts diagram, but I can't remember where the real pics are. http://www.partsfish.com/oemparts/a/hon/52f28bfbf870021404ec5a40/fuel-tank-fuel-pump
OK, here is the link to the pics http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=1740&page=3&highlight=fuel+pump

See post 30. Please know that I took the crappy picture and Ferret posted it. Don't blame him for the blur!

 

[metalmaven_imp]

Thanks for the thread it was helpful!

I also notice every time I start the bike that it shows more gas than is actually in the tank. Kind of annoying, but I guess I should just be happy I have a sweet digital gas gauge at all! It works great after a couple minutes of riding it will update to the correct level of fullness.

 

[the Ferret]

photos provided by Popgun

Ok, in the center/rear bottom of your fuel tank is where the fuel pump/float unit is mounted



here is the fuel pump/float unit for the fuel gauge

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/sendingunit1_zps5341a6ba.jpg.html]


Here is the sending unit. There is a contact that rotates over the 6 strips on a plate, and as the fuel level rises or falls the arm floats lower or higher in the tank and the angle of the arm makes the contact points different for the fuel gauge to read.

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/sendingunit2_zps4a6e8c21.jpg.html]

I've noticed that the gague mechanism is a bit erratic.

For example, it will, in the morning on a cold startup, show one segment more fuel than it did when I parked it. Actually, thats almost always true after a shutdown. Must be the angle of the side-stand.

When it gets to the flashing segment, it will bounce back and forth. Again, actually, that's pretty common over the range...it'll be full, then drop one segment, than it comes back up, back and forth until it stabilizes one down.

When it's at the last segment, if it comes up a bit it turns off the flasher feature and will revert to odometer. It will do that several times, before deciding it really is coming up on empty.

I'm guessing it's the gas splasing around on the electronic sensors that take the place of a tank float.

Which is another good reason for using Trip B for tank mileage. In the morning when I start the bike on the side stand, while it is warming up I look at the gauge and the gauge may be showing 3 bars or 1/2 tank of fuel (since there are 6 bars right)? Cycling to Trip B shows me there are actually lets say 135 miles on that tank which is about 15 miles before going to 1 bar and 35 miles to going on flashing reserve, so there is no way there is really 1/2 a tank in there as indicated, and I will need to stop for gas before heading away from the service stations. Of course once you straighten up and ride it soon drops to the proper number of bars.

 

[JustPassinThru_imp]

Interesting. For some reason I thought the tank had a sort of dip contact strip.

Don't know where that came from. Maybe from my BMW experiences. Or maybe from one of those nights with too many whiskeys...

 

[the Ferret]

BMW does use a dip contact strip and the R 1200R owners have been having lots of issues with them

 

[JustPassinThru_imp]

BMW does use a dip contact strip and the R 1200R owners have been having lots of issues with them

That must be what I'm remembering.

I had, at different times, an R1200GS and an R1100RT. Both were short-term ownership - although I really logged the miles on them. I had 18,000 miles on the GS in less than three years - but I'm getting too old to do acrobatics getting on and off, and just finding ground at stoplights was a gut-churning event.

The R1100RT was a used model - prone to transmission issues. I had a scare - and the potential estimate of repair was more than the book value of the machine. When it was fixed for essentially nothing (shift rod under the fairing came loose) I figured I wasn't rich enough to afford the ticket. Time to sell.

Neither of them were around long enough for me to discover the joys of the dip-strip in the gas tank...

 

[Cormanus]

Must be an Australian thing: my CB came with one of those square sticks with notches. The manual says to stop every 220.4 kms and dip it. If it's below the lowest notch, I add fuel. :beerchug:

 

[JustPassinThru_imp]

Must be an Australian thing: my CB came with one of those square sticks with notches. The manual says to stop every 220.4 kms and dip it. If it's below the lowest notch, I add fuel. :beerchug:

Oh.

Hey, if you lose yours...they sell them here with the HARLEY-DAVIDSON crest on them. Only $99.99 plus shipping & handling.

Hurry...they're always in short supply...

:excited:

 

[neuro_imp]

I'm assuming this is an upgrade for 2014... because my 2013 doesn't do this.