What does each bar on the fuel gauge represent? Miles or fractions of gas?

[dBuster_imp]

Okay let me try this again, my tablet updated it's app and I lost the whole post just as I was about to post it.

Splintering this away from the miles per gallon thread!

Okay who is going to take this on and figure out for us all what each bar on the fuel gauge represents? Is it certain miles or a certain amount of has for each mile?

At least it will be for that one bike and might she'd some light for the rest of us but it might not pertain to more than one persons bike...

Things to consider:

Could barometric pressure play a factor in it?
Could ambient temperature play a factor in it?
Could the actual fuel makeup play a factor?
Could different octane levels play a factor?
Could a tank protector play a factor on the contents inside?
The big one, could your oil viscosity play a factor in it?

I am sure there are a lot more factors that I didn't list but please can someone figure this out?

Does anyone have a contact at Honda to find out what their engineers had in mind when they engineered this handy fuel gauge?

I invite one and all to help get to the bottom of this and most definitely invite foolardi as it sounds like he may already be working on this.


Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4.2.5 - non pro version.

 

[the Ferret]

In theory ... Each bar would constitute 1/5 th of the fuel in the tank, but in practice it sure doesn't seem to work out that way. When I was first tracking my mileage I noted when each bar disappeared and there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to it. As close as I can tell you one disappears approx once every 30 miles, but not exactly at 30 mile intervals, sometimes more, sometimes less.

It's magic! Lol

 

[kenfyoozed_imp]

first bar for me gone at 36 miles this fill up.....

Okay let me try this again, my tablet updated it's app and I lost the whole post just as I was about to post it.

Splintering this away from the miles per gallon thread!

Okay who is going to take this on and figure out for us all what each bar on the fuel gauge represents? Is it certain miles or a certain amount of has for each mile?

At least it will be for that one bike and might she'd some light for the rest of us but it might not pertain to more than one persons bike...

Things to consider:

Could barometric pressure play a factor in it?
Could ambient temperature play a factor in it?
Could the actual fuel makeup play a factor?
Could different octane levels play a factor?
Could a tank protector play a factor on the contents inside?
The big one, could your oil viscosity play a factor in it?

I am sure there are a lot more factors that I didn't list but please can someone figure this out?

Does anyone have a contact at Honda to find out what their engineers had in mind when they engineered this handy fuel gauge?

I invite one and all to help get to the bottom of this and most definitely invite foolardi as it sounds like he may already be working on this.


Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4.2.5 - non pro version.

I think the biggest factor is where the diesel is produced? and what......squirrel!

 

[ingobohn_imp]

The bars on my fuel gauge disappear relatively reproducible with each 50 km.

 

[yetanotherGerman_imp]

The bars on my fuel gauge disappear relatively reproducible with each 50 km.

Yet the bars represent the fuel consumed rather than the mileage. There is no "mile counter" in the tank, there is only a volume measurement. You can tell because as soon as you fill her up the bars are all back there, no matter if you zero the mile counter or not.
In theory the factors like atmospheric pressure or temperature do influence the bars. In real life you will only notice the effect when you fill her up to the brim with cold fuel then park her in the sun. Fuel volume grows when warming up, fuel spills from the overflow tube underneath the bike.

Ingo if you drive real fast (I mean the fast fast :celebrate: ) it will be less miles before each bar disappears. If you always drive Grandma style you see the 50km = one bar ratio. :hello:

 

[the Ferret]

The bars on my fuel gauge disappear relatively reproducible with each 50 km.

Hmmm doing the conversion 50 km equals 31 miles 120.66 yards ..interesting

 

[ingobohn_imp]

The bars on my fuel gauge disappear relatively reproducible with each 50 km.

Yet the bars represent the fuel consumed rather than the mileage. There is no "mile counter" in the tank, there is only a volume measurement. You can tell because as soon as you fill her up the bars are all back there, no matter if you zero the mile counter or not.
In theory the factors like atmospheric pressure or temperature do influence the bars. In real life you will only notice the effect when you fill her up to the brim with cold fuel then park her in the sun. Fuel volume grows when warming up, fuel spills from the overflow tube underneath the bike.

Ingo if you drive real fast (I mean the fast fast :celebrate: ) it will be less miles before each bar disappears. If you always drive Grandma style you see the 50km = one bar ratio. :hello:

Okay, I fear you can call me "Grandma Ingo".

 

[Lord Popgun]

The bars on my fuel gauge disappear relatively reproducible with each 50 km.

Hmmm doing the conversion 50 km equals 31 miles 120.66 yards ..interesting

Hmmm doing the conversion 50 km equals 31 miles 120.66 yards ..interesting
If you take the fuel pump out of the tank and look at the assembly, you will see the float arm is attached to a wiper that sweeps across a small circuit card with contacts etched onto it. As the fuel level decreases, the float drops and the wiper moves to a different contact. The contacts are equally spaced (if I remember correctly). The float drop is not linear due to the shape of the tank so our bars do not work as we would like.

(I have pictures of it, but still don't really know how to post them. If anybody is that interested, I can email them to ferret and he can post them.)

Being an electronics tech. (but not an engineer) my thought was they could have spaced the contacts differently or maybe I could trim them some to be narrower or whatever, and maybe adjust the bar operation. BUT, too much work and I really don't feel like messing with that.

I think Honda could have done this, but, that adds cost in design and manufacturing. Or maybe they just didn't think of it.

 

[The Spaceman_imp]

According to Honda, the CB1100 fuel guage display is based on a complex formula that includes such factors as the current price of sushi-grade tuna, the riders blood pressure average since starting the bike, and the phase of the Moon.

They also stated that any correlation between the display and the quantity of fuel in the tank is purely coincidental.

 

[the Ferret]

Email them to me, i'm sure many would be interested in seeing them. I would.

 

[cbfan_imp]

Most motorcycle fuel gauges are never accurate. As stated above it is not linear. If you get 200 miles to a tank and when your gauge reaches half you would think you have 100 miles left, this never happens. The gauge is a reference, use it in conjunction with your trip meter and you will never run out of gas.

 

[meowguy_imp]

Quote:They also stated that any correlation between the display and the quantity of fuel in the tank is purely coincidental.
That about sums it up for me.

I reset my trip odometer at every fill up and I run for about 125 to 135 miles and fill up. That works for me.

 

[yetanotherGerman_imp]

According to Honda, the CB1100 fuel guage display is based on a complex formula that includes such factors as the current price of sushi-grade tuna, the riders blood pressure average since starting the bike, and the phase of the Moon.

They also stated that any correlation between the display and the quantity of fuel in the tank is purely coincidental.

That's probably as accurate as it gets. Whenever I ride hard enough for my blood pressure to rise the fuel consumption is also high.

 

[dBuster_imp]

So from what I can tell thus far is the price of sushi or tuna makes a difference...

In addition, the first bar may only correlate to Grandma riding of say 30 miles then the second bar may represent 25 miles, the third 35 miles, and the last one 5 miles.

Yes I would like to see those photos!

The bars though cannot impact how many miles you get for a certain amount of gas. I believe we all, okay maybe 99% of us may agree with that statement. But factor in the cost of chum for the tuna Fisher person divided by the grade of diesel fuel square rooted by the wind speed of the ocean currents during the third week of the summer equinox and you might have a better answer.

:dodgy:

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[rboe]

It would take a bit more work to noodle out the "correct" spacing on the electrical contacts for the fuel gage, then they couldn't use it on any other bike (assuming they do so now). As owners we can assume that we'll get a feel for them over time and it will be a none issue (for most of us, for others it will bother them and fester at them until a fit of anger will force them to trade the bike in - but I digress).

My bars seem to blink off when I'm not looking so I just use it as a rough gage on when I should look for gas; before or after supper/lunch/breakfast. More like a count down to the blinky light which I pay much more attention to.

No gages at all on my other bikes (must look at the Griso again, perhaps it does have one, like the seat strap mentioned else where here, its' presence is not ringing a bell - oh hell it probably does have one and I just need more coffee). :biker:

 

[dBuster_imp]

Hmmm coffee! Maybe that is what those bars need to have a set standard same amount of gas indicated per bar!

Is that high test or decaf?

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[rboe]

Just thinking out loud here; I wonder how tolerant the sensor is to gas slopping. Fairly small tank so bumpy roads should get the fuel sloshing about pretty good making a float based sensor have fits unless there is some averaging circuit to compensate for a dirty signal (i.e. a lot of ups and downs) from the sensor.

I know if I put the bike on the side stand there are times she'll get a bar back so its' affected in that state. Perhaps I'm over thinking this.

 

[the Ferret]

No you are not overthinking, the angle of the gas in the tank, especially when it gets low, definitely has an effect on the float arm. While out riding I also have had the red light start flashing only to have it go out again for a few miles, depending on how/where I am riding. If the sensor is in the back of the tank, going down a big hill would have to affect it if the fuel is low enough.

 

[rboe]

Have not been in the hills yet (Phoenix is pretty damn flat) but that is a good point. Once we start riding up the hill again that could prove interesting. Last year we road up to Payson. Steve (Royal Enfield) and I split from the group and rode back down the Bee Line while forgetting to fuel up. We hit the first station after about 50 miles or so. I think Steve had some gas left in the fuel line and I had about a tenth or two left. Fumes baby! Stupid thing to do and we got very lucky.

I'll have to try and remember to look at the fuel gage as we ride that road but since the hilly parts of the road are also the fun bits I may forget.

 

[the Ferret]

When my wife and I rode out west last year we were in Oregon headed into Washington and I went thru this little town, then up this big hill toward the state line. At the top of the big hill was a sign that said" next gas 77 miles". I looked at my fuel gauge which was sitting on half, and turned around and went back to the town and filled up. Probably could have made it to the next gas station as the ST has a 7.7 gal tank and 300+ range, but what if that place was closed? lol. Better safe than sorry. That 717 pound ST would be a beotch to push.