Had a GPz 550 H2 in 82. It had an LCD fuel gauge which didn't move for about 200 km, then plummeted from full to empty in the next 50 km.
I've not trusted fuel gauges since. On a 1200GSA these days, which apparently can travel to Mars on a tank, but I never ride past a gas station beyond my butt pain threshold.
A fuel injected bike *should* be able to have an accurate gauge. The computer knows how much fuel is inected with each shot, and should be able to keep track of the total number of shots and so calculate the total amount of fuel used since last fill. This is the sort of thing that computers are good at.
it's not a bad thing till you throw a KLR into the mix.
those cheap ass bitches can do anything with ductape.
(PostalDave on ADVrider)
Well some do. IÂ’ve found ones with an avg and current km per litre function accurate on that part but tank level can be total witchcraft.
I think that comes down to the oddball tank shapes these days and many manufacturers leaving g space for emissions systems to capture fumes so the tank is never properly fill (or you issues with wet carbon canister).
IÂ’ve found heavy trucks to have quite accurate gauges along with some cars I think it comes down to a much larger tank vs the amount your journey consumes.
A little bit of quick maths, a four cylinder bike engine averaging 5000rpm over a one hour journey will go through 600,000 injector sequences. Now factor in all the micro adjustments happening in real time for atmospheric changes, gearing, speed, quick shifter, temperature and thereÂ’s plenty of room for error in measurement multiplied by 600,000.
Your injector might be open for anything from day 2.8 to 7 milliseconds each time. Fuel rail pressure may vary due to temp or voltage fluctuations so thereÂ’s a lot going on. And also your injectors are constantly suffering wear depending on fuel quality.I think the processing power to account for all those extras would be an expense manufacturers and consumers wouldnÂ’t pay for.
The only real way to get an accurate tank level would be to have a weight/pressure transducer in tank which would have to be baffled to hell and also tied up with a gyroscope/g force meter to cope with dynamics of moving bike.
Govt gives you nothing because it creates nothing - Javier Milei
Been done. Back in 2014 on ADVrider, Ranger Ron, who seems to know lots about electronics, made a pressure transducer system for a KLR. Quote "Since tanks are not symmetrical, I needed to get some data for the program to use. To do that, I filled the tank completely and recorded the sensor output voltage. Then I drained 1/10 gallon (12.8 oz) of gas at a time, recording the voltages until the tank was empty." and "It actually measures the pressure of the gas. One port of the sensor goes to the gas line, the other is open to the atmosphere. Here's the sensor I used: http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?x=9&y=13&lang=en&site=us&keywords=480-3090-5-ND" and "The program is written in C. The sensor output is applied to a 10 bit A/D convertor. The A/D results are processed via an exponential running average filter. 300 samples are taken at 20ms intervals. Next a mean average is taken of the middle 10% of the samples. This result is then displayed. I hope that made some sense." Used a PIC microcontroller and oled display
Following the photobucket meltdown the pictures are no longer available
it's not a bad thing till you throw a KLR into the mix.
those cheap ass bitches can do anything with ductape.
(PostalDave on ADVrider)
it wasnt so long ago that we didnt have fuel gauges at all,just a reserve tap. It only takes a few rides to figure out what your actual range is. A mate always takes his new bike out until it stops,then throws some fuel in from a 5 l container he carrys for this particular mission
it's not a bad thing till you throw a KLR into the mix.
those cheap ass bitches can do anything with ductape.
(PostalDave on ADVrider)
Wouldn't a pressure transducer still be effectively measuring the height of the fuel, as in the head of pressure, above the sensor? Which isn't a lot different to using a float to measure the height of fuel in the tank, neither are measuring actual volume.
In theory the same process of calibration would work with a float type sender measuring fuel height vs volume of fuel added to the tank, with a correction applied to compensate for the irregular shape of the tank and display actual volume.
Anyway, my normal process is to run it until reserve (or the fuel light comes on) so I have an idea of 'normal' range, and leave whatever the reserve range is for emergencies
Riding cheap crappy old bikes badly since 1987
Tagorama maps: Transalpers map first 100 tags..................Map of tags 101-200......................Latest map, tag # 201-->
The most elegant solution was I think originated by Ducati.
A strip down the side of a fiberglass tank with no coloured gelcoat. Thus transparent.
Fuel level at a glance.
It seems one of those things that there’s little info on officially. All I found direct to MC was alternative tank ok as long as the structure of the vehicle wasn’t modified for it to fit.
Also in car stuff below it mentions alternative materials ok as long as made by a recognised reputable manufacturer.
https://lvvta.org.nz/documents/consu...nd_Consult.pdf
The only glass tank I’ve seen fail is when the owner launched it into the kitty litter coming off Manfield extension. I don’t think cartwheels were in the design criteria though.
Govt gives you nothing because it creates nothing - Javier Milei
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