tank capacity

[littleblackjeep]

fill the tank while holding the bike upright, that got me another 75miles.......

[birdman]

I have a '99 and I fill with the side stand set and get between 130(aggressive riding) and 150(easy rider) miles before reserve.  This is consistently 3 gallons consumed.
I figure if reserve is right at a gallon I can get another 50 miles before dry if I take it easy.

I would guess that there is another .5 gallon capacity if I stood the bike up straight while filling.

r

[commuterdude]

Well I'm at 163 miles and still havent hit my reserve on my '93.  Just loafing around the neighborhood at 45-65 mph.

[birdman]

commuterdude.

What sort of RPM range do you cruise at?  Since having a charging problem with my extra lighting I am keeping revs at 4K + around town VS 3K.

[commuterdude]

4k-5k for most of the tank.   I have been trying to keep it between 5 and 6K since doing a bit of reading here, in order to keep it on the power curve a little better.   I am really enjoying this sweet running bike.
I just checked my odometer and I am now at 178.3 miles without hitting reserve.   I changed plugs, changed the oil, and cleaned out the carbs.  The bike is set up totally stock.  I weigh 168.

update....I started to get that boggy feeling at 183, so I switched to reserve,  just a bare improvement, apparently my petcock is acting up and I had ridden the tank about dry at 183 miles.   Anyhoo filled her up
again and good to go.   There was a dude on a new Ninja 500 at the pump, no "bro wave" or any justice....apparently my atrocious noob pump routine is visible for miles.   Did have a rough looking lass try to trade her IROC camaro for my GS.

[oobyscoot]

its a 98.  Not sure exactly on the tank size, never run her down to reserve.

[SIKDMAX]

on my ride yesterday highway on the highway between 6-8k and canyon carving 8-10k and constant engine braking I got 130 before reserve on my 99.

[naturalPlastic]

Reviving this thread with my noob rider stats:

'96 GS500E

Fill to: bottom of neck while on center stand
Miles to reserve: 135
Fuel held (from 140 miles): 2.72 gallons
Mileage: approx 50 mpg

Tank size: 4.0 total, 0.9 reserve
Average RPM: approx 6K
Petcock: new (fuel starvation issue repair)

Normal? Or should I not have to flip to reserve so soon?

[fred]

Sounds right to me.

[echoraven]

first full weekend with my gs500... loved it!!!
anyway, i filled the tank up and rode around 135 miles and went to the gas station since the previous owner (a friend) and the board pretty much indicated that it would go around that before hitting the reserve.  to my surprise, it only took 2.5 gallons to fill up... did the math, better than 50 mpg!  then just now i checked the suzuki site and it said that a 2001 has 5.3 gal tank... since 1 gal for the reserve, that means i had close to 2 gal left, possibly another 100 miles to ride???  so, i should be able to get around 230 miles per full tank?  i need someone with experience to convince me that this is true!

My 2008 gets about 57mpg. This is mostly city riding with a 225lb dude on board with his tank bag. I usually fill up as soon as I break 200 on the tripometer in case my milage drops because of lead wrist.

[905mike]

fill the tank while holding the bike upright, that got me another 75miles.......

good idea. i now always fill up with my bike on the centre-stand instead of leaned over on the side-stand.

[Darkmyst]

I always fill up with it on the side stand, usually go 170-180 miles per fillup, never hit the reserve, usually about 3.1 gallons :p

I have a 2006.  I do fill it as high as I can, holding the pump half out of the tank, filling it until I don't dare put any more in lest it over flow...

I did 220 on it once but I had turned it to reserve before heading out for the last leg of that one.

[lilwoody]

Before the State of Florida mandated E10 (10% ethonol) I got 63 mpg solo and 60 with the wifie on rides to Key West of about 270 miles round trip (if you go over 60 mph your asking for a ticket in the Fl. Keys). Now with the alcohol crap I get 60 and 57 but it still works out real well. I hit reserve at about 220 and it will take 3.8 US gallons. I have a 05 500F, I guess being old with a bunch of sons makes me take it much easier than you young fellas, my bike rarely sees 70 mph .

[905mike]

I have a '99 and I fill with the side stand set and get between 130(aggressive riding) and 150(easy rider) miles before reserve.  This is consistently 3 gallons consumed.
I figure if reserve is right at a gallon I can get another 50 miles before dry if I take it easy.

I would guess that there is another .5 gallon capacity if I stood the bike up straight while filling.

r

yup. my experience as well.

[cruisinnc]

Just a note....I found this tank capacity and mpg discussion interesting.  Although I had searched around I had not been able to find anyone else with my stats.  I have a 2000gs.  Although I was told when I purchased it (used) to fill up at about 130miles I finally got brave and decided to stretch her out and see what I could get.  I've been commuting on her now for just over 2 years, about 100 miles a day and I consistently get 68-73mpg!!!  She is completely stock and I've now got about 41k on her.  She had just over 7k when I got her.  I'm thinking I'll change the plugs soon, but I haven't wanted to mess with it (other than routine maintenance) since she was performing so well.  The 2000 has the smaller tank.  About 3.3gal, I think.  If I fill her to the brim (including keeping her upright while filling and jiggling and topping her off several times as she gulps the fuel, I feel confident about riding 190 miles before looking for gas.  I have been about 206 before switching to reserve.  Having said that, I don't know how far my reserve would take me, although if it's .9 gal, it should take me 50-60 more miles....right?

I want to thank everyone who contributes to this site.  It's been a wealth of wonderful information to this *chick* trying to learn what I can.  I'm doing all my own maintenance (so far), including changing tires, chains, sprockets, brakes and fluid, battery, etc.  I couldn't have done it all without all of you.

Cheers!

[harlight]

I'm getting 55 to 56 mpg with a 96 model.  I'm 6 4 and about 265 lbs.  Have a lunch box, full vance/hines and stage 3 dynojet.  have a 17t front sprocket that reduces rpm's by about 4.5%.  I like it much better.  front tire @ 35 to 36 and back @ 36 psi.  fill the tank upright until I get tired of short squirts.  Great little bike with plenty of power to pull me around at any speed.  Also have a Natl Cycle Plexfairing 3 with the lowers and nylon bags on the rear.

[Toogoofy317]

When I first got my 04 last year my top was 201 before hitting reserve. Now I'm only getting about 165 before hitting reserve? I'm just doing city riding haven't been on I-4 in a while. What issues could be causing this? Or if it is a problem.

Mary S.

[fred]

Either your riding style has changed or you need to tune the bike... Have you done valves lately?

[airnuts]

 yep i have a 96 with tank bags and saddle bags...
usually get 52mpg even when gunning every now and then.
I figure gas up every 150 miles, and walk around abit.
As for finding out how far you really can go on reserve...
fill up a bottle of gas, reset the trip when you switch to reserve
and go till it poops out.

[colorider]

Toogoofy - your petcock could be acting up thoug I hear that the newer models have more robust ones.  How many gallons did you add when you got to 201 miles versus gallons at 165?  Did your MPG change?  If the MPG is about the same, it's probably something in the fuel delivery lines.