Gas level gauge/light

[RyanR]

Is there any good way to install a gas gauge on our bikes? 
Can somebody point me in the right direction?

'93 gs500e

Thanks!

edited for clarity

[joshr08]

run with the petcock in the on position when you run outta gas on "on" switch to reserve.  thats your getting low on gas indicator.

[RyanR]

yes that is an option  .

but I was thinking of usring this (fuel sender kit VDO)
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=VDO%2D226002&N=700+400267+4294839076+4294908402+115&autoview=sku

with one of these (VDO Gauge)
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=VDO%2D301106&N=700+400267+115&autoview=sku

does anybody have any experience doing this operation?

[simoniz]

That looks good, I'd like to see it when you get it fitted. There again, the GS has that primitive charm of waiting to go on to RES when it sputters a bit which I like too.

I've had bikes with factory fitted gas gauges and they are not always that accurate, so watch where you put the sender in the tank.

[fred]

Is there any good way to install a gas gauge on our bikes? 
Can somebody point me in the right direction?

'93 gs500e

Thanks!

edited for clarity

Use your trip meter. Start looking for a gas station when you know you're going to hit reserve soon. It is easy. The GS doesn't need a gas gauge...

[Canonball]

The GS doesn't need a gas gauge...

+1 you can always pop the gas tank lid and see how much is in there as well. But if you do install a gas light I wanna see how it co we out, good luck!

[Toogoofy317]

Kinda laughed about the reserve thing. while I was waiting for a new trip meter knob to come  I got the sputters signalling time for reserve. I got four miles on reserve and had to push the bike the next quarter of a mile. This has done it twice in the past four months. First time 16 miles!

Dealer said it sometimes happens don't worry. He doesn't have to push a bike with a heart problem now does he! I'm thinking of a guage too!

Mary

[bill14224]

I guess I'm old-fashioned.  I read magazine articles complaining about the lack of a fuel gauge on certain bikes and wonder why anyone would care.  I never had one, nor do I expect one.  To me that's part of the charm about motorcycling.  We're supposed to be more aware of our vehicles than others.  To me that's always been part of it.  Opening a really old bike's gas cap that doesn't lock to take a peek for fuel is a 5-second affair.  Riding a bike like ours for 200 miles then heading for the gas station is also not a concern.

Why several of you run out of gas repeatedly gives me pause.

[DoD#i]

Barring a long trip and not wanting a break or having a station, no need to worry or bother, or even go on reserve. Depending on the year (tank size) and setup/habits (typical fuel consumption) stop in at the gas station when the trip meter says 100, 150, 200 miles. Find a number that works for your bike and the way you drive,  and use it.

Mary - 4 miles on reserve - almost certainly your fuel hoses are not routed correctly, or your tank petcock is backwards, or both. My bike came to me with both, and I never ran it out of fuel when it was still screwed up that way by simply topping up early and often. The tank petcock was backwards, AND the frame petcock was feeding the carbs via one of the inlets...really screwed up.

The problem with a fuel gauge as such in the GS is related to the problem of the GS being empty with a good half gallon or so of fuel you can see and hear, but not run the bike on - it sloshes around a lot, with that big flat bottom on the tank. So you put on a guage - you're half full, you accelerate and you're empty, you put on the brakes and you're half full for a second, then empty again....the trip meter works perfectly, or at least a lot more perfectly than any gauge.

[Toogoofy317]

I know it is not a hose problem because it has been fine for almost a year and a half before starting to have this issue. But, my average is going so wildly that is hard to tell when I'm close and when I'm not. I usually get to about 170 before stopping in at a gas station and that is about the time I'd need to go to reserve. The first time the reserve failed on me I only got 147 before it sputtered and switched over got 16 on reserve so that means about 8 or 9 miles before I'd normally hit reserve. Most time when desperate I will go twenty before refilling and at that point had not run out so I didn't know how much over 200 I could go. Soooo,  my range is going to 163 completely dry to 204 before hitting reserve once. Isn't a forty mile gap kinda big in distances on a tank of gas? This last time may have been my arithmatic being my knob had dissappeared. But, according to my calculations I got 153 before reserve and four miles out of that so a total of 157 on a tank of gas including reserve that seems low to me?

As I said most of the time I do fill between 150 and 160. I would like a guage because of my health. Some times my bike sits for weeks at a hospital if my heart goes haywire. Usually, my friend comes and picks it up but once my bike was outside trip meter had been reset had no idea how much I had thought I could make five miles wrong again. Partly my stupidity trying to push a bike while getting off and losing my balance and crushed my ankle. But, if I had had a light that would come on I would have known and had someone help me get gas before leaving the hospital.

Just my two cents.
Mary

[GeeP]

You're not fully assimilated from the "car people" yet.

Back to the dugeon!

[Toogoofy317]

What's a dugeon? Like worse than a dungeon . Ahhh, yeah I wish I could completely ditch the car but when in heart failure it's not safe to be on flick as much as I love my little guy I want to keep him in one piece. I know my neighbors don't but that's another thread!

Is my wide varience though "normal" as my dealer says? And I guess an approximate full meter is not a viable option eh?

Mary

[RyanR]

You're not fully assimilated from the "car people" yet.

Back to the dugeon!

haha i guess not.  I'm one of those people who watch their gas mileage though so i'm not unfamiliar with watching my milage per tank.  It's just a rough learning curve for a bike I suppose.  I have ran it to reserve once and it worked out fine, filling up shortly afterwards.  I guess what I was trying to get at was to have a more predictable indication to when I'm low on fuel.

... I'll probably look back on this post and laugh one day

[GeeP]

My GS gets 50-55 MPG on the nose, fill up after fill up.  I ride 150 miles, then gas up.  3.0 gallons every time!

Use your tripmeter and become religious on resetting it and ALWAYS filling your tank to the top.   

PS:  My GS doesn't have a reserve, neither does the SV.  When I'm out of gas, I'm OUT OF GAS!  30,000+ miles a year and I've only run out once.  But that was two weeks after learning how to ride.  I filled my tank up partway and reset the trip meter.   Rocket scientist....