My 96 GS had the petcock replaced before I got it.  Since I don't have reserve, I'm a little ancy going too many miles on one tank of gas.  I've made 200 miles.  What mileage can you generally go before filling up?

The most I have gone is 225miles before I ran out and switched to reserve. I generally fuel up at or before 200Miles.

  -Anti 

Edit: Good Point, I wasn't thinking. I have an '02. Bigger tank

mine (a 99) went about 165 before I needed to flip it onto reserve. After that I never went more than 10 or 15 miles before filling it up.

You probally are feeding off of the bottom of the tank, like you're always on reserve. Probally didn't have much left at 200 miles. I wouldn't push it that far, maybee fill up at 170 or 180. Or just ride with a small gas can to figure out your ultimate range, then use that to figure out an adequate "reserve" number of miles before you should head for the pumps.

Your 96 has a 4.5 gallon tank, 3.9 for the primary and .9 for the reserve. If you average around 50 MPG then, 200 miles shouldn't be a problem and you would, theoretically, have 25 miles left after that. Of course the tank is odd shaped and you can't actually get all the fuel out so...

Fill up at 150 - 175 to be safe.

The newer models have a 5.3 gallon tank I believe, so not everyone's answer will apply to your bike.

When I bought my GS last week I had to switch to reserve at 120 Miles!
To be fair though I had been riding at full pelt for the best part of two hours.

This week i'm gonna ride it slow and see just how much a difference that will make.

i get like 90 before i have to hit reserve. its an 89, but im pretty sure something is wrong with it. 

im gonna try cleaning out the carbs.. then we'll see whats up

Are you going to strip them down to clean them or are you gonna use a fuel additive like Redex?

I4

Quote from: Gibby on May 08, 2007, 01:10:23 AM
When I bought my GS last week I had to switch to reserve at 120 Miles!
To be fair though I had been riding at full pelt for the best part of two hours.
This week i'm gonna ride it slow and see just how much a difference that will make.

I guess you dont beleive in breaking in period of a new engine ?

Quote from: pbureau69 on May 09, 2007, 01:56:53 PM

Quote from: Gibby on May 08, 2007, 01:10:23 AM
When I bought my GS last week I had to switch to reserve at 120 Miles!
To be fair though I had been riding at full pelt for the best part of two hours.
This week i'm gonna ride it slow and see just how much a difference that will make.

I guess you dont beleive in breaking in period of a new engine ?

i think he has a 98

Yea, I had a '98 so no breaking in period for me.

However, I've been taking it easy this week and I only managed to get 134 miles before I had to switch to reserve.
I'm a little dissapointed as I've been reading on this forum of people getting up to 150/180 miles before switching to reserve. 

It would appear that my main tank can hold about / 3 US gallons / 2.57 Imperial Gallons / 11.7 Litres
Isn't it supposed to be more than that? Says on Wilipedia it should be 4.5 Gallons ( I'm taking that to include reserve as well)
gallon and a half reserve? does that sound right?

I'm just curious as the peeps who say they get 200+ miles before going to reserve must be doing 80 mpg

T4

I have on 02 and go on reserve around 200 miles.
I was coming back from Manhattan today and put in on reserve earlier.
Hate to fiddle with it when I'm splitting lanes on the approach to the Lincoln Tunnel.
Had 238 miles on the odometer and put only 4.7 gallons into it.
Was on the side stand.  Probably could have gotten another .2 gallons into it if I stood it
on the center stand and shook it a little to let the gas to settle.
All commuting miles going to work.
Have almost 25,000 miles on it and runs like a top.
Mileage is great no matter how hard I ride it if the speed stays under 75 mph indicated.

I hit reserve right around 200-220(2006 GS500F) and then I go fill up.

Wow, 200 miles to a tank of juice would be amazing.

Is it posible to swap my tank with one from an '01?
I'm guessing not, but I'll ask anyway.

I bought the GS specifically for the long tank range.
Bah!

yea the tank off of a 04-07 gs500f will bolt right up with the older gs500e... i have an 89 and i needed a new tank and got an 05 free from work and painted it black and it bolts right up... the seat scratched the front under it but im not that concerned you don't see it... im gonna try one of the newer seats but jus havn't got around to it

So you saying if I go on ebay and buy an 04 to 07 tank I can enjoy the extra capacity that everyone else here seems to have?
awesome!   

Let us know how you get on with the newer seat.