About 5 months ago I bought a 1999 GS500E. First of all, I have to say that I'm *VERY* satisfied of the performance, handling and mileage of the bike.

I've a question for all of you: how many miles can you guys ride before filling up?
Online I found some "disagreement" on the gas tank capacity: somewhere talks about something more than 3 gallons, and somewhere else talks about 5 gallons.

I normally fill up after 160 miles and I was never able to put more than 3.1 gallons... but I think I can go for more miles before changing the gas switch to "res" (does anybody wait until that point to fill up?).

The reason why I'm asking is this one: I'm not 100% sure that the gas switch really works... :-p I got the bike from a friend who had it in his garage for about 2 years without running... so, when I took it I had very hard time to cleanup the entire carburator (the bike didn't even start).

Thanks!
Fabrizio

Welcome to the site!

I've been able to run mine completely dry on three seperate occasions after 175 miles. It's a '94 GS. Nowadays, I run her to about 125 on the tripmeter, and fill her up. I've been averaging about 55 mpg. Now I also had the fuel lines switched, so I was running on the reserve anyway. Not anymore.

My 2002 has 5.3 gallons.  I think the earlier models had about 5.  The California model has 5.  Run it to reserve and you should have about 3/4 gallons left.  Probably more, it depends when you start to sputter.  Going up hill or making sharp turns will cause you to switch to reserve earlier.
Your range should be way over 200 miles before you run out.  I fill up on my side stand and go between 180 and 200 before I hit reserve.

You might want to read the fairly recent thread 70 miles till empty? -- not so much for the original question as for the general fuel system info that comes later.

(If it helps, my main bike is a non-California '99 GS500E)

Thanks to everybody for the answers to my question...

Next time I'll wait for the sputt-sputts so I can see if the gas switch really works... If the switch won't work, I'll send you an express msg asking to e-mail me some gas... (perhaps fax it to me??)

My GS500E is a california model, so I assume 4 Gallons tank... at about 55 MPG... LESS the gas I can't put inside because of a stupid dent on the tank (that I made while I was unmounting the carburator... damn!).... let's say 180-200 miles...

Thanks again!

Yes, 4.0 gal, I have the same model.  I just pull the vapor retrieval sleeve back and fill it until its up to the neck below the fuel cap.  I rarely have the patience to keep filling it up and letting it drain down, but you don't have to do that as much if you fill while balancing the bike.  I occasionally get over 200 mi on the trip odo before filling up, but more typically about 175 (I get between 40 and 60 mpg depending on the type of riding, usually low 50s with a mix of city and highway).