That's how far I made it on my first tank of gas. How do I know? Because I ran out and got stranded, lol! I was shocked that was as far as I made it on a tank. How far do you all usually get on a tank? Not having a fuel light sucks!! Gah! Lesson learned.

Nothing happened when you flipped the petcock to reserve? Something smells fishy.....

The 500E holds what - 4.5 gallons? If you're getting 50mpg, then you should be able to hit 200 miles before needing to flip it to reserve.

Couple things worth mentioning: first off check your hose routing from the petcock. You might be running from the reserve / prime hose all the time. Second, it's good to keep an eye on your fuel consumption by using the trip meter on the odometer.

119mls..........i smell a rat.

It was on reserve when I went dry.  I figured at least 200 miles as well, that's why I hadn't checked it after topping it off when I bought it a week ago. ..

That's almost exactly how much mileage I get from full to when I need to flip it to reserve.

Perhaps your reserve line is kinked or blocked

i usually get 80 plus mpg, 250 miles before going to reserve. i run a 17 tooth front sprocket and a 140 rear tire 

Quote from: lucas on May 08, 2016, 05:34:03 PM
That's almost exactly how much mileage I get from full to when I need to flip it to reserve.

Perhaps your reserve line is kinked or blocked

hmmm, that sounds very interesting...

a friendly passerby who lived in the neighborhood stopped and asked me if i needed help, he then brought me some gas. i then went right to the gas station and put in 3.7 gal. I'm not sure how much i put in from his gas can as i had no way to measure it, but I suspect I put in probably close to a gallon, which would have put me right around the 4.5 gallon capacity after my 3.7 from the station. i don't drive it like i stole it, but i definitely am not babying the bike around. 119 seems ridiculous though..

When I hit reserve I have to put 2.7 gallons to fill it back up.  So I guess that isn't your issue.

Here are a couple other ideas: your odometer might be out of calibration.  Try verifying its accuracy by comparing the mileage of a trip to a GPS or to google maps.

Or perhaps you underfilled the tank?  The first couple times I filled up my tank when I got the bike I did so while it was on the side stand and I was shocked at how small the range was.

Do you guys normally put the bike on the centre stand when you fill it?

On my 07 F I get about 120 before I have to flip to reserve.

'98 E and I too am right around 120 from full to flipping to reserve.

Funny that this thread would start today. I ran out of gas twice this morning. Both times forgetting to put it back to On after refueling. I was driving down I5 at high speed with side cases and a top box. Managed to burn all 5 gallons in the F tank at 145 miles. Had to walk it twice to a gas station. I usually get 45 - 55 mpg but going fast for an entire tank with luggage gave me 29 mpg.

When I fill up I stay in the saddle.  I slosh the gas around a bit to get those last drops to fit.

Sounds like a gas leak and since small amounts of gas evaporat fast you probably won't notice it under your bike tell it gets worse I just did a trip from MN to Texas on my gs500 (2000 year) and every 100 miles I would top gas up and check oil and I only put 1.78 gallons in almost everytime so check your hoses after a ride. Just when u shut her down run your hand over the hoses if they feel wet replace the lines.
Stay safe riding my friend

Quote from: i8ball on May 09, 2016, 11:23:45 PM
Sounds like a gas leak and since small amounts of gas evaporat fast you probably won't notice it under your bike tell it gets worse I just did a trip from MN to Texas on my gs500 (2000 year) and every 100 miles I would top gas up and check oil and I only put 1.78 gallons in almost everytime so check your hoses after a ride. Just when u shut her down run your hand over the hoses if they feel wet replace the lines.
Stay safe riding my friend

Thanks, it's definitely a leak. I have another thread here that I'm diagnosing it in. Going to learn a lot about this bike in a short time, was hoping I'd be able to ride it more before fixing it immediately.

On my last few tanks I got close to 60MPG so i was getting 180+ miles before I had to flip to reserve. You may want to clean your carbs, verify the jetting and report back.