Flickering fuel light

[bunker]

I'm still working my way through the first full tank of fuel but today on the way home from work the fuel light started to flicker intermitantly (at about 135 miles into the tank), the light is also on when the bike is sat on the side stand - is there a dodgy sensor or something or do they all do that?  :?:

Cheers

[R0B]

No, mine does exactly that.........after another 5 miles or so it'll go solid amber.....glad to know your fuel economy is as crap as mine :-)

Rob

[D-Fuzz]

Mine does the same thing.  I think I read on here that the sensor is temperature sensitive, so as the fuel level goes down, the temp goes up and the light comes on.  When I was riding earlier in the spring when the temps were right around freezing, I thought the sensor wasn't working, but it was just too cold and the change in temp wasn't great enough for it to matter.  My light comes on around the same mileage, so good to know my bike is likely running right.

[CoolHandLuke]

Bunker, that's about right for a standard Tiger.  If I recall correctly, you won't need to switch to reserve until about 160/170.  Once on reserve, you have about 3 1/2 litres left in the tank.

[MtheTiger]

They all do that..no worries.

[c-rad]

It might be worth minimizing the time that the light is allowed to stay on.  The NTC thermistor in the sensor burned out on mine and a replacement in the right range has been impossible to find (tried the closest one that I could find from an electronics catalog but it didn't work).

The longer they're dry the warmer they get and the lower the resistance goes and the brighter the light shines.

My new plan is to use a Honeywell liquid sensor in a modified circuit.  I'll post the schematic once I figure it out, but the sensor was $40 and probably not worth it since the petcock on reserve works fine too.  Still cheaper than a stock replacement (as long as my labor continues to be worth nothing).  I just like having the lights come on if they're supposed to.

[JetdocX]

Mine is either on or off.  No flicker.  But I have a 98.

[bunker]

Thanks for the replys folks  :)  ; on this tankfull i rolled up to work this morning at 171 miles, fuel light solid the whole way (22 miles) and not switched onto reserve yet so happy with that bit of knowledge.  So assuming a 3 and a bit litre reserve, would that give a tank range of roughly 190 miles or so?

[CoolHandLuke]

Thanks for the replys folks  :)  ; on this tankfull i rolled up to work this morning at 171 miles, fuel light solid the whole way (22 miles) and not switched onto reserve yet so happy with that bit of knowledge.  So assuming a 3 and a bit litre reserve, would that give a tank range of roughly 190 miles or so?

I have done some more working out.  When the orange light comes on steady (it will "flicker" if you are doing back roads) you have about 9 - 9 1/2 litres left.  That's about 6 litres until you hit the reserve which then leaves you with about 3 - 3 1/2 litres.

For me, when I was working this out, I got 281 miles from full to empty as I am currently getting about 51- 55 miles to the gallon.

Orange light comes on around 180 miles (16 litres used)
Switched to reserve at 245 miles (22 litres used)
No fuel left at 281 miles (25 litres used)

If you work out your average, it will give you a rough idea how far you can push it between refills :)

[bunker]

Thanks for the replys folks  :)  ; on this tankfull i rolled up to work this morning at 171 miles, fuel light solid the whole way (22 miles) and not switched onto reserve yet so happy with that bit of knowledge.  So assuming a 3 and a bit litre reserve, would that give a tank range of roughly 190 miles or so?

I have done some more working out.  When the orange light comes on steady (it will "flicker" if you are doing back roads) you have about 9 - 9 1/2 litres left.  That's about 6 litres until you hit the reserve which then leaves you with about 3 - 3 1/2 litres.

For me, when I was working this out, I got 281 miles from full to empty as I am currently getting about 51- 55 miles to the gallon.

Orange light comes on around 180 miles (16 litres used)
Switched to reserve at 245 miles (22 litres used)
No fuel left at 281 miles (25 litres used)

If you work out your average, it will give you a rough idea how far you can push it between refills :)

Smashing mate - cheers!

Finally switched to reserve this morning at 212 miles, orange light on from 160.  The old girl did not like being on reserve at all, switching from being flat to a bit surgy (thats not even a word is it but it describes pretty well how she felt) to being flat again.  I'll put that down to the fact that its been barely ridden over the last 4 years (850 miles or so), i'm sure it probably just needs a good booting with some fresh fuel in it and the tap on reserve to clear it out a bit.

[Geoff W]

My fuel light died a while back, probably when I replaced the tank heavy handedly. I get about 195 to 210 to reserve, and yes there is about 3-3.5 litres left. I usually assume 225 maximum tank range. I'm on a 1996 with thirsty Mikuni's. A while back in Holland on  a Sunday I was desperate for fuel and eventually found a garage open. I managed to get 25.2 litres in, I reckon the float bowls must have been empty!
                  Geoff.

[CoolHandLuke]

Smashing mate - cheers!

Finally switched to reserve this morning at 212 miles, orange light on from 160.  The old girl did not like being on reserve at all, switching from being flat to a bit surgy (thats not even a word is it but it describes pretty well how she felt) to being flat again.  I'll put that down to the fact that its been barely ridden over the last 4 years (850 miles or so), i'm sure it probably just needs a good booting with some fresh fuel in it and the tap on reserve to clear it out a bit.

Two things with the Steamer...

Fuel from petrol stations (gas stations for our friends across the pond) can be contaminated with water - it is a common problem that the storage tanks can take on water over time and because the fuel sits on top of it, when the the tanks are near empty, the pumps can dispense some water along with the fuel.  If I haven't used reserve for sometime, I will often just switch to reserve to make sure the bottom of the tank is clear.

The water drainage from the fuel cap is fscking awful.  The plastic run through the tank is fine, it is the metal insert on the bottom right hand side of the tank, that the drainage hose fits to that always blocks up.  They have had 18 years to fix this problem and still they haven't.  That bit of metal needs to be made out of stainless steel to stop the hole furring up with crap.  The best solution is to just remove the metal insert and don't bother with the drainage hose.  The water will just flush straight through the plastic and out.

[CoolHandLuke]

My fuel light died a while back, probably when I replaced the tank heavy handedly. I get about 195 to 210 to reserve, and yes there is about 3-3.5 litres left. I usually assume 225 maximum tank range. I'm on a 1996 with thirsty Mikuni's. A while back in Holland on  a Sunday I was desperate for fuel and eventually found a garage open. I managed to get 25.2 litres in, I reckon the float bowls must have been empty!
                  Geoff.

That is cutting it close :)

(glad you made it though)

[bunker]

@CoolHandLike - you're a star sir!  8)

Many thanks,