Hey there guys,

I need some feedback from some far more superior folk than myself...

I have only put 500km's on my '09 1200N and find that the low fuel light is coming up on the little 12.5lt peanut tank after only 120km's. I understand that the engine is still being broken in etc, but what sort of range are some of you other Nightster owners getting? Would it be my modifications perhaps?

They do use a bit of fuel when running them in.

Your bike could be running a little rich but thats not a bad thing.

See what its like after about 15000 kilometers it will get better as the motor gets looser.

 

It's definately running rich... But I'm not riding the sh!t out of it, just basically riding normally and not getting too excited with the throttle. I guess I'm just noticing the range a lot more as the tank is small... I have been told though that after a while it should get a lot better... time will tell I guess. Cheers for the thoughts...

When I was breaking in my rebuilt motor on my 1200R, I would only get about 175km to the tank.

I did have the thing over jetted and since have had it dynoed and rejetted. I now get 220km to the tank.

Take a small container of fuel with you and run it out. Then you will know how far you can go on a tank.

I use to get between 140 - 160 Km's before the light came on when riding Julie's Nightster.

That was a new one as well.

Just remember, mine is with a reserve.

I have a carby model.

Not into the injection thing.

Too many things that rely on computers.

Hey, Don't panic!
Take note that when you fill it when the light comes on, you are probably only getting 8-9 litres in her...
The light's tend to come on at about 2/3 of the tank. Which is kind of annoying at times. I've found that round town my light comes on 120-130 but I'm happy to ride to around 160km before filling her. On the hwy or round the mountains, light comes on around 160km... I haven't ridden further than 220km before filling but even then I only put in 10.5 litres.  And I've upped my fuel to air ratio to let her run a bit richer than stock.

Not sure I'd trust being able to get the full 12.5 litres out of the tanks looking at where the fuel injection is located, so I do my math on 12 litres. I just kept a track of how many litres I was putting in for the kms and type of riding I'd been doing for the first couple of months. You soon get to know...

BTW... if she was still stock then I'd very much doubt she'd be running rich.... what were your mods?

Hey Trace, just Vance & Hines Short Shots, fuel pack and Screaming Eagle A/C... Dlux66 makes a valid point though, that once the light came on and I travelled another 5-10kms to fill up, it still only took 8 litres to fill, well below the 12.5 capacity.

Thanks Trace. Absolutely loving the Nightster... No car or bikes that I have purchased over the years have ever made me smile as much!!!!

My 2 bob's worth, mine was about 160 K's for the first say 10 tank fills when the light came on, now at about 4,000 K's it's out to about 175 K's. So the fuel use is getting slightly less, could be I'm not ridind as hard or it's getting more run in & getting better fuel economy, BTW mine has had the V&H short shots & fuel Pak from day one, the A/C went on about 8 weeks later.

Just I newer sporties, I have an 08 I just got and am breaking in.  I got my fuel-light happening today at 168kms.  It wasn't staying permanently, though I wasn't gonna dick around for my first fill-up.  I got ten litres in it.  Thus, I gather it will be like a car light and the first few flashes come n go.

Must say, beats the fuel-tap/reserve thing hands down.  Would you believe I ran out of gas on the way to the stealers in which I bought the sporty (I picked it up two days later).  A 300m push and crossing of Dandenong Road to the fortunate positioning of a gas station... 

Hello people

I had the same problem with mine when I first got it.....light came on...filled it up and put 7 litres in it. As you know it is a 12 litre tank. It did this for a couple of times and has now (after 3000 k's) settled and comes on everytime...almost spot on.. with 4 litres left in the tank. The other thing I found was that my fuel consumption improved around 1500 k's which was about the time the V&H pipes, power commander and cone filter were fitted. I guess it was a combination of the engine being run in a bit...plus the extras...either way looking at around 23 k's a litre now...which is not bad. Thought about a bigger tank for a while but....nah....it would change the look of it too much and I love it the way it is.

Regards

Wayne

PS....D'Lux...you will have to buy a Nightster mate....I have got a Heritage as well... just so I could post in the other sections lol. On a serious note....the Nightster is one of the best bikes I have ever owned (after changeing the rear springs and seat that is)

Hahah Calabos, I was just about to mention that my VZ Holden shows up as dead empty and on refill, I only need to get 63 litres of the 75 litre tank for it to overflow.

I think MoCo's are ensuring we customters don't run out relying on the fuel guages and their warning lights.

Also, the 'fuel to go' trip computer aspects in Holdens (and I assume Falcons too) are just so inaccurate and inconsistent, they're not worth having at all. Hence, I go by a conservative measure of kms per tank in both the VZ and the XL1200 before saying hi to Mr Caltex.