Ducati Monster Forum

just wondering how far do you try to go with it... normally, when mine goes on, i stop right away unless i'm pretty close to home... only gone about 10-15 miles max with the light on on my 796.

on average, how far do i have before it starts to sputter?  and how far do you go before you start to get really worried?  haha

Never got it to sputter yet, but 20 miles is the most I have pushed it.

At about 24 miles, my S2R1K shuts off. . .learned that the hard way.

I don't take any chances.  Sooner or later, pushing the fuel light will lead to pushing the bike.  I am far too lazy for that.

The farthest I've gone is 20 miles, but I try to fill up ASAP.  You never know when shits gonna hit the fan and you have to get the hell outta dodge.

I went at least 15 miles (maybe more - I'm not really sure) and I was holding my breath the whole 15 miles as  I was on a not-often traveled road.  Made it with a little fuel to spare :)

I tend to pregnant dog out almost immediately when the light comes on. I guess that's the pilot training coming out in me, a light comes on and I call mayday and deploy straight for the nearest service station. I've probably only ever had to go 10-15 k's with the light on. I generally plan it so that I refill before 200k's on each tank so I avoid the light altogether!

I've taken it about 22-24 miles max on my 696ABS. The manual says the light comes on when there is 3.5 lit fuel left. I've been getting about 45 miles per gallon average. So technically, I should be able to go 35-38 miles after the light turns on.
But again, it depends on how the fuel tank is designed, will you get every drop of fuel before it is empty, or there is some fuel stuck on the other side of the tank... (I haven't looked at my tank, so do not know the shape and design)

I kept my limit to 20 miles, just so my brain cells are used for better purposes...

When the fuel light comes on, I start planning out when and where to stop for gas.  I usually have a pretty good idea where gas stations are around me.  The furthest I've gone with the light on was 20 miles and that was by plan.

I can't remember the farthest I have gone with the light on, but I have run out of gas 3 times on the monster.  Pushing a bike sucks, especially on the bay bridge during rush hour, when all the cars you just split past are laughing at your dumb ass.

A small tip if you start to spudder and run out of gas...  Take the seat off of the bike and lift the tank up.  This will get you another mile or so from left over gas.  This was on an old steel tank, don't know if it works for the new bikes. 

I had my light come on once...the third day I rode my bike...and found that it didnt give much warning at all.   I was on my way to the classroom session of my MSF course, coming back from a ride to the coast when the light went on a few miles from the site.  I  was planning to fill up right after class, but the bike ran out of gas in the parking lot.  I noted the miles on the trip odo and from then on, never let the light go on again.  If I rode hard, I'd get 100 miles before filling up, but usually tried to fill up well before that.  A freeway cruise might get me 120.  This was probably the thing I liked least on the Monster...the tiny tank forced me to plan my rides around available filling stations.

My fuel light doesn't work  ;D

I just reset the trip every time I refuel, and go to fill up when it hits 120 mi. It usually take 3.5 gal for that fill up.

I got nicknamed "27 Miles-davis" at the Laguna GP trip 2 years ago.....


Made it 27 mies after the light went on before...... she shut off on me.

-My '06 S2R1k


...Special thanks to Randy for letting me know my light went on, when we left for the track...

and another special thanks to the traffic idiot who directed me the LONG way around ( and the wrong direction too) to go get gas when I left the track [thumbsdown]




Good Times ;D

Depends on city or highway.

But really...

Who here doesn't just go to the closest place...


I rode 6 miles to office and went to work, planning on going right to a station afterward and it didn't restart...

Mine neither.  :(  

I fill up every 120mi as well. I wish I could look in the tank and see how much fuel there's left.

First week I had the bike I ran out of fuel on the freeway.  Luckily, a CHP officer that has a love for Ducatis ran and got me a half gallon of gas to get to a station.

Less then 10miles...

I refuel every 130-150 miles. I don't think my fuel light works, either.

Now that's a SOLID! 

the lights been long dead on my 01 900......... so, like others...... the trip meter is my guage.

My M750 I've had no trouble going 20 miles.  However, I was starting to get worried at that point.  Seems around 20-25 is about all that is recommended.

JM

30 Kms ...so about 20mi ...not my idea riding with a Busa buddy who can go forever on that thing

You guys disappoint me today.  Not as one of you has yet said

"Depends on how far from the gas station you are"

20 ish miles  is max for me, found that out early on the hard way.
Well i was able to coast almost 2 miles to a station.

I'm usually good to around 150 miles before my light comes on, 10-15 more if on a long ride.

Out of gas on the freeway is FUN! Got 20 miles, 2 miles from where I was gonna fill up.

Now I'm around 110 miles city driving, 150 (max) freeway, before I fill up.

Happened to me on Tuesday this week. Light came on on way to work. i was running late so i figured I'd get it on the way home. it was 17 miles after it came on steady when it cut off, as I was turning into gas station.

YAY ME!!!!

The ST2 has a generous 6 liters left when the fuel light comes on, which is going to bite me in the ass one of these days; twice I've pushed it well over 40 miles, both times riding two up, and over mountain passes with a couple thousand feet of climbing - once up from near Bagdad, AZ to home in Prescott and another time between the Grand Canyon South Rim & Flagstaff. Both times I mis-estimated how fast the last quarter tank (actually the last quarter before the reserve) would go, and found myself with the nearest gas 40+ miles in one direction and way, way more in the other.

I had some guy holler from his truck, "Nice day to take your bike for a walk!"   [roll]

Fixed it.  Ran out of gas 3 times on my 11 mile commute.  plus I ride when it is cold, which wrecks anything resembling gas mileage.

I feel pretty comfortable up to the first 20miles.  After that, I start worrying. 

i regularly go 25-30 miles on my non ABS 1100S

You cant gauge an accurate "mileage left" based on when that light goes on.  I've had that light go on and I still have plenty in the tank and other times when that light goes on, there's only is a spit left in there.  Its good practice to just get it as soon as you can.

I love that my car's onboard computer tells me how many miles I have left until absolute E.

I don't think I've ever run more than 10 or 15 (never paid attention) but I've heard that the fuel sensors in our bikes are less than stellar quality so the accuracy may be off.  That being said, even if I do push 10+ miles after the light I've never put more than 3 gallons in my tank so there's obviously somethin off with my fuel gauge.  If you're really curious, wait until the light comes on then get a friend to carry a gallon or two of gas in a vehicle to follow you and just ride her till she dies. 

I wont be pushing it again.................my wife told me before I took her bike for a ride
"oh I think it needs gas soon " I got out the driveway down the bottom of the hill into third gear........cough cough
 [bang] service station is up the hill   [bang]
Oh is she going to pay for that  [laugh]  [evil]

I went 32 miles on the 696 with a tank bag, tail bag and saddlebags.

I hear you! Light are that come on in aircraft out of the norm are make aircrew panic. What do you fly, Apache?

I did the test not long after I got my bike, S2R800.

I had a jerry can with some fuel in it strapped to the bike. When the light came on I rode around at my usual pace and got 40km (25 miles) until it just stopped. No spluttering. There was still some fuel in the tank as I could hear it sloshing.

When I put fuel in, it started first go. I thought it might need some time to push through the lines again but didn't.

I suspect the fuel pump cuts out at low pressure rather than draining the tank.

At least now I know how far I can get without sweating about it. This seems consistent with most peoples experience.

I've never had to go more than a few miles.  Usually I put in just over three gallons if I stop within a couple miles of the light coming on.  Usually I don't see the light before 140 miles.

JM

I coated my tank w/ caswell's so I try not to push it  since I've reduced the volume of the tank a bit. If you guys are getting 20 miles after the light I wonder if a coated tank is only good for 15?

I've never run out, I think the furthest was around 27 miles with the light on (192 miles on the tank IIRC).  The bike took 3.41 gallons - wife's '06 620.

I think I pushed it to 20 miles last year, and the bike was within sight of the gas station when it started to hesitate. Fortunately, coasting to the pump and filling it up with premium satisfied the beast. 

Non Duc account but fuel light related. My sport touring bike is a Hayabusa. On an Arkansas ride in May we were seriously in the middle of no where riding Hwy 341/Push Mountain Road (awesome damn road with zero traffic!!!! shhhh, don't tell anyone!!! [evil]) and my gas gauge was getting lower and lower with every gear shift. Every gas station heading toward Mountain View had plastic bags covering the pump handles. Ah... why do gas stations in Arkansas have no gas? [bang] I was short shifting like crazy and actually rolling down hills with the clutch pulled in. Light was on and gauge needle was on empty. Finally nursed it in to Mtn. View for gas and it took damn near full capacity.

Point is the first half of my gauge seems to last hundreds of miles and the bottom half disappears in no time. It is WAY OFF as far as calibration goes. I have never pushed it that far past half way point before but now I know. Don't do that! I like the idea of what others have said, test your tank and gauge when you have back up help/gas. Find out under controlled conditions how far you can go riding at XXX speed. I easily could have been stranded in the middle of no where with no functioning gas station within 20 miles an hour before dark. Not good. :P 

22 miles is about as far as I've gone after the fuel light comes on.  I filled up last night on the way home and it took 2.9 gallons of fuel to fill my 3.5 gallon tank.  I can barely get 120 miles on this bike before I have to fill up again and the fuel light usually comes on around 100 miles.

I do like that the trip log begins counting how many miles you've ridden since the fuel light came on though.

I never push my bike when it has fuel.  I prefer to ride it.  (http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d147/pompino/rimshot2.gif)

Ive done 20 on my 696, but I am not a risk taker like this guy...



Kramer test drives car on Seinfeld (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuEdU_lrtZk#normal)

My old S4R ran out at 15 miles and I had to push uphill for six blocks.  That was enough for me. 

Like someone said already, set the odometer when you fill up and take a glance every now and then. At something approaching 90 miles or the light comes on I beat feet for the nearest gas station.

I've done 15 miles on my S4RS and was sweating it bad.

Running out of gas is a mini IQ test I don't want to fail again. I'm a slow learner, but a learner just the same.

LA

Just recently ran it 30 miles on a 2011 M696, still had some reserve in the tank but not much)...

I typically try and fill up between 200-220 miles.  My fuel light generally comes on somewhere in that range.  My light has never stayed on solid though, it generally will be on for a minute then off for a bit.  The longest I have pushed my bike is to 228 miles and I think it took 4.2 gallons to fill it all the way back up.  This is on a 2000 M900.

The '07 M695 light comes on with approximately 3 liters (.8 gallons) of fuel remaining. *Estimated* MPG is 40-48 for a stock bike. The low end would supposedly give a 32 mile range down to nothing but vapors. Real world, I've gone 12 miles with no issues. Given the above, I wouldn't feel comfortable going more than 20, 25 max.  That said, I need to figure out what my average fuel economy actually is.

I push it as far as I need to in order to get it off the road so I can safely formulate a plan to get some more fuel in her.  (ba-dum ching!)

In all seriousness, I really don't push it far.  I've noticed that the fuel light on my 2000 M750 comes on with around half a gallon left in the tank, but as soon as it comes on or I reach 140 miles on the trip tach, I'm looking for the nearest station.

The economy of my M900 is very good with FCR 41s. I see the warning light at 200-240kms (depending on throttle use) and can go another 30-40 kays after that at my peril. I start looking around or are at least mindful of fuel at 200kms on the odometer.

On my S2R, commuting in stop and go on surface streets, I get ~35mpg and the light comes on at around 100 miles.  If I visit family or run errands that take me on the highway, I can get 45mpg and 125 miles before the light.  I ran out of gas on my first tank actually.  I was used to 30+ miles on my R6 and only got about 17 miles I think.

I think the important thing to take away from this thread is that all bikes have different results, even the same bike will have different results based on riding.

Bike- 1998 M900 w/ jet kit & slip ons:
My light comes on solid around 105-110 miles. Never pushed it (b/c of lack of gas !) over 20 miles after reserve light comes on solid. Fills up with about 3.2 gallons each time.
Other carbed M900's ?

97 M900
Consistently lights up around 190-200km. @225km took 14.3litres.

I was ridin my favorite back road twisties early this mornin and the fuel light turns on. I was miles away from the nearest gas station and the worst part is i emptied my celphone batteries when i stopped at the local starbucks. Trip meter went up to 8&1/2 miles before i could gas up. I wish i was able to read this thread before today. I was really worried for a while there.

17.1 on the '07 695.

Our planned gas stop 50 miles prior had no gas.
Awesome.

I'm only getting about 30 mph on my S4RS.  The light comes on around 70 miles on the odometer and I fill up within five miles if I can.  Last time I checked I filled up with 2.6 gallons and had 78 miles on the clock.

Just how much does the S4RS tank hole?  Not sure, but it's not alot more than that.

damn, thats pretty low... how hard are you riding it?

and for the official tank size i think they give you the total internal tank volume which you cant fill up to anyway because you have to leave space for expansion.  i think the 796 has about a listed 3.6 gallon tank, but with the light on for a while i've only ever filled it with about 2.7 gallons.

I won't lie, I push it all the time.  Everytime the gas light comes on, I'm like, "Ehh, I still have 20 miles to go".  This is usually during the week though.  I live like 4 miles from work, so I can still do a couple trips or so from work and back until I would risk it dying.  In DC, the gas stations are few and far between so I just let it go till I have to fill it up.  And I'm lazy....

I call my riding style around town as "moderately aggressive."  I could get better milage if I didn't keep the RPMs in the upper range all the time.

2K6 M620
like yours light up 190-200km. Today i push it til i reach 270km.....  [evil]

You're braver than me!!

How far do I take it?

My last track day, Grattan, I used a full tank of gas.  I also had a 6 gallon tank that I used.  I knew I was running low but I had to get that last session in.   Chasing down another rider, I had one rider between us.  I was going to pass the rider between us in turn 3 and pass the guy I was chasing in turn 5.  Got to turn 3.  Went to pass on the outside, wide open throttle.  Nothing but bogging.  Hand up and right into the pit.  Coasted to mid pit.  Then the cheering started from the peanut gallery.

Man those FI bikes give you no warning.  When that fuel pump is out of gas, it's over! 

On the street, it's a different case.  No need to push it.  The ST is heavy.

I was thinking of this thread as I coasted into the gas station yesterday when my bike ran out of fuel about 300ft before the turn for the gas station.  I rode it to about 18-20 miles after the fuel light came on.  I don't recall the exact number, but it was freaky when it ran out right there!
I knew it was super low, but I had been really lazy the night before and didn't feel like stopping for fuel... :o

I don't push mine too far it's tiring..   jokes apart I did put 22 miles on once. After the fuel light came on.

This must a be a common thing, one of the bike magazines Sport rider or cycle world, had a topic on it. One thing I got from it was using my trip counter every time i fill now, I reset it and check it before I start off to see how much mileage I have ridden since the last fill up. The last time my low light came on, I was still breaking it in and it was around 160km or 100 miles. I rode an extra 15 km to get home and I filled up. I don't let it go past 160km now, I fill up at a Shell which is about 3 km from home.

Went 12 miles today with the light on.

Yesterday I  had to go 17 miles with the fuel light on (2012 EVO) before getting to the gas station.  It took 2 1/2 gallons to fill up.  The manual says tank capacity is 3 1/2 gallons.

pretty sure that the manual gives you total internal volume.  that doesnt account for the amount of air they leave on the top of the tank for expansion.  so it's basically impossible to get the full amount of gas into the tank.

Excellent point Thought.
In this case air probably isn't my friend.

Hmm, I put over 3 in mine. Something like 3.3 gallons. I must have been REALLY low.

I get absolute shit gas milage due to the intake/exhaust and ecu map.

When light comes on i won't go further than 15 - 20 miles on my Monster 1100evo. Filling up every 120 miles is a good rule though. Just wish the Monster had a bigger tank than 3.6 gal.

For some reason, Ducati has been making bikes with ridiculously small tanks for ever. I was tempted to buy a hypermotard purely because I know that I can get an aftermarket 6gal tank for it. I wish there was one for my EVO.

Haven't really tested the range on mine yet, I'd be fine going 10-15 miles on the fuel light though.

When I did my road trip (on a 2008 Triumph Sprint ST) my furthest on one tank of gas was 236 miles. I finally decided to get gas now when the range estimate went from 5 miles to "-" (aka, you're on your own mothermake the beast with two backser). ;D

there is one...

http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=47693.0 (http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=47693.0)

it's sexy as hell, but expensive and it doesnt work with abs bikes so the evo is out.  1 gallon bigger so i'm guessing you'll get around 160ish miles in btwn fillups which i think is a pretty solid mileage.

look on the last page of that thread to see it fully painted up.  damn sexy.

Cool. But holy crap that's expensive.

Hahaha! My light came on my S2R 1K when I was pulling up to Newcombs Ranch off Angeles Crest.
I was sweating the whole way back, until I bogged then stalled just at the exit of the canyon. I coasted all the way down the hill into the gas station  [bacon]

30 miles!!!!!!