I was wondering if the miles to empty is actually tracking current milage to the gallon to determine miles left in the tank. If it is great since that changes all the time if it isn't then umm what is the difference than an auto version of setting the trio meter? Does anyone know? I am trying to figure out if I should pay attention to that feature or if it is just a gimmick. I think they only added it in 2011. I cold be wrong but I thought 2011 when they redid the hand controls.

 

Hi Liz, I have a 2010 FBL and it has the "miles remaining" feature also. It appears to have a few miles cushion built in. By that I mean when it shows that I have 15-20 miles left I can still only get a little over 4 gallon in the 5 gallon tank. With that said it is close enough that I do use it as a guide to when I need to fuel up. Ride Safe.

 

on my 2009 bones, the "miles remaining" feature is more accurate than the fuel gauge.

 

The Blackline doesn't have a gas gauge, so it has to be using the fuel level sender signal.

I know my gas mileage has gone down since I bought the bike and I haven't been stranded.

 

My sportie had a only a gas light so if that miles left is using the same sensor then it should be correct but if it is just a set amount then it is next to useless.
Sounds like it is using a sensor which is good.

 

Yeah, I figure if Harley wasn't using it then they would figure out how to save money on not putting it on the bike.

 

Liz. I think it does give you a milage number considering how you've been driving. My Heritage usually shows about 38 miles when the light comes on and used to show about 45 before stage one. You can also set it to switch to 'r' when the light comes on automatically. See the owners manual to do this.

 

Is that for a carb bike? Since a FI bike the reserve is really just about the gas light. Or is there something else?

 

I have a 2012 Heritage Softail Classic. The miles remaining display is more accurate than the gauge. I've noticed that if I burn one tank getting excelent mileage, the range reading upon my next fillup will increase. I believe there is a certain amount of memory that probably just covers the mileage on your last tank of fuel. That's what it looks like to me.

I went on my 1st long trip in August, geez it was only a little over 200 miles, but the longest I'd gone up til then. Anyway I thought I might squeeze the whole trip out of one tank. Don't ask me why I was thinking that.

Anyway, I was 25 miles or less from home on the way back, the road was relatively flat, 1st it started reading 40 miles left on the tank, about the time the warning light came on maybe. As I rode it would fluctuate, 38, 25, 38 etc until it got to 20 miles left. I had less than 10 miles to get home at that point. I thought I'd push my luck. Soon after it started reading 20 miles left, the readout started flashing and I knew it was going to be close. I ran out of fuel within 4-7 miles of that. In 6th gear and hauling *** I guess I knew that the towns were downhill off the highway and it would be likely I could coast. That's exactly what I did, ending up having to push it less than half a block to fuel up. With no fuel in the lines, it took 4.8 gallons to completely fill. so there will always be .2 gallons slopping around in a pit down there, being a 5 gallon tank.

I know it's not good to let it run dry and I'm still not sure why I let it happen, but I learned that as the tank gets lower, the miles left will fluctuate more, and accuracy drops. I now know that if the 'miles left' display comes on, I probably should have gotten gas a few miles back. Also learned that when it starts flashing, I'm going to run out REAL soon. So at least I learned something from the experience.

Sorry for being so long winded, Hope it helped some.

Joe

 

I bet the fuel is sloshing around in there making it harder to tell what the real fuel level is. They need to smooth the filter more in the software to get more of an average.