My 4.5 gallon tank, light comes on around 1.3 gallons

 

I have the 4.5 gallon on my '15 1200C and it comes on early as well. I even had the dealer check to see if it was correct because it's bugging me. Today the light popped up at 124 miles. I road it to 140 and it took 3.3 gallons. So if you figure that I had used another half gallon from when the light game on, well that's entirely too pessimistic for me.
So I was looking through the forums for what it would take to get a fuel gauge. It's $150 just for the fuel sending unit not including labor. So I just need to learn when to get gas and not rely on the light.

 

i just experienced engine cut off from low fuel but no fuel light

 

For those who would like more fuel info while riding I have just made a wonderful discovery! Details in my thread here, about the combined tach/speedo, which includes a fuel gauge and tells us how many miles are left - plus more!

 

Today I was just pulling in to get fuel when my light came on 195.3 km which is pretty close to 121 miles. The bike took 11 litres which again is close to 2.9 US gallons which meant I had 6 litres left or 1.6 US gallons. While the light do'se seem to come on early it is actually not bad here in Western Canada where lots of times you can be 30 miles or farther to the closest fuel pump.

 

About 50miles worth in my experience. Buy yourself a Gatorade bottle, fill it up with gas and ride around until you run out. The mileage you get out of that will tell you exactly how far your bike will go. Fill her up with the Gatorade bottle, and get yourself to a station. Easy day. Well worth it for the peace of mind.

 

I have a Iron with a 3.3 tank on. The light comes on at around 90 miles but i have 130-140 mile tank range.

 

To my experience, the idiot light comes up at roughly one third of the tank volume remaining. As said before, one could make it a habit to monitor the miles indicated when it comes up, and the amount of fuel to top up. That's no rocket science, and I observed the light's up pretty constantly after 200-220 km, the bike asking 11 liters of fuel - now at 40.000 km.

Found the same relation (one third of the fuel remaining) w/ 1200C/4.5 gal tank, 3.3 gal tank and 883/3.3 gal tank. Also note how well mine fits the other observations posted here.

Then again, as I learned in aviation, this is an electrical fuel indicator, so never TRUST it. Keep an eye on your actual fuel use, get used to the engine's habits, and you will be fine.

 

And the 4.5 gallon tank only holds 4.3 gallons at best. The fuel pump takes up space in the tank.

 

I haven't bothered to check the max capacity of my 4.5 gallon tank, but I have my 6 gallon Glide tank, which holds well over 6 gallons. These capacities are rounded down, so I would be surprised if a 4.5 gallon tank holds any less than that. I'm sure the MoCo takes into account the pump etc. The other Glide tank I have lso holds well over the claimed 5 gallons.