Tank Size

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Ian

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So how big is the Tank on a Standard 2002 R1150GS

I seem to recall it being 21ltr.

So how can I get 24+ Litres in mine?

I had ridden it some 200 miles, so it was pretty low, but -3 litres is going some.

Now the BMW site says.

Usable tank volume 22.1 l (special equipment large tank: 30 l)

Reserve Approx. 4.0 l

Now does that mean total volume is 26.1 l?

or reserve is with 4.0l to go out, or the 22.1.

In which case, how from a number of garages, can I fit 24+ litres of fuel in?
 
When the orange light comes on, and no bars showing I can get about 20 litres in without spending 5 minutes getting the last litre in. This would indicate if you believe the handbook about the orange light and "reserve" capacitys that mine holds 24 litres.

Not been brave enough to do a run dry test of whether there's 2 or 4 litres left when the light comes on.........
 
The (useable) tank size is 22.1 litres including the reserve in a tank with a total available volume of just over 25 litres.

In other words, you've got 18 litres before (theoretically) the warning light comes on (there is no actual reserve tank). However, if you squeeze as much petrol as possible into the tank, taking your time and making sure any trapped air gets released, then you'll get anything up to 25 litres into the tank. BMW don't recommend this and the 22.1 (useable) refers to filling the tank to level with the bottom of the filler neck. If you overfill the tank you will lose petrol if you put the bike on the sidestand whilst the tank is still full.

We've all done it . . . I've filled mine to the very brim, rocking the bike to get rid of trapped air, and have proceeded to get 253 miles out of it.
 
Simon Eassom said:
The (useable) tank size is 22.1 litres including the reserve in a tank with a total available volume of just over 25 litres.

In other words, you've got 18 litres before (theoretically) the warning light comes on (there is no actual reserve tank). However, if you squeeze as much petrol as possible into the tank, taking your time and making sure any trapped air gets released, then you'll get anything up to 25 litres into the tank. BMW don't recommend this and the 22.1 (useable) refers to filling the tank to level with the bottom of the filler neck.


But as I said earlier, mine takes 20 litres when the light comes on and with no dribbling for the last few cc's :confused: :confused:

So, either the light is coming on too late, or my tanks usable capacity is about 24 litres.
 
This is not an exact science John! Your light will come on, then go off; come on or go off on tight bends or when accelerating/decelerating. The light will come on at different petrol levels depending on how much load the bike is carrying or whether or not it's on its centre stand.

One thing all owners have to do is work out the general point at which your warning light comes on when you are riding at a constant speed in an upright position. I would suggest that most lights come on when there is approximately 4 litres left because it's the filling of the tank that's problematic, not its emptying - in other words it's much easier to determine exactly when there are 4 litres left than it is to determine how much you can squeeze in to evey nook and cranny. . . . so, yes, you've got a useable capacity of about 24 litres (because of the way you fill up and/or because the angle/tilt of your tank determined by how you ride and/or whether you sit on your bike to fill it up or put the bike on its centre stand).

You will also find that if you run your tank dry there is actually still petrol in the left lobe of the tank (unless you're using a syphon sucker) . . . when you're running low on petrol take lots of right-hand bends very fast (or just lay the bike down on its right side - joke!).
 
Finished work nice and early so as the sun was shining it seemed a good day to see if I've only got a 22 litre tank. 32miles after the light came on (on the A682) so its a nicely swoopy sort of road) and via Ribblehead I couldn't be bothered using the 5 litres in the boot so filled up. Used the Shell garage in Ingleton, so fairly level and used the centre stand, and got 23.5 litres in with the 0.5 the only bit not at full flow. After paying up the level had settled to a couple of mm above the bottom of the filler.

So I seem to have 24 litres of useable capacity, with 4 litres left when the light comes on, but more importantly to me I know I should't run dry till I've done at least 30 miles on "normal" roads, but not hanging around!
 


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