Fuel tank capacity

[simonknee]

Prompted by:

My main issue touring has always been fuel capacity. You only get a couple of hundred miles on a tank.

Simon,

I can only assume you are running on Webers which are known for their slightly inferior fuel mileage, but 200 miles? That's half the 380 miles I cover with my Strombergs and I have the standard smaller tank that was put into the S4s and Sprints. Taking into consideration the fact that I believe my odometer is optimistic by 5%, I'm still covering 361 miles on a tank. Something must be wrong.

Can somebody tell me what the standard capacity is?? At most I have squeezed 35 litres (7.7 gallons) into my tank in one go at the pump. In Germany I regularly got over 210 miles for 30 litres (6.6 gallons) equating to a rather good 31.8mpg. If Frank is getting 35mpg then to do the 361 miles he needs a 45 litre (10 gallon) tank. That's 10 more litres than I think I have!

Am I under-tanked? Has Frank got a secret compartment? Has somebody put a brick or two into my tank?

[summerinmaine]

Prompted by:



Am I under-tanked? Has Frank got a secret compartment? Has somebody put a brick or two into my tank?

Standard tank capacity for Series 1-3 is 10 imperial gallons = 12 U.S. gallons = 45 liters. Series 4 is 9 1/4 Imperial = 42 liters.

Something is seriously wrong unless you're refilling the tank well before empty..

[simonknee]

And 10 gallons was standard across all models? If so that means that I have a solution for my poor range when touring... a new tank. Excellent.

Issue will either be that some DPO has fitted a non-standard item and/or made a strange repair and/or that the pickup tube does not go deep enough so leaving 10 litres in the bottom at all times. Either way a new tank should give me a range around of 300 miles rather than getting worried after 200.

[summerinmaine]

And 10 gallons was standard across all models? If so that means that I have a solution for my poor range when touring... a new tank. Excellent.

Issue will either be that some DPO has fitted a non-standard item and/or made a strange repair and/or that the pickup tube does not go deep enough so leaving 10 litres in the bottom at all times. Either way a new tank should give me a range around of 300 miles rather than getting worried after 200.

I see no diff between roadster and FHC in the manual. The S4 had a smaller tank IIRC to accommodate the vapor recovery tank.

If your tank is close to "empty" why not just pull the drain plug (with a suitable basin in place) and see how much remains?

Fitting a new pickup tube should not be difficult either. I've done it on mine.

Or, you could just figure that this is the opportunity to fit that Aluminum tank (or fuel cell) that you've always wanted.