Fuel gauge - 1200 Sport

This has probably been covered before, but I ran out of fuel this afternoon. This is despite the fuel gauge reading almost 1/4 tank and no sign of the orange warning lamp coming on. I’m assuming the float mechanism or whatever sender unit the gauge uses had got stuck, although once I got the tank refilled, the gauge magically started working again. I must admit I’ve found the gauge on this bike and my previous 1200 Sport and 1100 Breva before that, to be quite good. I was lucky today, I ran out just as I reached a café and my daughter and her boyfriend live not too far away so they obliged and came out with a can of fuel to get me on my way. One bitten twice shy however and I will be using the trip meter in future. Its a shame modern bikes don’t seem to have a reserve tap on the fuel lines anymore

You’re not alone.

I have had my 1200S for only 700 miles so I don’t have a definitive picture but on the bike’s second refill the gauge said just under half full and the bike took 18 litres (capacity 23 litres).

The mpg dash read-out is equally false, saying 40 mpg when actual measurement suggests +/- 51 mpg.

For now I am improving my mental maths to convert displayed mpg into probable mpg, then using trip meter distance to assess when I should refill.

Not very 21st century. I’ll give gauge more miles to start working properly before I return it to MG for fix.

Tony

I always use the trip and think about fuel at 200 miles ish,the mpg readout I think is still in us gals,it is on my 07 one.

Yup, It is US Gals on the mpg readout so its approximately 20% less than UK mpg. For 40 mpg read 48 mpg. I agree with you Sutty, from full I would start looking for a petrol station after 180 miles and start getting worried after 200.

Having earlier reported a dysfunctional fuel gauge on 1200 Sport I am happy to report the gauge is beginning to work better.

In a long weekend in middle France I put several tankfuls through my new 1200 Sport and the gauge is much closer to the truth - current tank reads 1/4 full after 170 miles - in the first tankfuls at this distance the gauge would read 60% full!

In fact the gauge is pretty spot on. If the current computer average fuel consumption readout of 40.5 was precise, which it’s not because the reading moves in big steps, the fuel gauge should show five ‘bars’ left while the needle is actually pointing between four and five. I’m happy with that, marginally pessimistic is much better than the first tankfuls when the guage hardly moved.

Tony

PS given the OP warning and with an eye on the Trip mileage plus mental maths with the MPG reading I shall run down this tank to confirm whether the gauge and warning light function at lower fuel levels.TooJuicy2014-06-03 15:24:48

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Ah - that might explain my mpg averages being worse than the car!My Breva gauge sticks after filling up, generally at about 3/4 full, then a few miles later, reads full-up. Mind you, I was “brimming” it, and the handbook says don’t…It also reads 1/4 full, after 170-odd miles.
Blind Lemon Ade2014-06-05 12:50:36

I have a 1200 breva when I get to a 1/4 of a tank I go another 5 miles and it reads nearly zero quite scary did it today and I put £25 in the tank so it was very low with short warning