How far on 'Low Fuel/Reserve'

[FTR London]

So - I've been doing some experimentation with fuels here in Aus.
Our fuels are rated at 91, 95 and 98 with 98 being premium.
Aussie fuel is measured by RON.

The manual for the FTR states: For best performance, use only unleaded gasoline with a 91 pump octane minimum (R+M/2 Method) or 95 RON minimum. In the event that the recommended premium unleaded gasoline is not available and low octane fuel must be used, fill the fuel tank only partially with unleaded regular gasoline, then fill the tank fully with premium unleaded gasoline as soon as possible.'

I have been putting 98 in my bike since I bought it. When I got it tuned, Ryan told me to use 98.
However recently I found out that one person in Aus was been told by Ryan to use 95 and Fuel Moto even told some people to use 91.

So - the last couple of tanks I put in were 95. And my FTR ran like an absolute PIG.
Far more sputtering and surging, just felt shit when accelerating.
And worst of all - by tank number two, I only got 141kms of travel before I was out. My low fuel light had been on for ages and I was literally rolling in to the petrol station.
I've never had fuel economy that terrible on the FTR before.

The petrol station I pulled up to didn't offer 98 - only more 95 or 91.
So just for shits and giggles I put a small amount of 91 in to get home. Nope, didn't improve at all.

I'll be putting 98 back in when I head out on my next ride.

Great post. Thank you for the insight.

In the UK, as I'm sure you do in Oz, we now have E10 fuels, so called because they contain 10% bioethanol. The former fuels now collectively termed E5 (yes, 5%), are only available at 98 octane (previously branded as 'super' or 'premium' unleaded). If you run an engine on a higher octane fuel than the minimum recommended, you will get either better economy or more performance (depending on how you drive). But in practice, the improvement is tiny, and the price premium of the higher octane fuel often eclipses the economy benefit from running it. E10 petrol is actually a slighter higher octane (94) than regular 91 and that can mean your engine performs better. However, ethanol lowers the energy level of the blend by 30%, which means you may possibly experience a slight loss in fuel economy.

Update - Several weeks ago I reverted to a map that was written for me for free last June by the people at Dynojet. I rejected it at the time, because it seem to exacerbate the cold start problem. However, since re-flashing the bike and having subsequently put over 600 miles on it, I can now report that in sport mode, track mode engaged, so all the rider aids disabled (which is my preference anyway), the bike has not cut out and in spite of the occasional blip, the surging has stopped. It's not as snatchy as the other map, which was slightly more feisty, but this is crisper. less lumpy and far smoother. If I do change the pipe (reluctant to lose the insane sound of the S&S - although I far prefer the look of the low mount Toce), I will of course order the Lloydz custom bench tune to match.

 

[FTR London]

Was out for a quick ride yesterday heading in the opposite direction at appreciable speed, putting rapidly increasing distance between myself and my house when I realised that I'd forgotten my wallet. Had a route/loop already planned in my head and after doing the mental maths figured I'd be ok with the fuel that I had in the tank - 56 miles. Got back with 9 miles range showing. When I fill up, it usually says 124 miles (for some reason, this often then shows as 93 miles). This bike likes to be ragged and the way I ride it, I wouldn't expect to be getting any more than that given the paltry tank capacity. I've had it down to an indicated 3 miles remaining which was highlighted in red. It's a thirsty machine, but I knew that when I bought it. One week I did two commutes to work - 110 miles in total and I had an indicated six miles remaining.

 

[nailbeater]

I live in the US. In a suburban area Gas stations are pretty readily available So I don't really worry about Gas All that much . I just pay attention to my gas gauge And when I get low I refuel We only have 93 octane That is the highest in my area . I have the V6 secret sauce Bike runs awesome on 93 It doesn't die on me there are no cold start issues at all When I start the bike like yesterday when it was 40ﾟ out It started and ran and never stalled But I did notice with it being Colder Out At around 4000 RPM There seemed to be a little stutter but once I got the bike warmed up to A 175ﾟ And rode it hard for a little while It Went away.

 

[Max Kool]

93 octane in the US is about the same as 98 octane in Europe...

 

[RMD1960]

In normal numbers (lol), I typically get around 105 miles before the low fuel light comes on (base 19 FTR, decat with racefit and v6 tune), this after 12.5k miles clocked on the bike in the last 14 months. This number does change a bit due to ambient temp (little lower riding below 50F and above 90F).

Most of my riding takes place during my 108 mile roundtrip commute, that includes approx 74 miles at 87 mph and 34 miles at 75 mph. I typically get about 3.1 gallons into the tank when I fillup at 108 miles (3 miles into the low fuel reserve). I have gotten 20ish miles after the low fuel light numerous times, without running out of gas. I have run out of gas 3 times, the first time was after 5 miles (!) of low fuel light and the other two took place at 27 miles. I should note that the 3 times I ran out of gas were not typical riding conditions, that is I was on new to me roads really wicking the throttle in the twisties so I had no real clue as to what my fuel mileage should actually be, as well as where the next filling station was. I have noticed over all these miles, that my miles per gallon really doesn't change more than one mpg or so one way or another based on my riding (80ish mph straight cruising or playing in the twisties anywhere from 40-100mph). This is very strange to me, as in my experience, my other bikes are usually good for 5 mpg or so (7-10%) loss of fuel mileage during "fun" rides, compared to commuting. Makes life easier, when doing that mental math, though.

My 2022 Carbon is new, only 2400 miles so far. Each time I fuel up I take my time and fill it to the top of the neck. I always reset my #2 trip meter.
Next refuel, top of the neck and check how many miles traveled before reset. Riding as hard as I can on back roads, zero traffic, in the twisties, the worst fuel mileage I ever saw was 32 mpg. Riding gently in the suburbs on nice wide multi lane roads with medium to light traffic, and a lot of stop and go traffic lights, the best fuel mileage I have ever seen on a tank was 49 mpg. I have never run out of fuel, but once I went 23 miles after low fuel came on. I was riding super gently on the throttle. When I filled up it held 3.6 gallons. Whew! Must have been on fumes! 🤔