Can I make my low fuel indicator light go on sooner?

[Holland]

Hello lads,

I own a 2009 Husky 510 SMR, and one thing that bugged the hell out of me is... friggin walking to the fuel station with it.
I also own a Aprilia 125 SM with 12L tank and 2L reserve, and in three years time only once did I ran out of fuel, when I was really pushing for it. My Husky has been acting as my pet dog about 5 times now since I started becoming it's owner last October.
Aside from the 7L tank being rather tiny, the problem starts with it not being able to do more than 4km after the light start turning on (though I have to add it can be hard to notice, and I'm throttle happy). As soon as that little orange bugger start illuminating a full square centimetre I need to get my ass to a fuel station ASAP, with a controlled right wrist. Especially during commuting, where in the entire 20km spawn of my route to university, there is no fuel station, that little orange "klereding" is really a sincere annoyance.

Since I'm keen on having my butt in the saddle rather than my legs pushing the bike it's about time I start countering this issue. Does anyone know if there is a way to make that light start to illuminate sooner? Ideally it would warn me like 20km before it runs out (even though he range of this bike barely exceeds 70km in my case). That way I could just kind of plan what fuel station on the route to go to rather than start panicking, pulling over, and googling where the closest fuel station is, to start approaching that below 4000rpm's. Especially because it's rare for fuel stations in Holland to offer Euro 98 fuel.

I look forward to your suggestions, thanks in advance

 

[Trenchcoat85]

Hello lads,

I own a 2009 Husky 510 SMR, and one thing that bugged the hell out of me is... friggin walking to the fuel station with it.
I also own a Aprilia 125 SM with 12L tank and 2L reserve, and in three years time only once did I ran out of fuel, when I was really pushing for it. My Husky has been acting as my pet dog about 5 times now since I started becoming it's owner last October.
Aside from the 7L tank being rather tiny, the problem starts with it not being able to do more than 4km after the light start turning on (though I have to add it can be hard to notice, and I'm throttle happy). As soon as that little orange bugger start illuminating a full square centimetre I need to get my ass to a fuel station ASAP, with a controlled right wrist. Especially during commuting, where in the entire 20km spawn of my route to university, there is no fuel station, that little orange "klereding" is really a sincere annoyance.

Since I'm keen on having my butt in the saddle rather than my legs pushing the bike it's about time I start countering this issue. Does anyone know if there is a way to make that light start to illuminate sooner? Ideally it would warn me like 20km before it runs out (even though he range of this bike barely exceeds 70km in my case). That way I could just kind of plan what fuel station on the route to go to rather than start panicking, pulling over, and googling where the closest fuel station is, to start approaching that below 4000rpm's. Especially because it's rare for fuel stations in Holland to offer Euro 98 fuel.

I look forward to your suggestions, thanks in advance

I don't know if your fuel sensor is the same as my 310R, but if it is... maybe try putting a very small (small!) weight on the float. Or if it works on resistance, put a another resistor in series or in parallel with it (depending on how it functions). Or tap into the LED wire and put another bright LED somewhere where it blinds you.

I've been thinking about making mine come on later via adding a float under it- which is harder, but it's been non-functional (always on) for over a year; I don't even notice it anymore.

lets us know if you come up with a solution- I mean besides carrying a liter of gas in your backpack.

good luck.

 

[old3]

Why not an IMS tank?

 

[Holland]

I've been temped to go with an IMS but those are very expensive, also I don't like the idea of having to modify my fairings and glue them on my tank in order to make my ride seem pretty again, but thanks for the suggestion.

I don't know if your fuel sensor is the same as my 310R, but if it is... maybe try putting a very small (small!) weight on the float. Or if it works on resistance, put a another resistor in series or in parallel with it (depending on how it functions). Or tap into the LED wire and put another bright LED somewhere where it blinds you.

I've been thinking about making mine come on later via adding a float under it- which is harder, but it's been non-functional (always on) for over a year; I don't even notice it anymore.

lets us know if you come up with a solution- I mean besides carrying a liter of gas in your backpack.

good luck.

thanks for the suggestion. It sound pretty complicated, not sure if I want to take the risk damaging anything. Yeah there's the idea of the bottle of gasoline but I don't think having a bottle of inflammable fluids in an easy to rip bottle inside your backpack would be ideal in crashing circumstances, hence I stayed away from that one.

 

[Trenchcoat85]

... It sound pretty complicated, not sure if I want to take the risk damaging anything.

well, like I said- I don't know if your fuel sensor is like mine. Most use a float system (some use capacitance) so just making the float physically float higher or lower ain't rocket surgery (Americanism: "not complicated"). do some investigation.

gets a bit more involved if it involves changing the resistance of the circuit. take a look in the parts or service manual to see what you're dealing with.

Yeah there's the idea of the bottle of gasoline but I don't think having a bottle of inflammable fluids in an easy to rip bottle inside your backpack would be ideal in crashing circumstances, hence I stayed away from that one.

I agree, this is the big negative factor most people shy away from. Me included. OTOH, with the right container (a camping stove fuel bottle for example) it's probably not the safety issue we're imagining. ...still, I agree with you.

good luck.

 

[drrags]

Low fuel level is detected when the thermistor attached to the fuel pump gets uncovered and exposed to air. When it does that it feels a change in temperature which is interpreted as a low fuel indication. If you want to easily change when this happens, reposition the sensor (thermistor) so it's higher on the fuel pump assembly. Also make sure it's on the high side, since the pump assembly almost seems to lay flat with the stock tank. Scroll down a bit here http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/stalling-fuel-pump-orange-wire.8965/ and you can see a pic with a red circle around the sensor to help you identify it. For those that don't know, a thermistor is a resistor that changes resistance with change in temperature. Adding more resistance will not solve your particular situation.

 

[Trenchcoat85]

Low fuel level is detected when the thermistor attached to the fuel pump gets uncovered and exposed to air...

hell, that makes it even easier: just two small pilot holes for the self-tapping screws! Thanx for the edjumaction drrags.

Does the sensor have a tiny heat source in it? That seems the only way a thermistor would work reliably- one fluid (gasoline) takes away the heat faster than the other fluid (air/vapor mix).
[edit: after thinking about this for a bit, I realized that the internal heat of the thermistor would be the source of heat... that's pretty clever engineering]

drrags pict:

(re-)found the image after photobucket's-fukket in june 2017:

 

[Alberto]

you can also install auxiliary gas tank http://www.acerbis.com/prodotto_detail.php?idp=877


or rotopax system which is more good looking: