[Texasgrape]

(1300 miles on the bike and has performed flawlessly.) I took the Scout out on a 90 mile continuous ride on a 70's degree day. Next day it would not start. Fuel light came on at 111 miles then I rode 7 more miles to home. Would not start the next day. Never suspected it was out of gas; but put a gallon in it anyway before starting to troubleshoot. Started right up--I must have coasted home on fumes.

What the hell, 118 miles is all this Scout gets? FYI: I rode easy the 90 miles at 60-70mph, and 25-35 mph for about 15 of those miles. Only other thing I can think of is I fought a 10-15 mph head wind and cross wind all during the ride. Comments? Anyone else gotten crappy mileage? Thanks!

 

[RBinTEX]

That is within 2 or 3 miles of what near everyone gets when the light comes on.....
3.2 gallons is not a long distant tank.
Perhaps you were not all the way full, as the engine gets more mileage on it you will most likely get a little bit better.

 

[Brian Meyers]

Depending on how I ride I average 40 to 50 mpg and usually refuel around the 140 mile on the trip meter. I've been on this forum almost from the beginning and find other Scout owners average about the same. I also do not pay any attention to the fuel light as it has always acted strangely.

 

[MarkS]

15 MPH head wind can't help

 

[N. Cognito]

Hm. I tested this exact threshold last Saturday. I'm used to the light coming on at about 130ish. Then I get gas relatively quickly, my max range had been about 155, putting right on 3 gallons in. Saturday, I left the house with 128 miles on it. Got the light at 140.8. I was coasting on the side of the road at 161. Now I know: For ME, roughly 20 miles after the light.

 

[ShOOSter!]

Plus the bike was relatively level when you were riding, and fuel was covering the sump/pump. When you leaned it on the side-stand, what little fuel was left sloshed away.

 

[Vision]

That' right about my average as well. I ride pretty aggressively in windy OK. @100 miles I'm looking to fill up light or not.

 

[TimWarner]

The first I pushed the limits it was to 122 miles and I literally coasted into the gas station. The bike stalled two lights prior to the gas station

Now I start looking to fill up at a hundred miles. If I'm out in The Boondocks I start looking at eighty.

 

[chiefdano8]

125 miles here. Never have less than half a gallon when the light comes on. Some say the pickups are not all the same on every bike.

 

[Texasgrape]

Thanks for the input. Hopefully as the bike gets a few more miles on it, mileage will improve a like everyone says. Indian could have added an extra 1/2 gallon to the tank and no one would have said, "Damn, that's a big tank!"

 

[RaWarrior]

Yeah, that's about it. The fuel lights on these bikes are notoriously unreliable also (mine is more of an "out of fuel" than "low fuel" light.) The light is supposed to indicate about 1/2 gallon (or say, 20-25 miles) remaining, but I've found that is rare. I've been coasting to a stop and then the light blinks on, or I ran out a mile or two after it came on.

The fuel pump pickup is also pretty poorly designed, so the last .1-.2 gallons or so it can't draw.

The pickup is on the LH side of the tank. If you run out, stop and tilt the bike sharply to the left. Gas gets trapped on the RH side of the tank, since there's no crossover pipe, and a ridge in the center prevents it from sloshing over when the tank gets low during normal riding. With the key on, rock the kill switch on and off repeatedly (to keep priming the fuel pump) with the bike tipped to the left. It may take a lot of cycles of the kill switch for it to prime again. When you hear it kinda-sorta start to gurgle like it's getting something, try to start. You'll get another mile or two before it craps out again.

It's a combination of
-The fuel tank is difficult to fill all the way. If you get a gas pump that can go "slow" enough, you'll find you can get another .1-.2 gallons in once it appears to be full.
-The fuel pump can't reach the last .1-.2 gallons, even with tilting the bike over. The engine won't so much as cough and you can still hear a fair amount of fuel sloshing around in there.
-The fuel light is known to be unreliable/inconsistent. Mine died at like 100 miles, the dealer replaced the whole pump, it seemed to work OK for 1-2k miles, and now it's on the fritz again.
-Mileage on this bike can vary widely. I've had as little as 25mpg and as much as 50mpg, depending how you ride. So using the trip-meter isn't super reliable if you had some fast highway, some city, and some easy cruising, who knows, and you can't rely on the light for a half-gallon warning.

Add those up, and you get people running out of gas all the time. I've done it like 5 times now. I've finally learned to a)pretend the fuel light doesn't exist and b) if in doubt, always top up and c) I throw a 2 liter coke bottle in my bag, and fill it if I'm heading out into the boondocks. They don't leak, unlike the "spill proof" gas cans.

 

[Rotorhead]

My light comes on reliably at 95-100 miles (pretty much all city driving); I usually start looking to fill up when the trip odometer reads 90 miles. Never run it flat empty but my guess is 118-120 miles would be about right (again, all fairly aggressive city driving).

 

[Texasgrape]

Great info, RaWarrior. Hey, just quoted you in another thread. (The one about how long is a short ride and batteries.) Thanks for that info too. Guess I was just used to my Rocket III w/6 gallon tank! Just need to learn the Scout now.

 

[Marcus]

My 2015 Scout would run out at about 110-120 miles. Ran out near a Harley biker bar. No one would help. I am still getting over the embarrassment. The Scout is almost a cruiser, more of a beautiful bar hopper.

 

[IndianFred]

The wife runs out at about 140. I had to do the walk of shame on the florida turn pike to get gas. I found that if you stand the bike up when putting gas in and top it off until its to the brim. it just might leak out on the ground to yet you know its full

 

[AngryNeutron]

Ran out near a Harley biker bar. No one would help.

Seriously?!? What is wrong with people....

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[michael_swisher]

Around 130 for me


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[pablo94]

I saw a cool photo of a Scout with a little gas can strapped to the swing arm. Seemed like a good idea. Think of those little white gas cans you use for backpacker stoves. Drop that in gives you enough gas to prime the pump and get to the nearest station!

 

[Jim59]

still wish they would put a fuel gauge on the scout

 

[WillShootem]

My Scout gets about 48 to 52 MPG riding mostly country/mountain roads. The light usually comes on at about 130 miles. I've gone over 145 miles on a tank without running out of gas. You guys must be on the throttle a lot more than I am.