Miles till reserve?

General Discussion

Miles till reserve?

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Pooterhead 07-14-2008, 11:52 PM
Just wondering how far you custom owners can go before you hit reserve. I've only hit reserve once and it was at 85 miles. Any idea how far the reserve would have got me? I only went 3 miles before i hit a gas station.

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1980 cx500c (fubar) you meet the fastest people on a honda!

Re: Miles till reserve?

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Blindstitch2002 07-15-2008, 12:25 AM
I may be wrong on this but i checked the manual and it says the tank is 11 liters or 2.9 gallons. The reserve is 2.5 liters or .7 gallons. So that would mean 2.2 gallons till you hit reserve. Simple math says your getting 38.6 miles per gallon depending on the way the tank sits. Reserve should get you 28 miles.

The straw on my petcock floated off so I cant say from experience and before that my speedometer wasn't accurate.

I normally drive 100 miles on a tank before I fill up and I get 46-48mpg.

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1978 Honda Cx500 Maggot
1979 Honda Cx500 Custom
1980 Honda Cx500 Deluxe Couch Project Bike

CX500 Factory Service Manual
Courtesy of Randall-in-Mpls

Re: Miles till reserve?

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fll1441 07-15-2008, 5:44 AM
Ditto what Blindstich said. I also average about 46 mpg. I usually stop for gas when my trip meter reads 100 miles. I went about 110 miles once and had to switch to reserve. I've never ridden more than 120 miles without stopping for gas. I would guess that 130 miles would be pretty close to running out of gas on my bike.

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1982 CX500 Custom

Re: Miles till reserve?

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anoke422 07-15-2008, 7:58 AM
Yeah, I always stop at 100 miles also.  I could go more since I generally get around 55 mpg, but I'm just paranoid I guess.  There have been a couple times I 've had to switch over to reserve, but that was a while ago and it was one of those times I forgot to reset the trip meter, so I don't know how many miles I had gone.

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Screw politics...I just want to burn things down!

1979 CX500 Custom

Re: Miles till reserve?

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dozer1 07-15-2008, 11:51 AM
On my Deluxe I go about 150 before stopping, but I cant trust the reserve anymore since it left me stranded on the side of the road (5 miles from where I was going after riding 480 miles) and I don't have a speedo anymore, so if i'm on the highway I just fill up every 2 hours, if im in the city as soon as I hit reserve.

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1980 CX500 Ratbike "Stella"
1979 CX500 Deluxe(Parts)
Dozer1 AKA Snowplow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TK5VY90ILs&feature=related

Re: Miles till reserve?

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RichNCT 07-15-2008, 1:40 PM

The Cx500 Custom tanks are the smallest of the series.  I've heard that installing a large fuel filter increases the range noticeably . . .   My bro's '82 CX500C was always the "take a break" regulator, at about 100 miles.  How he rode affected that a lot, a nice easy 45 mph increased the range considerably.  75 mph brought it down below 100 miles to reserve.

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Born to be relatively wild

Re: Miles till reserve?

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Graywolfs02 07-15-2008, 3:31 PM
I get +/- 150 mile on a tank before I have to use the reserve.

1978 CX500 w/4.5 gal tank (according to my Honda Shop manual).

Greg


edit:  Reread you post Pooterhead....and I see you were asking about Customs....sorry

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1978 CX 500
Minnesota

Ride Safe, Ride Fast, Ride Far

Re: Miles till reserve?

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Pooterhead 07-15-2008, 6:36 PM
Thanks fellas! Looks like i may be looking for a deluxe tank to swap out this winter. I'd like to make the amish rally next year. Having to stop every hundred miles would get old fast.

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1980 cx500c (fubar) you meet the fastest people on a honda!

Re: Miles till reserve?

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Anonymous 07-16-2008, 6:03 AM
I can't speak for CX's, but my GL 650I only gets about 12 miles on reserve. The reason is,  I only get about 30 mpg due to having a 300 pound sidecar mounted. 12 miles isn't nearly enough when you drive across the Southern Idaho deserts. The GL 650 tank holds 5 gallons, so I grafted another CX gas tank onto the GL tank and now have 5.7 gallons. I then mounted a second gas tank inside the trunk for another 3 gallons. I can now go 250 miles if I have to without stopping.
Mark in Idaho

Re: Miles till reserve?

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NstyDevil 07-18-2008, 11:36 AM
for me, i go about 120-140kms on a tank before i have to switch to reserve, and i think that's really poor mileage, but then again, i still need to properly balance my carbs and get them running smoothly

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__________________

'80 CX500 Deluxe
approx 80k on the odometer

Re: Miles till reserve?

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RichNCT 07-18-2008, 1:41 PM

"so I grafted another CX gas tank onto the GL tank and now have 5.7 gallons"

That would be worth seeing a photo of. 

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Born to be relatively wild

Re: Miles till reserve?

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bobisslack 07-18-2008, 3:02 PM
I was thinking the exact same thing....  I'd love to see a pic of that rig!

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'80 cx500c

Gotta keep my knees in the breeze.

Re: Miles till reserve?

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Anonymous 07-18-2008, 6:10 PM
I can't even figure how to log in, much less post a photo.
Sorry, Mark in Idaho

Re: Miles till reserve?

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Blindstitch2002 07-18-2008, 7:15 PM
Mark in Idaho
If you send me the pictutre I will post it for you.

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1978 Honda Cx500 Maggot
1979 Honda Cx500 Custom
1980 Honda Cx500 Deluxe Couch Project Bike

CX500 Factory Service Manual
Courtesy of Randall-in-Mpls

Re: Miles till reserve?

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LRCXed 07-18-2008, 7:33 PM
Come on Mark, we ALL raised an eye brow when we read about your tank. Send him the picture and lets see what you did!
PA LEEEEASE

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If your going to do something, do it right, don't do it half as@*d.
http://globalcxglvtwins.hostingdelivered.com/

Re: Miles till reserve?

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Anonymous 07-19-2008, 7:50 AM
 photos sent
Mark in Idaho

Re: Miles till reserve?

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Blindstitch2002 07-19-2008, 8:59 AM
Mark in Idaho
I just checked my email and I don't see any photos. Not even in the trash.


Can you send them again.

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1978 Honda Cx500 Maggot
1979 Honda Cx500 Custom
1980 Honda Cx500 Deluxe Couch Project Bike

CX500 Factory Service Manual
Courtesy of Randall-in-Mpls

Re: Miles till reserve?

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gamache 07-19-2008, 9:37 AM
Two days ago, I hit reserve at 81mi on my Custom.  That's piss!  Damn city riding, destroying my mpg.  I gotta get me a Deluxe tank...

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Pete from Boston
1979 CX500 Custom
WTB: Deluxe tank, engine bars.

Re: Miles till reserve?

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Anonymous 07-19-2008, 10:07 AM
Sent again, this time using capitol letters as you showed in the first place.
Mark in Idaho

Re: Miles till reserve?

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Blindstitch2002 07-19-2008, 11:29 AM
Mark in Idaho photos.

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1978 Honda Cx500 Maggot
1979 Honda Cx500 Custom
1980 Honda Cx500 Deluxe Couch Project Bike

CX500 Factory Service Manual
Courtesy of Randall-in-Mpls

Re: Miles till reserve?

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steve in reno 07-21-2008, 10:26 AM
I know that this discussion was initially about the cx tanks.
I had a 80 cx500C and the miles per tank was my only compaint about the bike.
I now have a 83 gl650 with the larger tank and now can do some riding without the problem of stopping every hour to gas up.
I use the odometer to wait for the reserve, and consistently need to change to reserve at 180 mles. In town and on the highway.
When I lived in Denver, Co, the city used a cx variant 3 wheeler to do trafic and parking ticketing. Has anyone else seen a 3 wheeler?
Mark and Bob are the only sidecar cx/gl I have ever seen.
Riding in snow and ice on 2 wheels is a sporty propositon at best. I know because I have done it, and lived.
New to this forum, but you all are a friendly group.
Glad to be be here!
steve in reno

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do it right-do it once!
gl650

Re: Miles till reserve?

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Anonymous 07-21-2008, 6:05 PM
Welcome to the forums Steve.
My sister lives in Reno. I may look you up next time I visit
mrsheehan@cox.net

Re: Miles till reserve?

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senile_seinen 07-24-2008, 7:23 PM
So does any CX500 tank fit on a Custom frame?   It'd be nice to know what to shop for.

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1981 CX500 Custom

Re: Miles till reserve?

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the cheese 07-28-2008, 6:07 PM

From a full tank (filled on sidestand) on the highway, reserve comes in at 85 miles. In the city 90. I've gone as far as 130 miles before filling up. I don't dare go any more. It took 2.6 gal then. Not much left.

senile_seinen : The deluxe tank will fit. You have to modify it, but it will. Search, you'll find the thread about it. And just to be a smart ass, the Custom tank will fit on it as well

Michael

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1981 CX500 Custom
Just say no to skin graphs, wear your gear!

Re: Miles till reserve?

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kingston73 07-28-2008, 7:07 PM
I've gotta know, how'd you do that tank grafting?  And how does the fuel in the trunk work?  Did you install a fuel pump?  I'm impressed!

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1979 cx500D/1980 CX500C engine

Re: Miles till reserve?

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Blindstitch2002 07-28-2008, 7:40 PM
For the fuel in the trunk to work all you need is the bottom of the tank feeding from the trunk to be higher than the carb inlet. Gravity will do the rest of the work. A fuel pump might be a bit tricky and power consuming. Since he modified the tank if I wanted to go with the trunk tank and didn't want to do the gravity feed. I would just make sure I could run a hose from the trunk tank to the front of the frame to an inlet welded on the front underside of the tank. Then get a window squirter pump from an older car that has an inlet and outlet on it, place it between the front and back. Then rig up a switch to power it. When I think I'm getting low. Flip the switch for a little while and have it fill the front tank back up.

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1978 Honda Cx500 Maggot
1979 Honda Cx500 Custom
1980 Honda Cx500 Deluxe Couch Project Bike

CX500 Factory Service Manual
Courtesy of Randall-in-Mpls