Honda CX500 & GL500 Forum

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07-11-2008, 7:27 PM bobttroll Joined on 06-15-2007 Chicago Posts 37 Any ideas on a fuel gauge? Any ideas on a fuel gauge besides attaching a tube to the top and bottom of the tank?    Report

07-11-2008, 8:47 PM Blindstitch2002 Joined on 05-16-2007 Greenfield Wisconsin Posts 1,586 Re: Any ideas on a fuel gauge? I asked this question before and for the most part it is labor intense. Suggestions were to find a bike that had one and figure out how to wire it and put the sending unit in the tank. Most popular solutions were to use the trip meter to monitor the mileage. The bike should be able to drive 120 ish miles and still have some gas to get to the station. I have been thinking about getting a litre camping fuel cannister and keeping it in my saddle bags so incase I run out I have a bit more. My trip meter is broken on the odometer so I try to fill up the tank every time it hits 00 then I know I went 100 miles when it reaches 00 again. 1979 Honda Cx500 Custom    Report

07-11-2008, 10:37 PM bobttroll Joined on 06-15-2007 Chicago Posts 37 Re: Any ideas on a fuel gauge? Good idea. I wish there was an easy solution though.    Report

07-12-2008, 2:48 AM CXSarnia Joined on 01-11-2008 Sarnia, Ontario, Canada Posts 262 Re: Any ideas on a fuel gauge? Saw a picture of a guy recently.  He used the old faithful bic lighter to check the fuel level.  He doesn't have eyebrows now. 1979 CX500 Deluxe http://groups.google.com/group/cx500-deluxe-restoration-page 1982 CB750K Daily rider 1999 Sept 1982 CX500 Custom - project Originally bought 1982 April reacquired 2006 April http://groups.google.ca/group/cx500-restoration-page    Report

07-12-2008, 3:18 AM PWG in Lowgap NC Joined on 01-08-2008 Minutes from the Blue Ridge Parkway Posts 535 Re: Any ideas on a fuel gauge? "Good idea. I wish there was an easy solution though." Reset your trip odometer to zero every time you fill up 82 Honda GL 500 SilverWing Trike "Old Yeller" 06 Suzuki S 50 Boulevard Cruiser ANY WARM DAY ABOVE GROUND IS A GOOD ONE (unknown senior citizen)    Report

07-12-2008, 4:09 AM Reg in Bristol Joined on 03-11-2006 Bristol UK Posts 291 Re: Any ideas on a fuel gauge? I have been thinking about getting a litre camping fuel cannister and keeping it in my saddle bags so incase I run out I have a bit more. My trip meter is broken on the odometer so I try to fill up the tank every time it hits 00 then I know I went 100 miles when it reaches 00 again. Some good ideas there, a litre should get you about 11 miles Filling every hundred is a neat way of keeping topped up when the trip meter is broken too Down to one project/rat bike now, when I get a 'round tuit' Member of the UK CX-GL MCC at http://www.cx-gl.org.uk/index.html    Report

07-12-2008, 5:37 AM bobttroll Joined on 06-15-2007 Chicago Posts 37 Re: Any ideas on a fuel gauge? didn't the cx650 turbo have a fuel guage? I guess one could take the parts from that and make it work on a cx650c.    Report

07-13-2008, 5:56 AM tntchitwood Joined on 03-02-2008 Pine Knot, KY Posts 509 Re: Any ideas on a fuel gauge? Slightly off subject, but...........I saw a radiator cap at advanced auto parts that had a temp gage in the cap. When I get mine going again I'll have one. About 30.00. Tom '82 Silverwing Chopper '02 750 Shadow http://choppercharles.com/cs/forums/29599/ShowPost.aspx    Report

07-13-2008, 10:43 AM Blindstitch2002 Joined on 05-16-2007 Greenfield Wisconsin Posts 1,586 Re: Any ideas on a fuel gauge? When you get the new cap your going to have to fill us in on how well it works. 1979 Honda Cx500 Custom    Report

07-13-2008, 4:46 PM tntchitwood Joined on 03-02-2008 Pine Knot, KY Posts 509 Re: Any ideas on a fuel gauge? After I get a motor. (LOL) Then I'll get the cap. '82 Silverwing Chopper '02 750 Shadow http://choppercharles.com/cs/forums/29599/ShowPost.aspx    Report

07-14-2008, 11:01 AM Kilroy Joined on 07-30-2007 Hell on earth Ann Arbor Posts 112 Re: Any ideas on a fuel gauge? Both Turbos had gauges but the tanks are way differant you would need to realy mod the std tank to make it work. Yes sir. I know I just ruined your weekend, but I'm not the one who blew up their bike Thursday night at the Burnout contest! Have a nice day!    Report

07-20-2008, 5:08 PM Sidecar Bob Joined on 03-02-2006 Kawartha Lakes, Ontario Posts 977 Re: Any ideas on a fuel gauge? The first winter I had my GL500 the trip meter was broken. Every time I filed up I got a cash slip, wrote the odometer reading on it and kept it in the pocket of my jacket so I could check how far I had gone since the last fil up. It was a pain so the first chance I got I took the speedo apart and swapped in a trip meter from a dead GL1000 speedo. It worked fine after that. GX650EI + Velorex 700 (winter), '83 GL1000 (summer) '84 CB750SC Nighthawk (died - anyone need parts?)    Report

07-21-2008, 10:22 AM Hughes Joined on 07-05-2008 Renton, WA Posts 36 Re: Any ideas on a fuel gauge? Wait a minute. A simple "T" fitting aft of the petcock would work to make a simple site glass sort of set up. Where a fuel rated clear tubing would connect to the "T" fitting. The weight of the gas would fill up the tubing. Figuring out where to attach the tubing near the top would be an issue, and a vent on the other end of the tubing to eliminate pressure build up. That would work, eh? And if there was any issue, simply turning off the petcock and taking out the "T" would solve the issue. 1979 CX 500 Custom    Report

07-21-2008, 5:01 PM BearCX Joined on 03-11-2008 Roseworthy, Sth Aust Posts 170 Re: Any ideas on a fuel gauge? Thanks for your input, but in Bobttroll first post, he mentioned this. But keep the ideas comin'... If you're still in control...You're not going fast enough.    Report

08-01-2008, 11:05 AM bri-guy-ga Joined on 06-04-2008 Powder Springs, GA Posts 76 Re: Any ideas on a fuel gauge? I have seen gas jugs that have fuel gauges in them. Couldn't you adapt the fuel gauge and spiral bar into either the tank itself of the cap? 1982 GL500i NO, try not. Do or do not do. There is no try - Yoda    Report

08-01-2008, 12:50 PM Kilroy Joined on 07-30-2007 Hell on earth Ann Arbor Posts 112 Re: Any ideas on a fuel gauge? not really the tank is not deep enough for that, you need a fuel float on some sort of an arm Yes sir. I know I just ruined your weekend, but I'm not the one who blew up their bike Thursday night at the Burnout contest! Have a nice day!    Report

08-07-2008, 10:34 AM gregoryjewell Joined on 07-02-2008 joplin, mo Posts 168 Re: Any ideas on a fuel gauge? i think this would work pretty good and not to hard to do 79 cx500 custom (sonofabitch) any day there not shoveling dirt on your face is a good one    Report

08-07-2008, 11:08 AM Natrik Joined on 04-17-2008 Eugene, Oregon Posts 246 Re: Any ideas on a fuel gauge? That wouldn't be too bad until it gets knocked off or breaks, then you're out of gas and SOL... If it wasn't for physics and law enforcement, I'd be unstoppable..... 1980 CX500 Custom, Hondian    Report

08-07-2008, 11:46 AM bobttroll Joined on 06-15-2007 Chicago Posts 37 Re: Any ideas on a fuel gauge? Great on a show bike or something that you don't ride all the time. I live in chicago. I am sure some dumb kid would pull it off just for fun. It does look cool though.    Report

08-07-2008, 2:37 PM gregoryjewell Joined on 07-02-2008 joplin, mo Posts 168 Re: Any ideas on a fuel gauge? i think you would have to use some kind of plastic bottle and make a clamp type braket to go around it to secure it to the tank but i really think it would work pretty well but it wouldnt hurt to carry a spare bottle just in case 79 cx500 custom (sonofabitch) any day there not shoveling dirt on your face is a good one    Report

08-07-2008, 3:59 PM Anonymous Re: Any ideas on a fuel gauge? Personally, I think it looks dumb & amateurish. And I won't even mention the obvious safety issues. If you want to use a bottle like that for a sight glass, fine. But make a proper fitting instead of a pipe fitting a piece of rubber and band clamps. The bottle & the pipe fitting aren't even straight to each other and there is no other support for the bottle. If that thing shakes like most custom Harleys the bottle is likely to fall of if it was ever driven on the road. And what's the tube coming out the bottom of the bottle (the end that points up) and running back under the tank? If it's the vent (necessary on a sight glass) shouldn't it go back to the top of the tank?  A real craftsman would have made something that the threaded neck of the bottle would screw into with a gasket to seal it and a bracket to support the other end with a tube back to the top of the tank built into it. But then, you can tell that bike isn't intended for use on the road. No-one would put a big metal hook like that right in front of  their knee. Can you imagine what that could do if the car in front stopped short & the bike rear ended it? A quick & easy way to accomplish the same thing would be to put a T fitting in the fuel line right below the petcock and run a rubber fuel line up beside the left frame tube to an elbow near the wide part of the tank, then run a piece of clear tubing from there to the top of the tank. It would be fairly easy to make something that would plug into the vent tube hole of a fuel cap from a modern bike for the other end of the tube. Simple and elegant - all you would see is a clear tube running from under the tank to the fuel cap. But then again, using the trip odometer is even more elegant.

08-07-2008, 6:18 PM Blindstitch2002 Joined on 05-16-2007 Greenfield Wisconsin Posts 1,586 Re: Any ideas on a fuel gauge? I think it works fine for what it's ment to do. They did skimp on the quality by using the hose. No I wouldn't use it but who cares. It's their bike and they can walk to the gas station after they break the glass or repaint the tank after the the glass chips the hell out of it. 1979 Honda Cx500 Custom    Report

08-07-2008, 7:47 PM mcreviver Joined on 05-06-2007 Williamsport, PA Posts 577 Re: Any ideas on a fuel gauge?