I bought my first motorcycle a few days ago (will post the promised pics soon!) but I noticed that the nozzle of the fuel station goes quite deep into the tank, so if it shuts off automatically, my tank is only half full.
From cars I know you shouldn’t fill up further after it automatically shuts off, but they don’t have this issue, so…
The question is, how do I know how much fuel I can put in the tank, without damaging anything (short or long term)?
Edit: thanks for the responses, since the bike is more than 20 years old, I don’t haave the manual. But just filling it up as full as possible while the lid can still close comfortably seems to work just fine
It’s not like filling a car, you have to lift the nozzle up and be careful (don’t squeeze the trigger all the way).
Usually you want to fill to either the level of a metal plate that sits under the filling hole, or to the base of the filling hole itself, depending on the bike.
Don’t sit on the bike while filling it.
I always fill mine (vtx 1300) while sitting on it because I can level it out and see better inside the tank.
I’ve never slipped or spilled a drop in the 15 years that I’ve owned it. I guess I’m just more careful than some others, and don’t put my feet on oil slicks thinking it’s going to hold my weight.
Good for you! I’ve never had a VTX 1300 so couldn’t comment about their fuel filling needs … I’ve had about 30 motorbikes over the last 40 years of riding (I’ve currently cut back to only 10 in the garage), and never felt the need to have any of them upright while filling up.
I have had a few occasions of putting my foot down and slipping on diesel unexpectedly though - usually because I wasn’t paying attention. I’m not perfectly vigilant.
I usually put in somewhere between 3 and 3.5 gallons, but I do feel it’s a lot easier than a sportbike to fill since I sit a lot lower and have my feet flat. And really, I don’t suppose that I feel it needs to be straight up, I just like doing it that way and am a nerd like that I guess.
I’ve only owned a few motorbikes in my 25 years of riding. I’m super impressed that you’ve had 30! Definitely a little bit jealous of that :)
Back when I lived in the UK it used to be very easy to flip bikes, I got in the habit or buying a couple every year and then selling them after a good clean, service, maybe a carb clean or similar, and a few thousand miles of enjoyment.
I don’t think I ever had a bad motorbike, but the couple of metric cruisers that passed through my hands were hard on my back! Most were either dual sport or sport bikes.
Now I live in Europe and changing vehicles is much harder. Out of the 10 bikes I currently have only 4 get ridden regularly and I keep telling myself I should sell the rest … unfortunately, though, I’m lazy.
I prefer to sit on mine to fill because it only has a side stand and I want it to be upright so I can get more fuel in. Then I put the nozzle just past the highest point to which you should fill the tank, hold it steady there, press all the way until it shuts off automatically. Works well for me.
Well, if it ever goes wrong, because you slip on spilled diesel or whatever, I hope nobody gets hurt.
That can happen as you drive off, too, which is only part of why this was super uncalled for
When people ride off their filler cap is generally closed.
It’s uncalled for to hope people don’t get hurt?
Sorry, but your phrasing isn’t neutral or constructive. In my experience, if you’re genuinely trying to be helpful, you’ll be more successful if you try to be neutral and constructive in your language.
That said, I do want to understand where you’re coming from. I do think that if someone’s not confident they can keep their bike upright while sitting on it, not having it in neutral, having the engine off, having the side stand flipped down, and having both feet flat on the ground, they shouldn’t be riding. I also have trouble picturing a gas station where a gas spillage would be a real hazard- I don’t think that’d be up to code over here. Can you explain your reasoning? If I understand, I’ll reevaluate my stance (no pun intended).
Nothin worse than riding home with you balls doused in gas. It’s like overfilled Zippo in your pocket. Yikes! Don’t do that