Not bad gas mileage!

[Engraverwilliam]

I thought I was only getting 115 miles to the tank.

My gauge was reading in the red so I stopped in for gas.
Only took 3.7 gallons to fill it back to top!

We do have 7.3 gallon capacity yes?

She was far from empty.
Do I need to get a new sender?

[Engraverwilliam]

Just found this http://c10mods.blogspot.com/2011/07/c10-fuel-gauge-modification.html

Is this something that I could be needing to do?
Easy fix if so...

[T Cro ®]

You can either bend the sender float a couple times till you get it reading about where you expect or get a 220 ohm (?) resister and splice it in parallel to the sender wiring.

[Strawboss]

I bent my float right after I got the bike in 2002, its right on the red when I go to reserve which is almost always around 180-200 miles. Took me about a 1/2 hour to do, but I think I'll try the resistor idea, its real simple too.

[DC Concours]

t cro said it all.

but you might have a bad sender altogether. mine doesn't read red till much later.

did this just happen? i am assuming you have had the bike for a few tankfuls.

[Nosmo]

I have the resistor mod so when my gauge kits the white line just above the red line, that's when I hit reserve.  I put in 5.5 gallons at that point, which is usually 250 miles +/- a bit.

You can put 7.5 or so gallons into a totally dry tank, but there's about .3 that you can't get out (unusable fuel as they say in aviation).

[Engraverwilliam]

But prior to that Nosmo, what was the gauge behavior?

[T Cro ®]

But prior to that Nosmo, what was the gauge behavior?

Did mine back in 02 but to the best of my memory card when my gas gauge would touch the red it would only take 3.5 or so gallons.... I must say that I think every C10 was born this way....

[Outback_Jon]

Just found this http://c10mods.blogspot.com/2011/07/c10-fuel-gauge-modification.html

Is this something that I could be needing to do?
Easy fix if so...

Yep.  Well worth the time and minimal expense.  And with Radio Shacks going out of business all over the place, you might even get a discount on the resistors. 

[Engraverwilliam]

Do I need 1/2 watt or 1/4 cant quite make out the package in the linked photoblog

they sell them 4 bucks for 50 of them on amazon hehe

[timsatx]

1/4 watt should be the most you would need. It isn't like that thing pulls a lot of power. I submit that an 1/8 might even be good enough but I don't know what the current draw on it is.

[Engraverwilliam]

t cro said it all.

but you might have a bad sender altogether. mine doesn't read red till much later.

did this just happen? i am assuming you have had the bike for a few tankfuls.

Well I at first attributed the bad gas mileage to the motor. Had the carbs and the valves done. The motor runs freaken nice now. Same gas mileage. Then after the second tank I notice the small fill up and had the eureka moment that started this thread.

[Nosmo]

But prior to that Nosmo, what was the gauge behavior?

Sorry, I can't say.  It was that way when I bought the bike used.

[RFH87_Connie]

I thought I was only getting 115 miles to the tank.
Only took 3.7 gallons to fill it back to top!

This still equates to 31.1 mpg.  That is pretty low unless it was "around town" traffic driving.  I've got as bad as 28.5 mpg when doing traffic commuting with a lot of squirreling around.  On a "typical" ride, most of us get 40 to 44 mpg.

[Engraverwilliam]

It is L.A. So yeah lots and lots of "squirreling around" splitting stopping slowing, going, turning, avoiding, duck walking, squeezing in between. I'm sure a lot of you can relate.
My  10 pack of resistors arrives tomorrow probably. I will report back. I will also be giving away any extras that I have to the community here. I will let you all know.

[Strawboss]

Decided to try the resistor mod. Found a Radio shack near my house, employee asked "what wattage do you need"? Uhhhh..........I remembered seeing the fuel gauge plug in the pic, remembered they weren't bigger than my thumb nail, extrapolated that I most likely needed either the 1/8 or 1/4 watt based simply on the size since the 1/2 half watt unit "looked' too big. So, at $1.20 per pack of five, I bought both. Guess I'll start with the 1/8.

[Outback_Jon]

Decided to try the resistor mod. Found a Radio shack near my house, employee asked "what wattage do you need"? Uhhhh..........I remembered seeing the fuel gauge plug in the pic, remembered they weren't bigger than my thumb nail, extrapolated that I most likely needed either the 1/8 or 1/4 watt based simply on the size since the 1/2 half watt unit "looked' too big. So, at $1.20 per pack of five, I bought both. Guess I'll start with the 1/8.

I'm shocked that you found a Radio Shack employee that even knew there were different watt ratings.   

[Strawboss]

She looked all of 16 and knew her stuff, even counted my change back to me the old fashioned way instead of looking at the computerized register and handing me my money like most do.

[Thud300]

I just did the 220 ohm resistor mod with a 1/4 watt resistor a couple days ago. So far results look good, I'm waiting to see where the needle ends up when it's time to go to reserve.

The Radio Shack guy I had to deal with was completely clueless.   

[Engraverwilliam]

I recieved mine in the mail...amazon. But now the bike is in the shop. Go figure.