Only 67 miles per tank, what's up - wtf -

Why the heck did I run out of gas on the highway with only 67 miles put on? I pulled over, switched to reserve and got some gas. I expected 90 -100 miles. This doesn't bode well for three hour rides...

My 2003 Sportster is still new to me. I've put on around 500 miles so far. It does take a while to warm up and I leave the blender on for around 5 minutes and 1/2 way for maybe 5 minutes more.

A few very experienced rider friends think it's running really well. Harley did the Stage 1 upgrade and signed off on it, saying it's running properly. I gotta find a way to get up to 90 miles a tank or anything longer than an hour's ride is bound to become annoying, trying to find gas every 60 miles.

there's your problem..... it's running good, and the better they run the harder we twist. i firmly believe that most mpg problems have to do with that easy to twist trottle:devil:

DOSEN'T SOUND RIGHT TO ME, IS IT BECAUSE YOUR GOING UP AND DOWN HILLS OR MOUNTIANS. I'LL GET ABOUT 130 MILES OUT OF THE TANK RUNNIN THOURH THE DESERT, AND 100 GOING THROUH THE MOUNTIANS, EVEN NOW WHEN I JUST RIDE AROUND TOWN I GAGE MY GAS AT 100 MILES, AND STILL HAVE GAS IN THE TANK, AND NEVER USE MY RESURVE. WE HAVE THE SAME TANK, BUT I DON'T HAVE THE STAGE I KIT, I STILL RUN REAL RICH, AND OPEN PIPES, ALL I COULD SUGEST IS MAYBE YOU HAVE A LEAK:roflmao: MAYBE YOU MIGHT LOOK INTO GETTING A BIGGER TANK.

Something ain't right, you should be getting at least 35 and more like 45 mpg. Check your plugs but I dont think you could run that rich and not know it. Maybe as suggested you do have a leak somewhere but it seems like you would notice this when it is parked. AL

Doesn't sound right to me either. On my 02' Heritage I have the SE breather with K&N filter, gear driven cam's with an Andrews mild cam, (26G), V&H true duals and I get 40 mpg with the bike fully loaded with gear and the wife.

Thanks guys, good to hear from all of you. I will check into it further, but it will take a while for me to address all the possibilities, one by one. Good to hear you're getting 100 miles from yours Sportsterboy!

Something wrong there, my old Sporty got 90-100 miles /tank and that had the Peanut 2 1/2 gallon. Have you checked the plugs? If they're black and sooty your too rich(I mean the carb:roflmao: ) Running with the enricher full out for 5 mins and 1/2 out 5 more seems long to me and could be using up more fuel . I usually start mine with the choke out and let it warm up a couple of mins ,as soon as I get on it I push the enricher in a bit ,and then push it in all the way as quick as I can when I'm rollin, usually by the time I hit 4th gear. But unless you got a fuel leak somewhere its runnin too rich or your doin some wicked hi speed cruzin. Your only gettin about half what you should be gettin for miles/tank.

i have an 03 FXDX and get better than 50 mpg. best one one ride was 54 mpg. it's mostly stock have h-d slipons, ness big sucker air cleaner. when i start mine, choke fullon to start then push in untill just above idle speed. finish putting on gear while bike warms. get on start down road after a mile or so push rest of way in. with 20,000 on last set of plugs just slightly brown in color.

Thanks guys, wow, with the kind of mileage you guys are getting I'm really anxious to see what's going on. You've all really got me thinking now. I'll try to back down on the enhancer and pop it in sooner. I do drive aggressively in the city, but that shouldn't bring me down to such low mileage, should it? I'll check the plugs and look for leaks on Tuesday, Monday I'm away.

mileage

YOU HAVE A PROBLEM,,,,do not believe it cannot be fixed,,, ken has an 03 sportster,,,, stageone,,, drag pipes,,,and he wieghs 350,,,, gets 46 plus,,,, before pipes had times at 50,,,, and he REALLY rides hard,,,, we normally will not let him lead,,,, i would not let whoever set your bike up with what it has convince you it is alright to get 35 gpm,,,pops

Funny, I got caught off guard once before and ran out of gas. I was just beginning then and thought I should certainly have gotten much further than I did. It was only when I set the odometer to zero and ran out of gas at 67 miles that I also realized I wasn't so wrong to have expected to get a few more MPG. I'll see how far this tank takes me while watching for leaks and checking the plugs and shortening the enhancer time. The 2003 Sporty sure does take a while to warm up though..

If I remember right you're jetted way too rich & drag pipes, even with baffles added ain't helping either. Both my Sportsters get 47-53 mpg, in varying configurations & with the 3.25-gallon "King" tank on the '95 & the 3.3 on the '00 (same as your '03), I don't even think about stopping for gas until well over 100 miles. So having to switch to reserve @ 67, there's definitely something wrong.

Stock pipes with crossover on both the '95 & '00 bikes, the older SE I slipons (Cycle Shack type) on the '95 & I've got a set of those for the '00 too, but for now it's got stock mufflers with the center plate drilled out (completely). SE air-cleaners, although I have run others.

Rejetted carbs & I've got a couple more in the mini-warehouse, but with stock parts & no Dynojet, Thunderslide or any of that mess. Had good results with the SE "Splitfire" type spark-plugs but I really like the Denso Iridium plugs. Expensive buggers though - $12 each last I saw but they last a very long time.

Now besides tuning issues, there are a couple other things to check. If the vacuum line going to the petcock is getting hard & brittle, or has any leaks in it @ all, the fuel flow won't work right. I found out about that shortly after buying the '95 (used) - it would "nose over" & then run out of gas if your ran it hard enough in higher gears.

When you crank the throttle wide open, the intake manifold "vaccuum" drops to basically -0- & if there's not enough vaccuum applied to the petcock the fuel won't flow, or not enough to refill the float-bowl. Let off the throttle & the vacuum goes back up - fuel starts to flow again & the engine would pick back up. Some either take the stock petcock apart removing the vacuum feature, or replace with a racing Pingel petcock, but you don't need to do that if the stock one's working right & you also don't need to remember to shut the fuel off when you park 'cause if the engine's not running, fuel won't flow anyway.

Another thing is the petcock just getting clogged up and/or some trash getting thru the screen into the float bowl & messing up the needle-seat assembly, and/or clogging jets or transfer ports. The transfer ports are so tiny that any little bit of dirt will clog them up. A fuel system cleaner like "Seafoam" may very well fix that, but it's a good idea to take the petcock out, check it & clean it.

- Art

I used to get 120 or so miles out of my 97' 1200 which wasn't exactly stock and it only had a 3.4 gallon tank. I think the newer ones like yours hold more like 4 or so unless the 883 has a smaller tank. I don't think it does though.

My sister has a stock 05' 1200C Sportster and it gets well over 120 miles per tank. More like 160 if I had to guess. The issue with hers is that she hits reserve very early. It has done this since she bought it new and no one at Harley can seem to explain it. Next time you hit the reserve, remove the cap and see if you can tell how much fuel you have left. My guess is there's half a tank or maybe more still to use in there. How much fuel did it take when you filled it back up?

If you find this is the case then I would recommend finding the "bottom" of the tank. Ride with someone and bring along a small container of gas to get you to a station and let it run out. Then note the mileage and make sure you reset the trip meter each time you fill up.

At only 67 miles per tank I would expect to see lots of black smoke or at the very least, someone would complain about the smell behind you. Now that I think about it, even my buddies old 85' 1000 cc Iron Head Sporty with a little peanut tank got more than 67 miles a tank.

Art, I am probably the one you are thinking of being over jetted. I don't remember Hellboy ever saying what he was jetted at.

Maxpower, your sister's bike should have a 1 gallon reserve like mine. If you pull the petcock and look at the filter the pickup tube is WAY high. By going to reserve way early I am guessing you think there is too much fuel left in the tank. She has only used 3.5 gallons of a 4.5 gallon tank so it would seem a bit high. I like that feature as some of the rides we run it is a long way between stations. If the other folks hit reserve early in the distance it is better to turn back to the last station. Mine on the other hand has NO problem getting to the next station on reserve.

Hellboy your mileage simply sucks, I can get that kind of mileage from my SUV. Even when my Sporty was sick she still broke 30/gallon. One question, you haven't made the same mistake I did and put corn squeezed fuel in your bike have you? Mine dropped down below the 30 range with the ethanol fuel. Yeah Yeah I have already figured it out and heard from everyone DON'T buy 10% enthanol gas. As for the choke/enricher I pull mine to start the bike, while I put on my jacket, helmet, and gloves. Bump it to about half when I get on and then turn it off within a mile or so and she does fine. Even getting on mine hard (while running like she should) I pulled in about 43/gallon. That's with a SE stage 1 AC, V&H slipons, and jetted too heavy according to Art (Art I will check the plugs and all and let you know). Good luck on figuring this out man, a lot of good folks with a lot of info on here. I am sure someone will give you the right answer.

So many useful replies, thanks to everyone here. Art, thanks for taking time to post details, Max, I will find the "Bottom" next chance I get. Wvac, is it possible to get gas anymore that isn't "Corny"? I can get Sunoco and Mobil nearby. I've tried both and they seem the same, Mobil is perhaps a little smoother if I'm not imagining a difference.

After Harley did Stage 1, re-jetted carbs, added V&H baffles to the drag pipes, the idle does seem a little high, so I'll ask a few knowledgeable friends about that as well.

Here in WV they are required to label the dispensers if fuel contains ethanol. I don't know if that is State or Fed regs. I am sure a little digging will turn up a good source of gas. Good luck man.

Something sure doesn't seem right getting only 67 mile on your tank,with my old peanut tank I would look for gas at 90 miles,with my quick bob tank more like 120 or so,you must be running awful rich or have a leak somewhere....I usually get 45-50 mpg's...Good luck in finding your problem....

I'M SURE YOUR USING THE HIGH OCTANE ALSO, WHICH I WOULD IMAGIN GIVE YOU BETTER GAS MILAGE TOO. I WOULD ALSO THINK THAT RUNNING RICH ENOUGH TO LOOSE HALF YOUR GAS WOULD BE CONSIDERABLY NOTICABLE, I HEAR IT ALL THE TIME FROM PEOPLE, SMELLS LIKE YOUR RUNNIN RICH, ESPECIALLY WITH THE CHOKE OUT, I USED TO JUST HOPE ON AND GO, BUT HAVE FOUND OUT THAT ON MY SPORTY IT HAS TO BE WARMED UP NOW PRETTY GOOD OR IT WILL RUN LIKE CRAP FOR A COUPLE OF MILES, PROB. BECAUSE I LIVE IN THIS COLD CLIMATE NOW, I WOULD GO WITH WHAT WAS SAID BEFORE AND CHECK YOUR GAS LEVEL WHEN YOU GO TO RESURVE, HAVE YOU LOOKED IN YOUR BIKER BIBLE FOR A ANSWER. ELIMINATE ALL POSS. IDIAS, OR YOU CAN GO BACK TO THE DEALER WHO INSTALED YOUR STAGE 1 AND TELL THEM SOMETHING ISN'T RIGHT SO THEY WILL DOUBLE CHECK THERE WORK, JUST BECAUSE IT WAS GOOD AT FIRST DOESN'T MEAN SOMETHING COULDN'T HAVE VIBRATED LOOSE. I WOULD STICK WITH IT RAN FINE BEFORE YOUR PEOPLE JACKED WITH IT, SO NOW FIX IT. MORE THAN LIKELY IF IT RAN FINE BEFORE IT WAS SOMETHING THEY DID, INLESS YOU GOT CRAPPY MPG BEFORE, THEN I WOULDN'T BOTHER MAKING YOURSELF LOOK LIKE A ASS GOING BACK TO THE DEALER. I DO ALL THE SAME AS THE OTHER GUYS WHEN STARTING EXCEPT NOW I HAVE A RAG AND HOLD THE OIL CAP:roflmao: JUST IN CASE, GUESS IT WILL TAKE A WHILE TO GET MY CONFIDENCE BACK:roflmao: