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fuel capacity 08 12RT

sloride

New member
When the estimated range reading on the BC is below 10 miles I can get about 6.1 to 6.3 gallons of gas in the tank. That's on level ground on the center stand.

Should I trust that I have approx a gallon of fuel left or is it just too difficult to completely fill the tank on these bikes
 
I have an 05 RT (no computer though). Several times I've run my fuel gauge down to empty on my display to test how far I could go on average on a tank of gas -- followed by immediately pulling into a gas station to fill up. (By empty, I mean the last pixal on the digital fuel gauge winked out.) In every instance, the fuel tank took approximately six gallons (give or take a tenth).

Given that I have 7.1 gallon fuel tank, I take that to mean I have one gallon left. The only way to know for certain if that is accurate would be to continue riding until the engine quites from fuel starvation -- I'm not willing to test that though.

I would say it's a good bet you too have approximately one gallon left.

(My rule of thumb when on the road is to start looking for a gas station at 250 miles on the tank of gas. At 275 miles on the tank of gas, I'm looking to pull in at the very next station I see.)
 
My odometer reading on the trip is showing that I've gone approx. 300 miles and the mpg at about 54 and that I have a range of 10 miles. That's when I filled up and put in 6.1 gallons.

That would indicate that my reserve warning light is coming on when I have about two gallons of fuel left

I'm a bit nervous about pushing it further. Like you I don't want to run it dry but it sure would be nice to know how much gas is left in the tank.

Gone are the days of a simple petcock connection to drain the tank;)
 
Interestingly, within the last couple of years, BMW changed the specs to indicate 25L of useable capacity, whereas they used to say 27L of useable capacity in the tank. I don't believe the tank itself was changed, though I stand to be corrected on that.
 
I have an 05 RT (no computer though). Several times I've run my fuel gauge down to empty on my display to test how far I could go on average on a tank of gas -- followed by immediately pulling into a gas station to fill up. (By empty, I mean the last pixal on the digital fuel gauge winked out.) In every instance, the fuel tank took approximately six gallons (give or take a tenth).

Given that I have 7.1 gallon fuel tank, I take that to mean I have one gallon left. The only way to know for certain if that is accurate would be to continue riding until the engine quites from fuel starvation -- I'm not willing to test that though.

I would say it's a good bet you too have approximately one gallon left.

(My rule of thumb when on the road is to start looking for a gas station at 250 miles on the tank of gas. At 275 miles on the tank of gas, I'm looking to pull in at the very next station I see.)

+1!

When the "miles to empty" zeroes out, you've got about a gallon left in the tank yet. However, since some fuel lubes the fuel pump, going bone dry is never recommended.

I always find a gas station before I zero out. :thumb
 
What fooled me is that the gauge reading and the miles-to-empty calculation both gradually changed. What I thought I knew at 15K miles was no longer accurate at 30K miles - so I ran out of fuel twice.

IMO, the odometer is the most reliable fuel gauge - I try to fill up at around 250 mi.
 
My '08 RT recently took a bit over 7 gallons when I had the computer down to 10-15 miles. It has about 26,000 on the clock.

Note: I have removed the rubber fill ring so the fill was to the bottom of the steel neck...
 
I recently put 6.3 gallons into my '09 R1200RT with 315 miles showing on trip odometer. The fuel gauge still showed about halfway between the 1/4 and empty marks so that should indicate about 1/8th of a tank remaining.

I'm aware that the '09 owner's manual supplement says the tank only holds 25 liters or 6.6 gallons. If true, then I was only .3 gallons from empty.

As a routine habit, I always zero out the trip odometer when refueling. In this instance, I really pushed too far and was lucky not to run out of gas.

Since then, I've been watching the fuel gauge more closely. Either the gauge is miscalibrated, going bad, or my tank actually holds the 27 liters/7.1 gallons that the older RTs did. The gauge and OBC typically show I can go farther than the actual fuel remaining. For example, my trip odometer reading added to the OBC miles to go often total to 375 miles when approaching 1/4 tank remaining!

I too miss the reserve petcock from older bikes. Simple, but effective.

Lee
 
"I recently put 6.3 gallons into my '09 R1200RT with 315 miles showing on trip odometer. The fuel gauge still showed about halfway between the 1/4 and empty marks so that should indicate about 1/8th of a tank remaining."

That pretty much duplicates my experience although I'm not sure my gauge is between 1/4 and empty. I'll have to check that next fill up. My owners manual states 27 liters
 
That pretty much duplicates my experience although I'm not sure my gauge is between 1/4 and empty. I'll have to check that next fill up. My owners manual states 27 liters

I was given a separate page addendum for the '09 owners manual which says the capacity is 25 liters. The manual itself says 27 liters.

The 2010 model definitely is listed as 25 liters.

I'd be interested in hearing your results on the next fill up. You have an '09, right?
 
So why not test the accuracy of the fuel guage and carry a gallon of gas with you. That way you'd know how far you could go after the guage said empty. I've thought about doing that just to see how far I could go after the guage read 0 miles. Would be interesting but, I haven't been that concerned. It's like the gas guage in the car, you can't trust it either. I start looking for gas when I hit the one fourth mark or sooner.
 
So why not test the accuracy of the fuel guage and carry a gallon of gas with you. That way you'd know how far you could go after the guage said empty. I've thought about doing that just to see how far I could go after the guage read 0 miles. Would be interesting but, I haven't been that concerned. It's like the gas guage in the car, you can't trust it eithere. I start looking for gas when I hit the one fourth mark or sooner.

You would probably still have to run out of gas before adding a gallon to know for sure. I don't really want to run the bike dry. I may just settle on the 300 mile mark as empty or maybe a little less when traveling at interstate speeds.

Is ther really a difference in capacity after the 08 bikes?
 
So why not test the accuracy of the fuel guage and carry a gallon of gas with you.

I'm not expert on this, but several people have posted in other threads that the fuel pump is cooled by the fuel in the tank. So if you run the tank dry, then the fuel pump can be damaged; perhaps not causing an immediate failure, but long term damage. :dunno
 
Checked OEM numbers and the fuel tank changed 8/2008 . That must be the beginning of the 25 liter tank.

16117682839 up to 8/2008 then 16117699595
 
Fuel Strip Failure

Considering the substantial number of fuel-strip failures (including mine at 9600 miles) the best planning is to start looking for the next station after 250 miles rolls up on the ODO since the last fill-up. Besides, summer or winter, your bod is looking for some hydration...
 
If I'm averaging 50 mpg and have 27 liters (7.1 gallons) I'm good for 350 miles. My only concern is am I really filling up to capacity.

It appears that I am because at 300 miles on the trip odometer I can only get between 6.1 and 6.3 gallons in the tank. I'm just not willing to trust those numbers.

I don't normally push the fuel to the limit but I've been curious and am trying to figure out my range in case I do push it.

I make hydration stops and depending on what's going on I may make them independent of fuel stops
 
I keep coming across 6.6 gallons at the useable fuel capacity on the 05-09's. I am finding this to be a reasonable number for my '08.

Does anyone know if the amazing FPC (chuckle) on the bike lessens the concern of smoking a fuel pump because of low fuel/low cooling?
 
I was given a separate page addendum for the '09 owners manual which says the capacity is 25 liters. The manual itself says 27 liters.

Yeah, I got that too. It was my understanding when I bought my '09 RT that the theoretical capacity of the tank is 27 L, but that because of the shape of the tank and the filler tube, you just can't get those last 2 L in. "Useable capacity" would be the operant words. It just took BMW a while to fess up.
 
Yeah, I got that too. It was my understanding when I bought my '09 RT that the theoretical capacity of the tank is 27 L, but that because of the shape of the tank and the filler tube, you just can't get those last 2 L in. "Useable capacity" would be the operant words. It just took BMW a while to fess up.

Looking closely at my '09 owners manual, no where does it say it was for the '09 model, but it was printed in early '08 so this version was probably included with the late '08 models too. Then the tank capacity was lowered in Aug '08 so BWM just threw in the addendum which lowered the capacity to 6.6 gals/25 liters for the '09 models.

Sure seems that my fuel gauge is miscalibrated. That's strange as it was pretty accurate when new. :banghead
 
Got back from a day trip yesterday on my '09 RT. Miles to empty said 8 miles as I pulled into the gas station. OBC said average fuel consumption was 46.5 mpg and the trip odometer from the last fill up was 276 miles. That should equal 5.935 gallons burned and it took 5.985 gallons to the bottom of the filler neck on the side stand.

I agree that the OBC is generally pretty accurate, but I still plan fuel stops ahead of getting really low on the tank. Besides, who wants to push their farkled 600+ pound bike anyway? :D
 
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