Fuel gauge Distance to empty numbers when going downhill.... is it broken?

Hi,
2011 R1200RT.
I have been riding in the mountains in UT/CO for the last few days.

I notice that the Distance to Empty value is showing silly numbers now above 350 miles, even after I have ridden 150 miles on the tank.
As I had some long descents for where I was basically off the throttle, the way it calculates distance to empty seems to be not working correctly.

Is there a way i can reset that thing somehow?
Will it fix itself over time when I am out of the steep hills?

I am using Trip meter 1 for fuel ups so I am not running out of fuel or anything like that.
I previously had no issues with it.

Thanks,
Kevin

Kevin -

So it's been doing OK since a year ago when you were trying to understand how the system worked:

https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthrea...empty-value-after-filling-with-fuel-(2011-RT)

Is this a new phenomenon? As you suggest, wait until you are in more normal areas before diving into some kind of fix.

Correct. It has been working fine in the year I have had the bike.
This is specific behavior that correlates with miles and miles of descents where I am often off the throttle because I can coast at 60.
I am assuming the hardware uses throttle position/distance traveled/gear position or some other recipe as a proxy to figure out fuel consumption.

I have 1500 miles of the plains coming up to get home so I will see what happens I suppose.
I have the motoscan app and dongle but it is not important enough for me to stop riding and enjoying the landscape right now.
Kevin

Nice. Your scenic views sound really nice!!

I thought it just used the speed of the rear wheel turning but would need to confirm for sure.

You get better gas mileage at high elevations so that increases the range.

The fuel strip does report the change in fuel level factored into the equation so if no fuel is burning and the level isn't changing over 60 miles I guess it could cause that type of miscalculation.

The computer is considering current consumption in some type of computation. For example, we
live in Texas where the state highway speed limit is 75. But we live about 35 miles from Big Bend National Park where the speed limit is 45. So after a fill-up, riding at about the speed limit on TX118 we will see a given range. But when we enter the park and ride much slower, for quite a few miles we will see the projected range go up reflecting the lower fuel consumption at slower speeds.

The same was also markedly true when we lived and rode in northern New Mexico. At altitude, going down hill at slower speeds on twisty roads would cause the range to increase as we rode, not decrease.

It is just the way the system is designed to consider current consumption in projecting future range.

I've tracked gas mileage on my 2010 for about 32,000 miles independently of the fuel gauge and Bike Computer, I use the odometer reading and the gallons pumped. I'm sure there is some room for error due to filling tank at same angle and to exact same level, but from my tracking I will say you will get better gas mileage at higher altitudes like Denver. Much of my riding is around Chicago at 700-1000 feet and I average about 42MPG. When I was in Denver late May and early June, I was getting between 50-56MPG riding around the Denver area. My Range on the Bike Computer were much higher than normal and my friends on Goldwings were also seeing much higher than normal ranges.

Could the shiftingt of the fuel in the tank during a long descent cause the computer to think there is more fuel available than there really is?

Some follow up... I am back down in near Las Vegas, New Mexico in the hills right now.
The fuel gauge has settled back down again.

I got new tires in Grand Junction a couple of days ago. The cords were showing in the rear...

While here, I have come to learn of southern New Mexico and west Texas... I really want to see that country but sadly I need to turn east tomorrow.