Low Fuel Sender Wanted

[mrtwowheel]

I have my mind set on buying a 2 gallon fuel tank. The next order of thought is what petcocks to use. Then I was thinking that with a 2 gallon tank I should have a reserve fuel system so I won't be sitting on the side of the road with no gas because I misjudged how much gas I had. Also, I don't want to be fueling up all of the time from a bad case of paranoia. Also, with reserve petcocks the fuel lines need to have a long gravity assisted run to work quick enough so that I don't end up under that semi-truck that is on my ass. Then, why not have a low fuel light instead of a petcock with reserve?

The fuel tank that I will be using has 3 bung holes. I could use one or two of the bung holes for petcocks and one of the bung holes for threading in a sender.

Does anyone know of a cheap, off the shelf, easy to install (threaded), and safe sender that I could do this with? I have a spare indicator light that I could wire to.

It just makes more sense to me to have a warning light vs petcocks with reserve.

If we can hash this out, I certainly will use it. Perhaps an oil level sender that would work in the fuel tank?

Scott

 

[XSLeo]

Do you run a speedo? If so does it have a trip odometer? when you do a fill up reset the trip to zero, if you get 50 mpg then when the odo reads about 75 miles head for the gas station.
Leo

 

[fredintoon]

Hi Scott,
what you need is the thermistor low fuel sender out of an XS11Special although it will need a rectangular opening in the tank tunnel to install it.
It does exactly what you said and for the same reason, the XS11 Special has 3 gallon tank and sucks back gas like a drunken sailor.
Sign up with the XS11 site:- http://www.xs11.com/
then scroll down to the XS/XJ 1100 parts for sale column to Andreas Weiss' advert
Andreas is the go-to guy for used XS11 parts and a gentleman to deal with.

 

[mrtwowheel]

I may be onto something, but it seems too good to be true. After some checking and altering I'll post whether or not this works. 3/8" NPT bung hole is what I'm working with.

Scott

 

[mrtwowheel]

Fred,

"Thermistor", I may have to get familiar with how those switches work.

Scott

 

[mrtwowheel]

After starting this thread I went out to my shed and looked at a '84 Magna that will soon be disappearing on ebay piece by piece (ugliest motor ever built). I found a sensor in the reserve tank. After wiring it in a test circuit I don't think it works. Here is a video showing the part, how it works and how to fix it

The threads have almost identical pitch as 3/8" NPT, but the diameter is just slightly bigger. I will see if my buddy at the hardware store can run a pipe die over it. The height of the thermistor can be easily changed. I may be breaking a bobber rule by letting this part show from under my tank but I think it is really possible to get this sender to easily work with this tank.

Scott

 

[DrewMartin]

Be prepared to run out of gas/switch to reserve a few times while you figure it out? I'd forgo a gauge all together, I've had a few bikes without one and it wasn't that bad.

Added complexity and lights doesn't seem to fit the idea of a bobber to me... but it's your bike and you should build it how you want.

 

[mrtwowheel]

I'm not looking for a gauge, just three wires a sender and a bulb. I've owned many bikes with reserve and some with a gauge. Instead of a reserve on a small tank I'd like to have a light come on in my speedometer or on my headlight bucket when I have 20-30 miles of fuel left.

Scott