Tank capacity ?

G

Geoff

New member
Hi,
Well just arrived at work in the driving wind and rain and on the way ran out of petrol. Wasn't really bothered as I was keen to see how much petrol I can squeeze into my so called 15 litre tank. On previous occurrences it was 12.5 litres ? The fuel light comes ON at roughly 10 to 10.5 litres and should leave me 4.5 litres as per manual. After some 15/18miles I run out of petrol. On daily commute I get around 36 mpg and hence should be good for at least another 20miles if my tank held 15litres. There was a recent thread discussing tank capacity which prompted my recent interest. Four years ago on contacting Ducati UK they confirmed the tank should hold 15 litres so where's the rest gone ? It can't be my tank has shrunk with age as only had her 1month when I first ran out !!!!!!!!!
With my recent bike problems over the last several months I was only getting 8 miles on reserve and had lost 12mpg so maybe I should be happy.

Geoff
 
How much did it take to fill it then? Still 12.5L? The tank hasn't shrunk any further since the last time you ran out then? :lol2:
According to your own figures it would have ran out about 15 miles after the light came on anyway so you hadn't been surprised. Since it seems to be a regular occurrence with you Geoff, do you carry a spare fuel can around with you? :D
I guess that confirms that the tank really is just 12.5 litres - no much wonder people are complaining about the poor range.
 
Hi Derek,
As you say I half expected to run out - was only about 1/4mile away from a petrol station so wasn't a problem. Just spoke to Steve at Ducati UK and as per 4years ago he doesn't understand why I can only get 12.5 litres into the tank. He estimates around 1litre is unusable because of the fuel pump position so that leaves 1.5litres ?? Anyway he's going to contact the factory and get a more exact figure of what's unusable. It's not real problem but I'm confused. Is it 15 litre tank ? Some four years ago when I mentioned it to DG the techs checked the fuel pump position at the next service and confirmed it was sitting in the right position so it's not that.

Geoff
 
Have you any idea how much is still in the tank after it has "run out"? I've never had the ST run out yet, but at 210 miles the petrol barely covered the rear part of the floor of the tank, probably less than a pint left. If there is a substantial amount left maybe the pump pick up point could altered or modified to get a bit further.
 
was the bike on it's sidestand when you filled it?

If I sit on the bike holding it upright, and let the attendant (yes, they still exist in some places) fill it up, I can get at least an extra 1 litre into the tank of my SS.
 
I always fill up sat on the bike with it upright anyway!

On the multistrada forum there are countless posts on tank capacity/warning light/airlocks/range etc.

Maybe it is just a Ducati "thing" that adds "character" to the ownership experience...... or maybe they just can't get it fukcing right!:mad:
 
Bike upright whilst sitting on her and filled to the brim. In fact when put onto sidestand to go any pay, petrol was dripping out the oveflow.
Geoff
 
It wont surprise me to find that the tank limit was measured on an empty shell before the volume was reduced by fitting the pump and fittings or calculated with a CAD machine rather than someone trying to get an actual amount of fluid into it, this'll also negate the upper airspace in the tank airlocked by being above the bottom of actual filler neck, like all of the technical claims (and Ducati is actually better than some of the other makes) they should be taken with a pince of salt.
I think the mpg figures are also heavily dependant on riding very gently on the throttle,anything more spirited and your struggling.
 
Geoff said:
Bike upright whilst sitting on her and filled to the brim. In fact when put onto sidestand to go any pay, petrol was dripping out the oveflow.
Geoff
Click to expand...

That's the way to do it, trickle fill and even then you can squeeze a little more in. Actually RUNNING capacity seems to be 15.5 litre. On my run to Scotland this year I set the throttle at 5000 revs (approx 85 mph) up the A1 constant and made Jedburgh 137 miles - just!

I can typically get 25/27 miles after the light BUT you have to short shift and don't blip downshifts - that wastes loads of gas.

More often I get warning light on about 95/100 miles and then 20 on reserve. That's even after I cored the cans, so I don't think that's too bad.
 
Hi,
Well just spoke to Steve at Ducati UK. The 2004 monster and other variants have a plastic tank and although all the literature says it's 15litres - it's actually 14litres. He estimates aroubd 3/4 litre you can't get at then I'm only short of 0.75litres. If you take into account the fuel pump and filter which displaces the volume then it's probably correct. Obviously the filter is filled with fuel but I would imagine if you run dry the filter empties and would not fill up again until the pump starts running.
He mentioned that someone questioned the 1098 15litre tank. One of his collegues has checked this and it's correct. Did take a bit of time filling the tank to squeeze the 15litres in but they managed it. It does however raise the question ? If they managed to squeeze 15 litres into a documented 15litre tank and did not need to correct for fuel pump and filter then what about the monster ??? Touch wood I've not ran out on the 1098 which Steve found surprising since I've ran out on several occasions on the monster. Maybe not had it long enough but I've now covered 12,000 miles this year on wonderful scottish roads and always managed to find a petrol station.
Geoff
 
If you ever really think you may have a problem Hein Gericke do a nice little 2 litre plastic can complete with non drip pouring spout. Looks like a small jerry can. £8.99 I think. It won't fit under the seat but will slip into a backpack/tankbag. I usually carry it when I'm coming up your way. It was almost used on the 07 Masher on the late Friday run up to Applecross.
 
Geoff said:
..Obviously the filter is filled with fuel but I would imagine if you run dry the filter empties and would not fill up again until the pump starts running...
Click to expand...
Next time you run it dry just remember to turn the ignition on and off again before you finish filling the tank. That will prime the pump and the fuel lines. Might be an extra 0.25 litre?
 
Derek said:
Next time you run it dry just remember to turn the ignition on and off again before you finish filling the tank. That will prime the pump and the fuel lines. Might be an extra 0.25 litre?
Click to expand...

Good tip Derek.:D
 
I wasn't intentionally being flippant Mary but Geoff does seem to utilise the maximum capacity of his tank more than most of us. :)
 
That extra 0.25lt might have saved me pushing the bike the last 100yds to the petrol station this year so I think it's a great tip.:D
 
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