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Posted by Fab
- September 09, 2025, 11:57:21 AMNew update:
I tested the workaround with the resistor for over a month... and it turned out to be a bit of a failure.
On the one hand, it seemed to work to some extent.
On the other hand, even though the reading seemed more accurate, the gauge never really reached "empty," even when the fuel pump could no longer draw fuel from the bottom of the tank (about half a gallon to 2 liters left in the tank).
After several tests, I finally decided to reverse the mod by removing the resistor.
Call it the placebo effect, or say that the 2 tanks with added system/injector cleaner helped in some way, but since I reversed the resistor mod, my fuel gauge seems to be more accurate than it was before the modification.
Posted by Fab
- July 23, 2025, 06:01:14 AMQuick update.
I have now received the 261 ohm resistors and put one in using method #1 so I can test the workaround before soldering anything to the speedo board.
I just filled up and now need to figure out the fuel consumption after the fix.
One thing I noticed right away: when I installed the resistor, the fuel gauge arm was pointing below the "empty" line when the bike was straight (i.e. not leaning on the stand).
When I filled up, I calculated that there was about 1.5 US gallons of fuel left in the tank, so having the indicator point slightly above the "empty" line seemed to be about right... Or at least it's an improvement over the arm sitting way below the "empty" line with the same amount of fuel left.
Posted by OR Seedman
- July 14, 2025, 14:04:16 PMWhen I first got my 1500 the sending unit wasn't working at all. I got a new one and it would read full at 3 gallons...and it's a 5 gallon tank. I removed it and bent the float arm up so the angle wasn't as severe...now it reads full until I go about 50 miles and then it starts to drop. has one gallon in it when the light comes on.....might be worth it to do what I did to make the adjustments.
Posted by Fab
- July 14, 2025, 11:55:03 AMThanks Troll.
I definitely don't want to remove the sending unit from the tank.
In the meantime, I've read that the exact problem I'm facing seems to be quite common with the Vulcan 900, which apparently uses a speedo/odo/fuel meter essentially identical to the R Drifters.
The workaround that Vulcan 900 users have found is to use a simple 260 ohm resistor to slow down the fuel gauge reading.
I will test a similar method on my R1 and report back. I have just ordered some 261 ohm resistors from Amazon which should arrive here in about a week.
More details about the resistor fix:
https://www.vulcanforums.com/threads/gas-gauge-fix.1027/
Method #1. Easier to test, but possibly less durable:
https://www.vulcanforums.com/threads/gas-gauge-fix.1027/page-38?post_id=3094239#post-3094239
Method #2. The resistor must be soldered to the circuit board of the meter (I will try method #1 first):
https://www.vulcanforums.com/threads/gas-gauge-fix.1027/page-36?post_id=3053615#post-3053615
Has anyone else from the forum tried a similar fix on a Drifter?
Posted by Troll
- July 14, 2025, 07:20:46 AMSince the tank unit is accessed through the bottom of the tank, and it's a pretty labor intensive (and gasket replacement) job, I would just learn to live with it. The low fuel light will come on at about the 3 1/2 gallon mark, and that might turn out to be a better indicator of actual fuel level. You could completely empty the tank and then put in a measured amount. That would give you a good idea of where the gauge reads at any given time. When mine reads empty, it will hold 4 gallons to fill it.
Posted by Fab
- July 12, 2025, 14:25:38 PMHi there,
I've been scratching my head for some time because I thought my 2001 Drifter 1500 was using too much fuel.
When I got it a few months ago, it was actually running a bit rich until I found out that the previous owner had replaced the original fuel pressure regulator with a more powerful aftermarket unit. I had the fuel pressure regulator replaced with a standard 3.0 bar unit and the rubber hoses to go with it, and replaced the vacuum and baro sensors with newer ones (probably wasn't necessary, but I found them for cheap). Then I cleaned the spark plugs of carbon residue, added a cleaning agent when refueling and thought all was well.
After refueling, the fuel gauge correctly showed "full".
After driving almost 95 miles, the gauge showed empty and I had to stop to refuel.
As you can imagine, I was very disappointed because this meant terrible fuel economy: 95 miles / 5 US gallons = 19 mpg....
But... this time I actually paid more attention to the exact amount of fuel I was adding... and I was very surprised to see that the maximum amount I could add was just a little over 10 liters or 2.65 US gallons. That translates to a mileage of 35.85 mpg or 15.25 kml, which isn't great compared to the 40-45 mpg some forum members are getting, but definitely better than 19 mpg. Also, I was mostly driving in city traffic, which probably had a negative effect on the mileage.
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Long story short, it looks like the fuel gauge is switching from full to empty even though the tank is still almost half full - the R1 should have a 5 gallon tank, as I've read here.
Do any of you know of a way to reset or calibrate the fuel gauge so that I get a more accurate reading?
Thank you and I apologize for the long post.