For some reason this happens so this is what indo n it takes the edge away
On the day of the ride get going n away from town fill up to the bottom of the neck n ride to where you think u should be at half a tank n refill don your calculations n fill it up to a higher level someplace you can reepeat n donthis for the rest of the trip now u have a safe point to work with plus abit to carry u i try to stay at half tank if getting away into a limited gas supported area then just fill it up. Recheck a few times until u get a repeatative number also when in a pinch just back off the throttle .

In my experience that could be a risky strategy. From what I can tell from your phone texting (all thumbs? ) you are pretty much winging it and are not using any numbers to guide you.

It's OK in USA where fuel is consistent, maps are accurate and often stations are plentiful. But even then you can screw yourself.

Ever ride late at night? ... like on a Sunday night? Guess what? Most gas stations are closed. I once rode from Northern California up through Oregon, Washington and close to British Colombia ... done mostly at night. Finally was stopped in Washington near Canadian border at 4am ... no fuel. So I camped, waited to morning to refill!

If you know the route & roads by heart, then fine, wing it!

But for serious travel you MUST know your true range! and the range of your reserve. It's just amateur hour to do it any other way. Hard numbers thank you very much!

One point brought up is, when in remote, unknown areas ... NEVER PASS A FUEL OPPORTUNITY! We've used this mantra in Mexico for decades:
"never pass gas!" If in doubt, fill her up! ... and don't forget to ZERO your trip meter at every fill up.

Although sometimes even doing that can cause problems. But how? Because that very LAST fuel was bought from a guy selling gas out of an old 55 gallon drum. So you fill up ... and 50 miles down the track your bike dies, carb clogged with crud, water, diesel, rust and any combo of show stoppers.

So ... when filling from Drums or Gerry Cans, filter your fuel and use an inline filter that deals with crud & water. Drain your float bowl (on carb bikes) periodically to get rid of water ... which sinks in gasoline. (or waste a bit of fuel by draining a pint out of main tank. Hopefully you drain off any water.

After 10 years riding Baja, mostly in groups (10 to 12 guys) I've seen a lot of these scenarios in person, towed a lot of bikes, ridden guys double and ditched bikes in the bush to return to them later.

mollydog,he leaves in a day.

The 150 mile number is based on on 8 years of ownership. I only ended up walking once. Our bikes are identical so probably a safe bet.

This should be enough for Scotland but will involve some thinking and cutting into the reserve. He will have to risk buying over priced manky petrol from rural stations but they only rip you off selling you stuff that'll make a bike feel a bit unwilling, it will burn and once thinned down by topping off at a supermarket in a town will be fine. Even these back woods places get inspected by the weights and measures people. Serious planning will only be needed if the major roads are closed, you can get sent on 100 mile detours that don't have petrol. The highways people have signs that warn you, so there is no excuse for running out. Sunday can be a problem, but there are enough towns with automated pumps, so again just a case of planning.

Scotland isn't Baja. Fit a Haggis repeller ( the wild ones can be huge and vicious) and its a good place to ride.

I now ride a Guzzi V7 with a 300 mile tank. This simply takes away a bit of worry but you also get complacent.

Andy

Ha! Small world. Someone just gave me one of those about an hour ago. It was fitted to a bike he just bought and as he said the only way he'd visit Scotland again was at gunpoint, he didn't want it. So it was me or a skip. It weighs a bit though and I'm not quite sure how to fit it so any advice would be welcome. I'm impressed with it - neat bit of kit and looks well designed.

That's the trouble with large tanks (and no fuel gauge) - you just keep on going, assuming there's fuel in there. I've run 300 (ish) mile range bikes dry several times - once on the filling station forecourt and had to push it the last 20m. These days I have an emergency 2L backup can for times when I forget to think about fuel.

You need to read the instructions carefully. Because their legs are longer on one side to allow for hills, you'll tend to encounter the Glasgow Haggis on the nearside but the Edinburgh one on the offside. You might want to alter the mounting accordingly.

Andy

I didn't get any instructions but that might explain the swivel mount. The whole thing's in a tartan carrier bag (with "Souvenir of Scotland branding on it ) and I'll have to try and piece the bits together in the garage later. One thing I have noticed is that the main part has a "Made in USA" sticker on it - next to a picture of the wee beastie with a big red cross over it. Sadly the manufacturer's name sticker has a great big rip across it so I can't make out the model number.

I didn't think there were any of them (Haggiss? Haggi?) in the states (other than the odd one in a zoo perhaps) but maybe the repeller doubles up as something else over there. If all else fails I suppose you could throw it at bigfoot but the "chieftain" is too quick for that. Be nice to get it going - I haven't got any trips north of the border planned at the moment but it'll be one less thing to buy when next I do go. If it works I might even risk camping on other than level sites. You can't be too safe ....

The 150 mile number is based on on 8 years of ownership. I only ended up walking once. Our bikes are identical so probably a safe bet.

This should be enough for Scotland but will involve some thinking and cutting into the reserve. He will have to risk buying over priced manky petrol from rural stations but they only rip you off selling you stuff that'll make a bike feel a bit unwilling, it will burn and once thinned down by topping off at a supermarket in a town will be fine. Even these back woods places get inspected by the weights and measures people. Serious planning will only be needed if the major roads are closed, you can get sent on 100 mile detours that don't have petrol. The highways people have signs that warn you, so there is no excuse for not running out. Sunday can be a problem, but there are enough towns with automated pumps, so again just a case of planning.

Scotland isn't Baja. Fit a Haggis repeller ( the wild ones can be huge and vicious) and its a good place to ride.

I now ride a Guzzi V7 with a 300 mile tank. This simply takes away a bit of worry.

Andy