Mileage 750 commando 1971

rob carter · Apr 20, 2017

I have quite a small tank on my commando,about 9 litres.I was wondering how many miles would i get out of it.
The tank itself has no indentation on it and it looks like it could be from an interstate ,the cap is in the front end in the center of the tank.The tank has a narrow drivers end slope.
Rob Carter WA

Rohan · Apr 20, 2017

It sounds more like its a HiRider tank.
(The Interstate tank was +20 litres.)

9 litres is exactly 2 imperial gallons.
If you were getting 40 mpg, that'd give you 80 miles.
maybe a shade more, 90 miles if you were getting 45 mpg.

Except the reserve will eat a litre or 2, so its range isn't too far.
You'll get to meet a lot of gas station folks.

The Roadster tank was 10 litres - and will fit in the same space ?

ILLF8ED · Apr 20, 2017

You can figure it out by fuel mileage expected. The best I've gotten is 60mpg. The worst 45mpg. This on my '72 750. So if the small tank holds 2 gallons you can expect 90 miles if you go to the last drop in worst case. Obviously any fuel leaks not considered

worntorn · Apr 20, 2017

Then there are the times that one encounters strong headwinds, or climbs a big pass or three, maybe two up with luggage. With scenarios like that, MPG can drop to some very low numbers. Sometimes you encounter a head wind while climbing a big grade with a loaded bike. It happens!

If you plan on doing long distance touring with the bike, the steel Interstate tank is a nice option. The version that came on the MK3 and possibly some 74 Commandos is slimmed down a bit from the earlier gigantic ( 6 imperial gallon?) Fibreglass version. Still holds a lot of fuel at about 5 imperial gallons or 22 litres.

Glen

CanukNortonNut · Apr 20, 2017

worntorn said:
If you plan on doing long distance touring with the bike, the steel Interstate tank is a nice option. The version that came on the MK3 and possibly some 74 Commandos is slimmed down a bit from the earlier gigantic ( 6 imperial gallon?)

Glen

+1
The interstate tank is great for long distance. My favorite. I have never needed to switch to the reserve on my 74 yet. From fill to reserve you would have a serious case of numb bum if it was all straight ride time. :lol: On steel roadster tanks I use the 2 hour rule.
Fill....drive and after two hours you are looking for gas station. The final gear has influence in your mileage. The 19 tooth compared to a 21 and Carburetor choice will have a significance for a given highway speed . Amals are not bad, if set correctly.
Cheers,
Thomas

MikeM · Apr 20, 2017

My Hi Rider tank got me 60 miles. Your mileage may vary.

gripper · Apr 21, 2017

Fit a reserve type tap on both sides to access all the fuel. With a reserve tap there is a chunk of fuel below the stack pipe that is not available without inverting the bike. Might just get you that extra 10miles to the gas station..........or not

kommando · Apr 21, 2017

On a 69 TR6 Home market tank 2 reserve taps gives you 200 yds

hankmarx · Apr 21, 2017

I have gotten 88 miles to pushing, repeatably. My reserve gets me a whole blocks notice. That is with a MKIII, HiRider tank, and a single Mikuni.

Someday I will get an Interstate tank, until then, keep your eye on the odometer!

Rohan · Apr 22, 2017

gripper said:
With a reserve tap there is a chunk of fuel below the stack pipe that is not available without inverting the bike.

If you have one reserve tap and one regular tap, leaning the bike over far enough so all the fuel sloshes over to the plain tap side should give you a litre or more extra to go. This is a whole lot better than pushing.

The toolkit is there so you can invert the tank, if you REALLY need to.
This is a fair bit easier than inverting the whole bike !!

tpeever · Apr 22, 2017

rob carter said:
I have quite a small tank on my commando,about 9 litres.I was wondering how many miles would i get out of it.
The tank itself has no indentation on it and it looks like it could be from an interstate ,the cap is in the front end in the center of the tank.The tank has a narrow drivers end slope.
Rob Carter WA

I get about 105-120 miles from my Roadster tank (about 2.5 US gallons) before I hit reserve. I generally try to fill up at 100 miles.

Danno · Apr 22, 2017

MikeM said:
My Hi Rider tank got me 60 miles. Your mileage may vary.

The SS clone is in that ballpark.

Mileage 750 commando 1971

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