Has anyone else experienced problems with the fuel gauge on the 650? I find mine to be useless.
It shows full when the tank is full. After 25 miles it drops very quickly, and at about 40 miles it is flashing one bar from empty. At that point I can only ad about 2 1/2 gallons. It will actuall run about anothe 50 miles with one bar flashing. So, in short, when it shows empty, I still have 4 gallons left.

 

A fuel guage is usually useless. You know how far you can go on a tank of gas. Use your trip odometer to keep track, safer, smarter and more reliable.

 

My Rincon spoiled me,It worked great.The AC 650 fuel gage is all over the place I guess Bear4570 is right we have to keep track of it ourselves like it or not. (which I don't) lol

 

Mine showed empty at about half a tank,but it does seem to be getting better,sometimes it actually works,well,closer anyway.

 

same with mine useless all over the place

 

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Cat is using the same float/sensor in their 6.5 gallon tank as Kawasaki is using in their 4.5 gallon tank, that would explain the far off gauge readings. When I had my Prairie 650s, the gauges were off too but not like the one on my Cat 650. On my Cat the last bar starts flashing at 67 miles, top off the tank & it takes 4.0 gallons almost every time. With a combo of 40% 4x4L/10% 4x4H/50% 4x2H, I am avg just under 17mpg. I know I can ride for 104 miles total & still have a little left in the tank but not much.
I also have learned to fill the gas up to the bottom of the gas cap or half-way up the neck filler tube, this way it stays on the Full Top Bar longer.
On my P650s when the last bar started flashing I still had .5 gallons left in the tank which was around the 75 mile mark. (( the '03 P650 used the bars, the '02 P650 used a idiot light in the dash))
If you go on long dailey rides then your best bet is to invest in a Fuel-pac, strap it on one of the racks & have your reserve 3.25 gallons if & when you may need it.

 

I have the AC 500 and its gas gage is not digital and it has to suck worse than yours.........

 

if you read in the owners manual it will say that when the last bar starts flashing i believe there is 1.7 gallons left in there or so there is supposed to be after i drop about 3 gallons out of my tank it starts flashing empty and there is still 3.5 gallons left in there and it is hard to control it cause i do alot of mud running and stuff and am heavy on the throttle in some cases and light on the road in others so for me it is really really hard but i never have run it out of fuel

 

Last I heard the fuel sensor unit on the '06's is defective. I've had to replace 2 so far and I'm still having problems. I'm hoping Arctic Cat makes a factory recall on these sensors, the $50 deductible is a royal pain in the butt.