Well, first off, it is great that you and your wife took that little mishap with good humor. As you said, it was not horrible weather conditions, and not that far to get to the next station. Running out of fuel is never desirable but it can range from an mild annoyance, which is what your situation sounds like, to a catastrophe (blowing a long- distance IBA run due to running out of fuel).
Second, something is off with the math and / or readings: if the range indicator read 27 miles left, and you rode 13 miles, and the range indicator said the remaining range was 9 miles before you actually covered the 13..... something is amiss. Unless you were riding in stop- and - go conditions, when you have to take extra precautions and not trust any one, single reading from the remaining range as it will bounce around quite a lot. That said, in any kind of steady- state riding, I would have, have, and will again do exactly what you did: use the 'whole' tank of fuel. But again, you either have to be riding in a steady- state condition ( no acceleration, deceleration, no appreciable uphill/ downhill travel, and not excessive (read: South Dakota) gusting wind.
I will often get w/in 15 miles of indicated range before re-fueling and if in a congested area with a lot of open fuel stations, will occasionally go below 10 miles but it is risky, and I always keep a very close eye on the range as it bounces around and use the lowest reading. I have seen the range indicator bounce more than 20 MPG in stop- and- go riding and again, always use the lowest reading.
Finally, if anyone really wants to use the entire fuel tank and take the risk, I always suggest carrying at least a half- gallon on the bike, and a couple of gallons is even better. Not a true aux., plumbed- in fuel tank, but just some ready fuel to pour in the tank. IMO this is not desirable but works, and would be a second- to last ditch effort for me (last ditch is pushing the bike, walking, begging kind passersby for a dribble of fuel or similar
).
I often wish I could control the actual range function but unfortunately, that is outside my abilities. The low fuel warning eliminator eliminates the warning of course, and allows the range remaining function to continue to work but it is not quite how I would choose to use it given the choice. I would de- bounce it and use the lower reading unless and until a LOT of longer range readings were seen, and then adjust the range remaining accordingly.
As an aside, I just got done testing the low fuel warning in my Envoy over the weekend.... by mistake. A series of very short trips close to home, all with the low fuel warning popping up (it does not appear when the ign. is turned on, only after a couple of miles of driving under that condition) several different times. The last risky trip was time sensitive; a gentleman had made a slot available for us (an architect) and I took the chance I would make it to his office.... and we did. Really, I did not care about running out of fuel after we had our appointment but I was trying to to annoy the man; in the end, we made both his office and a fuel station with no walking / pushing / AAA needed but I was kinda' waiting for this to happen.
Brian
That is what I needed.
I got 227.5 miles on the tank.
I was on an overnight trip with my wife where we went over the Sierra's. On the way home, I didn't get gas when we left Mammoth Lakes, and instead continued on, figuring I would get gas at June Lake. I figured I would get it in the small town of June Lakes, which is smaller than I remembered and there was no gas station in town. There was one at the turn onto the June Lake Loop. Not quite half-way through, we stopped and asked at a general store if there was any gas on the loop. Nope, just at the beginning, which I had already passed, but the closest station going north was only about 13 miles away. The bike said I had a range of 27 (using B.D.F.'s in-line low fuel warning eliminator), so I figured I would be fine.
Well, I got to about 227.2 or 227.3 and the bike started to sputter. Pulled in the clutch another .2 miles later and coasted to about 227.5. I could see the gas station, which was across 395 and just up the hill that starts the road to Tioga Pass (through Yosemite).
I pushed the bike across the intersection and started going up the hill, but needed to take a breather. Figured maybe it would have a little bit of gas to get me further up the hill since it was now on an incline. Lucky for me, it started right up and I was able to ride it up to the street that leads to the gas station and push it the rest of the way.
My lovely wife meanwhile was hoofing it carrying the two helmets as I left her behind when it started up (her suggestion).
So, now I know:
1) don't trust the range reading as it was empty and said it had 9 miles of range left
2) don't pass by gas stations when you getting low and don't know for certain there is gas soon
3) B.D.F's bypass works! The bike never did give me a warning other than the red light when the engine died
All in all, it could not have worked out much better. My wife was very understanding, the gas station was really close and it wasn't broiling hot or raining.