#1): a unreliable fuel gauge (I almost ran out one the first long run!!!)
We can give you better answers if you can clarify what you mean by "unreliable." If you've done one long run and ran it down to fumes, I'd chalk that up to misinterpreting
what the fuel gauge is telling you. Two bars means it's time to look for gas, one means it was time to look for gas half an hour ago and anything less than that means you've got a good chance of running out if you insist on pressing on.
If you're seeing something like the gauge suddenly dropping to one blinking bar from, say, half a tank, that's a known, curable problem.
I've been a rider for 35 years. We had mechanical speedos and odo's and no gauges at all before.
...and a litany of other things I could live a long, happy life without, like breakable mechanical speedo and clutch cables, unbelievably primitive fueling, lackluster brakes, low-capacity electrical systems and having to ride it barefoot, uphill both ways in the snow.
I would be fine with a known mileage per tank but I can't even do that with out a calculator now !
The 1300 isn't a bike that gets
x miles per gallon no matter how you ride it; there are a lot of factors that have an effect on it, many of which come into play at freeway speeds. I usually say this in response to complaints about the throttle being jerky, but it applies to fuel economy, too: this bike rewards excellent right-hand technique and penalizes you if you don't get it right. I've had mine for twelve years and can pretty much predict what my range is going to be based on the kind of riding I'm doing. The way I ride, there's a difference of 12-13 MPG between all-city and all-highway riding. On a bike where there's 7+ gallons between fuel stops, that translates to a difference of about 90 miles.
#2) and somewhat relevant is a trip odo that wants to reset to zero...randomly!
It's probably not random even if it looks that way. The clock and trip odometers (both of them) reset when the system voltage sags below what's required to maintain them. It's either happening while the bike sits or, more likely, when you run the starter. Either is an indication that your battery's had it. Put a voltmeter on the battery and start the bike; if you see anything less than 10 while the starter's running, it's time for a new one. Nobody's ever had a failure in the reset button, and if it were a software problem, we'd have seen it by now.
--Mark