Improve gas consumption

[adminious]

lamoun i was travelling Thessaloniki Athens ,
Yes they match, i am at about 18km/l but everyone here is more even with mods...so i wil check the carbs and the valves.

[ecpreston]

I don't know why anyone is talking about riding style and riding slower and all that.  A stock(ish) GS should get 50-55 almost regardless of riding style. On the street mine certianly does, regardless of what I was doing, and I practice many random acts of acceleration. On TRACK, mine gets 30MPG. So if this guy is getting 35 and isn't just constantly full throttle/brakes/full throttle with a normal cruising speed of 100MPH, then something is wrong with the bike.

[Esteban]

I don't know why anyone is talking about riding style and riding slower and all that.  A stock(ish) GS should get 50-55 almost regardless of riding style.

Why would anyone talk about riding slower?

While each vehicle reaches its optimal fuel economy at a different speed (or range of speeds), gas mileage usually decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/FEG/driveHabits.shtml

For 50 miles we drove with the cruise control set at 65 mph. Then, for another 50-mile stretch we drove with cruise set at 75 mph. We repeated this test going in the opposite direction. It is amazing how obvious the difference in gas mileage was. Just think what would have happened if we had slowed down to 60 mph.

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/fueleconomy/articles/106842/article.html#test2

Stay within posted speed limits. Gas mileage decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 miles per hour.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt064.shtm

...as you go above 38 mph in most cars, you lose mileage. For every 5 mph above 55, he says you can lose as much as 10 percent of your fuel economy. So slowing down can save you gas.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/03/AR2006080301403_2.html

The drag force at 70 mph is about double that at 50 mph, so keeping speed down can increase your mileage considerably.

http://www.whybike.com/motorcycle16.htm

Wind resistance increases as a square of the speed at which you're traveling. So, for example, at 70 mph, wind resistance is double what it is at 50 mph (70 squared is almost twice as much as 50 squared). That's murder on your mileage.

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tech-transport/motorcycle-gas-mileage.html

It's simple physics; the faster you are moving the more energy needs to be expended to fight wind resistance.

[Mdow]

ya somthings up i ride mine i would say avg and get about 60 and when i really let her be a red headed step child i get about 45

[ecpreston]

It's simple physics; the faster you are moving the more energy needs to be expended to fight wind resistance.

ok thanks, I wasn't aware of that.  

My point was 35 MPG is REALLY REALLY LOW for the street, even if he rides like an asshat everywhere.

[bill14224]

An Imperial gallon is 5 quarts.  American gallon is 4.

If you want better mileage use 6th gear as much as you can.  I ride 60-70 mph all the time and I average about 60 mpg, and I have pipes and filter changed.  You don't have to poke to get good mileage, but you can't rev the hell out of it, stay in lower gears all the time, or ride the brakes.

[fred]

An Imperial gallon is 5 quarts.  American gallon is 4.

If you want better mileage use 6th gear as much as you can.  I ride 60-70 mph all the time and I average about 60 mpg, and I have pipes and filter changed.  You don't have to poke to get good mileage, but you can't rev the hell out of it, stay in lower gears all the time, or ride the brakes.

No, the Imperial pint is bigger. Both quarts are still made of two pints and are both a quarter of a gallon... If it were a fifth of a gallon, it'd be called a fifth, just like the bottles of whisky...

[sledge]

8 imperial pints or 4 imperial quarts in an imperial gallon but there are that many variations on pints and gallons its no surprise that everyone is getting confused 

You have to give the French something for dividing everything by factors of ten and inventing the metric system, its far easier to work with. A litre is a fecking litre and it doesnt matter which side of the Atlantic you are on 

[Esteban]

I am so confused   Google to the rescue!

Ok, so if adminious is using Imperial gallons in his, then he is getting:
35 (miles / Imperial gallon) = 29.1435844 miles / US gallons
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=35+miles%2FImperial+gallon+in+miles%2FUS+gallons

That would be pretty damn bad and I would agree that it's some other malady.  However, he is using US gallons in his calculation:
15 (kilometers / liter) = 35.2821875 miles / US gallon
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=15+kilometers%2Fliter+in+miles%2FUS+gallon

[werase643]

I used to get about 15 MPG......
WFO with roundslides..... god it was fun

[sledge]

Kenny?
I used to get about 7-8ppn, that pints per night. I struggle to get 2 or 3 ppn now.......but thats youth for ya.

[werase643]

 


getting old sux

and the only thing that will impress the cuties....is a big WAD in your pants...bad thing is it better be $$$$$ (a roll of cash)

[bill14224]

I'm talking about the Imperial gallon Canada and Britain used before they adopted the metric system.  I live 10 minutes from Canada, and believe me, it was 5 quarts vs. 4, meaning an Imperial gallon was 5 U.S. quarts.  Perhaps I wasn't as clear as I should have been.  Yes, an Imperial quart would be bigger, but that wasn't what I was talking about.  I was trying to convey that an Imperial gallon is 25% larger than a U.S. gallon.

[fred]

8 imperial pints or 4 imperial quarts in an imperial gallon but there are that many variations on pints and gallons its no surprise that everyone is getting confused 

You have to give the French something for dividing everything by factors of ten and inventing the metric system, its far easier to work with. A litre is a fecking litre and it doesnt matter which side of the Atlantic you are on 

That may be true, but only until someone else creates their own measurement of volume and calls it a liter too. Even worse if it is almost the same size as the liter, but not quite... I think I'm going to define the Fred Standard Liter as the average volume of a US quart, an Imperial quart and a liter. For you metric folk 1 fsl = 1.02762531L, for the people in the US 1 fsl = 1.08587955 US quarts and for the Canadians, 1 fsl =  0.904183494 Imperial quarts. For keeping track of my fuel consumption, I'm going to define the Fred Standard Meter as half my height so 1 fsm = 0.9271 meters. For those of you keeping track, that means my GS has a fuel consumption of 6.2 liters/100km. For everyone using the French metric system, that's 5.6 L/100km. For those of you using other units, you're on your own.

[the mole]

You are going to get bad economy if you travel over 100-110 kph. At that speed I get 22-23 km/l. That is with a standard bike except for 17 tooth front sprocket (makes very small difference). I generally change gear at about 4000rpm unless I'm in a hurry.
Bikes generally are very economical at modest speed as they are light and have a small frontal area. Aerodynamically they are oh my goodness (even faired bikes) compared to a car and so if you go much over 100kph they use much more fuel. If you want better economy:
1. Make sure engine is tuned (good compression, valve gap, carb float height, clean air filter, plugs etc.)
2. Ride more conservatively (Less than 100 kph, change gear at 4,000 or less, accelerate slower).
3. Correct tyre pressure (or 10% more).
4. 17 or 18 tooth front sprocket.

Economy always looks better if you measure speed in furlongs per fortnight.

[bill14224]

Enough about units of measurement.  It can't explain why his mileage is so bad.  Greece uses the metric system anyway so he's converting to American units to make it easy for us to help him.

35 mpg for a GS SUCKS, unless you're on the racetrack, or running a small front sprocket and big rear sprocket and you ride around at 8000 rpm all the time.  You're not complaining about the bike running poorly so something must be dragging.  Bad wheel bearings could do it, but they would howl, scream, and die soon so that's probably not it.  Is the rear brake caliper dragging?  Put your bike in neutral, put it up on the centerstand, and make sure the rear wheel turns freely.  Are you riding with your right foot on the brake?  That'll do it! 

[bill14224]

This is for "themole".  Never over-inflate your tires!    It will cause your tires to wear in the center even faster, and it's dangerous.  33psi in front and 36-41psi rear is all you need.

Fred, if you'd like to see your mileage climb 8-10 mpg, ditch the lunchbox, put your stock air box back in, and change your main jets to about 127.5.

[fred]

This is for "themole".  Never over-inflate your tires!    It will cause your tires to wear in the center even faster, and it's dangerous.  33psi in front and 36-41psi rear is all you need.

Fred, if you'd like to see your mileage climb 8-10 mpg, ditch the lunchbox, put your stock air box back in, and change your main jets to about 127.5.

Yeah, the stock airbox is way long gone. The previous owner didn't even put the lunchbox on, so it has been there for a good 20,000 miles at a minimum. My project bike has a stock airbox, and it was only after I got that bike that I realized what a true pain in the neck the thing is. It is such a pain to get it on and off the bike all the time, doubly so when you keep having to pull the carbs like I do on my project. Once I get the second bike running, I plan on riding them back to back for a few weeks of commuting and seeing how big the difference really is... Right now I'd settle for one running GS though. I just got the parts I need to rebuild my daily rider's front caliper (after a week of waiting for the dealer to get them in stock!), but since it's Monday, I'm working my usual 14 hour day and won't have time to even start on that project until tomorrow after work. Still stuck on the KLR 250 in the mean time... I have yet to find the perfect staircase to ride it down...