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2000 Mile Ride Complete, MPG's Sucked!


Bobby G

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Just got back last night after a 6 day, 2000 mile trip from ATL to PA and back, with lots of stops in between, and while the '99 RSV ran great with no mechanical issues, my MPG's were awful. The best I got was 32 on straight stretches of highway riding at an average speed of 72mph. The best overall mileage I got on combined highway/local roads was 35. Either my carbs are way out of whack, or the 10% ethanol is really killing my performance. All other maintenance areas were addressed before the trip, including all fluids and filters. And since the fuel injected Ultras I was riding with all got 42+mpg's on ethanol gas, I'm guessing I need a carb tune to determine if this is the problem.

 

Any north GA area members that have a carb tune kit, I'd love to hook up with you!

 

:Venture:

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Just got back last night after a 6 day, 2000 mile trip from ATL to PA and back, with lots of stops in between, and while the '99 RSV ran great with no mechanical issues, my MPG's were awful. The best I got was 32 on straight stretches of highway riding at an average speed of 72mph. The best overall mileage I got on combined highway/local roads was 35. Either my carbs are way out of whack, or the 10% ethanol is really killing my performance. All other maintenance areas were addressed before the trip, including all fluids and filters. And since the fuel injected Ultras I was riding with all got 42+mpg's on ethanol gas, I'm guessing I need a carb tune to determine if this is the problem.

 

Any north GA area members that have a carb tune kit, I'd love to hook up with you!

 

 

My '99 got 26mpg riding to Cody pulling a trailer and running like crap. While in Cody I did a day ride without the trailer and got 40... Before I left home I didn't have time to do anything other than change fluids, so no sync or plugs. I still haven't changed anything but I'm definately thinking about it.... I think the sync and plugs will make'r hum again...

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No, not at all. I understand that higher RPM's lower gas mileage. That would not be the reason in this case.

 

Actually it's the reverse.... Wind resistence and 5th gear use fuel like a horse eating oats. When running in the twisties and using 2-3-4, braking in second and powering out of the curves will give surprizing mpg results... And I'm not the only one on this board who's found that out. I know it sounds goofy, but it's true.

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Just returned from a 2400 mile trip from N. TX to New Mexico and Colorado. On the way out and back I averaged about 37 MPG. That was riding at around 70 to 75 MPH. Riding in the mountians using 3rd and 4th mostly I was getting 47 MPG. Kinda doesn't make sense to me since I always thouht a steady 70 on freeway type roads would produce the best MPG.

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Just returned from a 2400 mile trip from N. TX to New Mexico and Colorado. On the way out and back I averaged about 37 MPG. That was riding at around 70 to 75 MPH. Riding in the mountians using 3rd and 4th mostly I was getting 47 MPG. Kinda doesn't make sense to me since I always thouht a steady 70 on freeway type roads would produce the best MPG.

 

37, 38 is what I average on the highways, jumps to 40, 41 at around 55 in 4th.

 

All of this two up. For those of you stating that you are getting above 42 running at 70+, I just don't believe it, and that means you are running at 70+ for the entire tank.

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37, 38 is what I average on the highways, jumps to 40, 41 at around 55 in 4th.

 

All of this two up. For those of you stating that you are getting above 42 running at 70+, I just don't believe it, and that means you are running at 70+ for the entire tank.

 

I average 42 mpg and have gotten 44 mpg and this on all 55 mile per hour two lane roads riding by myself. I am 285 lb of pure Muscle............and just a small amount of fat.

 

Fuzzy

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George,

I don't believe I have got less than 40 MPG since I adjusted the floats last summer.

I haven't run any 2 or 3,000 mile trips this year but I have done a couple of 400 mile one way trips on the interstate and I rarely run less than 70 to 75 actual. Running around locally I get 43 to 45 very consistently.

All the local gas in 10% ethanol but I don't think I lose more than about 1 or 2 MPG.

Mostly one up and no wagon.

BOO

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I have a carbtune in Dahlonega. PM me and we can do the carbtune. I'll be doing my RSTD soon as my mileage also seems to be off lately.

 

Thanks Randy. I've got some business travel coming up, but I'll get with you shortly. I appreciate the offer.

 

:thumbsup2:

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I drove a whole tank at 55-60 mpg on back roads to see what mileage I get, and Naugh-T was pissed.

 

I got 51 mpg (42 US mpg)

 

Seems to take a little long to burn a tank of fuel that way, doubt I will see that again. Depending on the group I am in :think:

:rotf:

Brad

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I average 42 mpg and have gotten 44 mpg and this on all 55 mile per hour two lane roads riding by myself. I am 285 lb of pure Muscle............and just a small amount of[/size] fat.

 

Fuzzy

 

Yours is the Tour Delux and you should get better gas mileage than an RSV, no fairing and trunk to deal with.

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George,

I don't believe I have got less than 40 MPG since I adjusted the floats last summer.

I haven't run any 2 or 3,000 mile trips this year but I have done a couple of 400 mile one way trips on the interstate and I rarely run less than 70 to 75 actual. Running around locally I get 43 to 45 very consistently.

All the local gas in 10% ethanol but I don't think I lose more than about 1 or 2 MPG.

Mostly one up and no wagon.

BOO

 

Maybe you need to come down here and adjust the floats on mine :whistling:

But with two up and luggage, I seem to get about the same as others in this part of the country.

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Just a quick update on this. Have not had the carbs synched yet (thanks Randy - I'll be in touch!), but I did change out the oil and filter after returning from PA last week, and this last tank of gas was noticeably better MPG's - 43 to be exact. When I did the oil changeout, something slightly less than 3qts drained, and I filled with 3 1/4 qts, which tells me that I'd been running on less oil than I should have been for over 3,000 miles. Besides kicking myself for that, I'm thinking that low oil pressure may have caused the engine to work harder and lowered my fuel efficiency.

 

Not an engine techie, so I ask this: is there a correlation between oil pressure, engine compression and gas mileage?

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