Fuel Economy

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I average 42 to 46 MPG. Combination highway and back road riding. Alot of it is two up riding. I'm happy with this because I was told not to expect better than 35 to 39 MPG with the 4 Cylinder.

I've averaged 50 MPG with the 2 Cylinder Boxer engine on BMW RT.

It may be true, I'm not riding hard enough or just enough. Anyway, it's better than the cage. :D

 
It seems that as my miles increase mileage is getting worse.

I have approx 11,000 miles on an '05 and as I don't keep actual records or logs, I have been checking mileage and currently I average between 37-39 mpg. If I remember correctly, with break-in included, I was averaging between 40-45 mpg. It was at about the 8,000 mark that I've noticed the drop in mileage.

I've ridden pretty much the same routes which include highway and canyon roads so no change that would make a real difference.

Has anyone else noticed this?

 
It seems that as my miles increase mileage is getting worse.
I have approx 11,000 miles on an '05 and as I don't keep actual records or logs, I have been checking mileage and currently I average between 37-39 mpg. If I remember correctly, with break-in included, I was averaging between 40-45 mpg. It was at about the 8,000 mark that I've noticed the drop in mileage.

I've ridden pretty much the same routes which include highway and canyon roads so no change that would make a real difference.

Has anyone else noticed this?
Nope, at 22k, I'm still consistant at 40 mpg 'round these parts. Sumpin's up, git 'er checked out.

 
48 to 50 riding in Colorado/NM with 7000 miles on the '04-- mostly at altitude

Mostly riding around here at 800 ft. and usually getting 48 to 50 with 12000 miles now.

Worst-- 45 two up with wind

Best-- 50

 
So far with about 8300 miles on my '05 FJR,

-worst mileage; 38.73 mpg

-average mileage for all 8300 miles is; 43.72 mpg

-best mileage; 54.19 mpg

Most of my riding is on highways averaging 65-75 mph.

 
If you get any better than 40 mpg your not riding fast and hard enough
I get 42mpg on average.

Regarding the quote... if you get less than 40mpg, you're not riding smooth enough.

Try to keep up.

 
What the heck, I was just cruising the site for old posts I might be interested in, and I will chime in on this one.

I keep a spreadsheet of my gas purchases, since I bought my '05 in Oct. of '04. I somehow missed two tank fillups in the first year. So ... I guess I'm anal about it. Currently the bike has just over 55,000 miles.

I have gotten as low as 38 mpg on a tank. As high as 49.

What really makes me wonder is the mpg through a year. I ride all year long. I get the best gas mileage in July in Dallas. The hotter it is, the better the smileage. I almost always drop to at least one tankful in the 39 mpg area in the middle of winter. My two cars both get better gas mileage in winter than in summer.

On my One And Only trip of more than 250 miles :( I filled up outside New Orleans, got on a highway going north and found a guy in his Mercedes that was proud of his German engineering. He tried to get away from me. Silly boy! I stayed within sight - hoping any Policemans (sic) would see him, get him and I would see them and SLOW DOWN in time. Anyway, we averaged over 90mph until almost to Shreveport. (He tried to get away at something over 120 for a couple of miles then gave up.) I decided to get gas again in Shreveport, just to see how horrible the mileage was. Wow. Those speeds, and I still got 42+.

I love the engine on this bike.

 
...

I keep a spreadsheet of my gas purchases, since I bought my '05 in Oct. of '04. I somehow missed two tank fillups in the first year. So ... I guess I'm anal about it. ....
You want anal?

My '06 mpg graph

fjr1300_miles.jpg


and my '10

fjr10_miles.jpg


For the full entries and lots of derived stuff, click here for the '06 and here for the '10. All my mpg data can be found here.

 
birkdale10 has to win the prize for "Dredging up the oldest, deadest, zombie thread in the fewest possible tries".

This thread was dead for 5 years, 8 months, 5 days. 9 hours and 59 minutes. And he found it in only 3 posts!

Excellent work!! :yahoo:

 
Resurrected old dead threads sometimes have some relevance; especially for someone who didn't see them the first time around. I wouldn't start a new thread on the subject but I don't mind adding to a NEPRT zombie thread!!

We discuss mileage ad nauseum but I haven't encountered much discussion on why there are differences (sometimes quite significant) between bikes. There are modifications that will directly decrease fuel economy like an aftermarket fuel mapping device (i.e. Power Commander). Similarly, I would expect that a mod such as the Barbarian jumper mod would have some effect.

Airbox mods, aftermarket (K&N) air filter, fuel source (summer vs winter gas), rider/cargo weight, condition of sparkplugs, terrain, road surface, and aerodynamics (windshield, side bags, top box, rider height, pillion rider, trailer hauling, or Stebel horns hanging in the breeze) will have an effect. Headwinds or crosswinds can make a big difference, too. Maybe tire choice - rolling resistance (FredW reported poorer mileage with a CT, although this might be partly an apparent decrease due to an odometer error induced by a larger tire diameter).

Riding style, choice of gears and right wrist control are, of course, the largest factors. Use of brakes and/or engine braking on a more technically challenging route will also be a factor. (Don't even want to consider possible effects of one oil vs another!). Might expect to see a small variation between Gen I and Gen II because of gearing differences.

Having said all of the above, a number of times I have encountered situations where there were essentially identically configured FJRs riding together on relatively straight roads have used significantly different amounts of fuel. Factors related to speed, headwinds, fuel source, odo errors etc would be essentially non-existant but I have observed differences in fuel consumption of 10% between bikes; mine tends to be a little thirstier than some but not too bad. With the exception of a K&N filter, my bike is essentially stock - usually ride with Givi V46 but no sidebags. I was wondering if anyone has any further insight on this? Any other factors that should be considered? One unknown that was brought to my attention earlier this year was the effect of a faulty or mis-calibrated O2 sensor (shorted wire since fixed). It might have the same effect as a different fuel map but I have no idea how to check this without replacing it.

What else might be a factor and what can someone do (mechanically) to optimize fuel economy?

 
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