Confusing fuel mileage

[davidc83]

One more consideration is altitude. On fuel injection engines the effect is two fold. When you are cruising down the highway you don't need maximum power and are using minimal throttle. The fuel injection system only gives enough fuel for the oxygen flowing thru the engine. At higher altitudes you have less oxygen in the air so for a given throttle position you are actually using less fuel.

Secondly at higher altitudes you have less air pressure and your wind resistance is less, therefore improving your fuel economy also. This effect is higher than you think.

Living in AZ and traveling throughout the rockies I have seen my best mileage by far at high altitudes.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

I have also seen my best mileage on the Blueridge Parkway and in the Smokies; at 45 mph at those altitudes, I got close to 80mpg.

 

[n30r3l0ad3d]

I noticed when riding 2 up, my NC seemingly gets BETTER mpg..?

But yes, a strong headwind will kill your mileage as I found out. Staying low in the rev's really doesn't matter too much, which is why I tend to stay in 5th at 55mph.

 

[SergeantChuck]

I noticed when riding 2 up, my NC seemingly gets BETTER mpg..?

But yes, a strong headwind will kill your mileage as I found out. Staying low in the rev's really doesn't matter too much, which is why I tend to stay in 5th at 55mph.

I kinda agree. 55mph does like 5th gear better.

 

[bamamate]

I noticed when riding 2 up, my NC seemingly gets BETTER mpg..?

That is because your better half is making you behave.

 

[ziggie]

I agree with the 55mph and 5th gear.it just likes it better there

sent from the mayflower

 

[Old Can Ride]

When your short, fat, ugly, carry a ton of stuff, and drive at high speeds, you never have any problems with fuel mileage. Mileage is always bad. But, on the bright side - I never have to worry about my miles per gallon.

 

[L.B.S.]

That is because your better half is making you behave.

Who knew a hand smack upside the helmet could make a bike more aerodynamic!

 

[n30r3l0ad3d]

Who knew a hand smack upside the helmet could make a bike more aerodynamic!

One time I picked up the front end of my other honda with her on it, you can guess what happened after that

 

[anglachel]

One time I picked up the front end of my other honda with her on it, you can guess what happened after that

Well since you already said that riding 2 up gives you better mpg, I'll guess your gas milage decreased significantly.

 

[ADW]

I have read on another forum (advrider I think) of a guy who dissected the NCs fuel mapping. The findings were that the fueling was lean up to larger throttle openings then it just "dumped" in fuel. He remapped it to dump fuel in the mid range and got maybe one horse out of it, but less economy. My worst MPG trip was into a 15-20 mph headwind trying to keep about 70 ish and using mostly 6th at a close to full throttle on the uphills, as others have said it would have done better in 5th with less throttle.

 

[gboswellsac]

One more consideration is altitude. On fuel injection engines the effect is two fold. When you are cruising down the highway you don't need maximum power and are using minimal throttle. The fuel injection system only gives enough fuel for the oxygen flowing thru the engine. At higher altitudes you have less oxygen in the air so for a given throttle position you are actually using less fuel.

Secondly at higher altitudes you have less air pressure and your wind resistance is less, therefore improving your fuel economy also. This effect is higher than you think.

Living in AZ and traveling throughout the rockies I have seen my best mileage by far at high altitudes.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Since I'm headed to the rockies, how does it accelerate going up passes... do you have to down shift. I tried to leave it in 6th gear going up some hills just south of Johnson City and at the bottom running 75 had to down shift to 5 just to make the top of these hills at 70.... Checking fuel economy running at 70 -75 (speed limit) coming from Temple down 281 to SA I got 53.13MPG but going up on I35 running through Austin as running 70 -75 as speed limit and traffic permitted I got 62.74. i never had to down shift going up but I did leave it in 5th gear (my error) for 26 miles going 70 going up. I try to up shift quickly but I never get better than 67 -68 mph. Now my concern is going to CO for the HU rally I'll have a little more weight in the saddle bags, do I need to plan on 50 mpg and plan on 150 miles between gas stop rather than 200...

 

[Cigar Mike]

Since I'm headed to the rockies, how does it accelerate going up passes... do you have to down shift. I tried to leave it in 6th gear going up some hills just south of Johnson City and at the bottom running 75 had to down shift to 5 just to make the top of these hills at 70.... Checking fuel economy running at 70 -75 (speed limit) coming from Temple down 281 to SA I got 53.13MPG but going up on I35 running through Austin as running 70 -75 as speed limit and traffic permitted I got 62.74. i never had to down shift going up but I did leave it in 5th gear (my error) for 26 miles going 70 going up. I try to up shift quickly but I never get better than 67 -68 mph. Now my concern is going to CO for the HU rally I'll have a little more weight in the saddle bags, do I need to plan on 50 mpg and plan on 150 miles between gas stop rather than 200...

I live in Colorado and I need to down shift to maintain 70 mph up hills. I weight 260 though. I also get 70-75 mpg. The worse mpg I have got was in high winds driving to Albuquerque and back, at 65 mpg running 70-75 mph. I mainly don't trust the fuel gauge. When it drops to two bars and the odometer is160 or more I will look for fuel.

 

[gboswellsac]

I live in Colorado and I need to down shift to maintain 70 mph up hills. I weight 260 though. I also get 70-75 mpg. The worse mpg I have got was in high winds driving to Albuquerque and back, at 65 mpg running 70-75 mph. I mainly don't trust the fuel gauge. When it drops to two bars and the odometer is160 or more I will look for fuel.

That is amazing MPG .... Best every was when putting on first 900 miles one time I got 74PMG .. never again. I weigh 190 and have barkbusters, givi shield and givi side bags and Bestem Top box so probably > than your weight and I did have a head wind when I got the 53.13. Thanks

 

[Cigar Mike]

That is amazing MPG .... Best every was when putting on first 900 miles one time I got 74PMG .. never again. I weigh 190 and have barkbusters, givi shield and givi side bags and Bestem Top box so probably > than your weight and I did have a head wind when I got the 53.13. Thanks

I first rode the bike trying to keep the rpm down under 3000 rpm. It almost always felt I was lugging the motor. I keep it at 3300 or more now and the mpg is pretty consistent. Best ever was 82 mpg but that ride must have had the wind at my back. With all that said the mpg is not that good due to odometer inaccuracy. My GPS indicates less miles than the odometer, 15 miles less in 200.

 

[670cc]

I first rode the bike trying to keep the rpm down under 3000 rpm. It almost always felt I was lugging the motor. I keep it at 3300 or more now and the mpg is pretty consistent. Best ever was 82 mpg but that ride must have had the wind at my back. With all that said the mpg is not that good due to odometer inaccuracy. My GPS indicates less miles than the odometer, 15 miles less in 200.

Agreed. The speedo is accurate on US models but the odometer is optimistic, tricking us to believe we're getting better mileage than we really are.

 

[CaptDL]

Agreed. The speedo is accurate on US models but the odometer is optimistic, tricking us to believe we're getting better mileage than we really are.

Food for thought- Is the speedo display the same for both the DCT and X? Is the odometer more or less accurate on the DCT with the slightly smaller rear sprocket? Would putting the smaller sprocket on the X result in a more accurate odometer reading?


You guys getting 50ish mileage are scaring the tar out of me. Got 69 on last tank, pushing a tall windscreen at 80 mph.

 

[670cc]

Food for thought- Is the speedo display the same for both the DCT and X? Is the odometer more or less accurate on the DCT with the slightly smaller rear sprocket? Would putting the smaller sprocket on the X result in a more accurate odometer reading?


You guys getting 50ish mileage are scaring the tar out of me. Got 69 on last tank, pushing a tall windscreen at 80 mph.

The display unit is the same. I believe speedos and odos are programmed to account for the difference in the DCT vs manual rear sprocket size. Since the speedo pickup is in the transmission, changing the sprocket sizes would affect both speedometer and odometer accuracy.

 

[dduelin]

Agreed. The speedo is accurate on US models but the odometer is optimistic, tricking us to believe we're getting better mileage than we really are.

I've been correcting my odometer reading for MPG calculations since day one and always report corrected MPG. The odometer on my bike is off only 1.5 to <2.0% depending on the brand of rear tire and amount of wear on the tire. I've never had a bike this accurate.

I track GPS miles and compare to displayed odometer miles every so often. It's easy to do in 10 mile increments or one done at 50 or 100 miles. Garmin 2730 or Zumo 550.

 

[dduelin]

I first rode the bike trying to keep the rpm down under 3000 rpm. It almost always felt I was lugging the motor. I keep it at 3300 or more now and the mpg is pretty consistent. Best ever was 82 mpg but that ride must have had the wind at my back. With all that said the mpg is not that good due to odometer inaccuracy. My GPS indicates less miles than the odometer, 15 miles less in 200.

Wouldn't this error would result in better reported mpg, not less? If the bike says you went 200 and the GPS says 185 miles....divide by gallons used...the former is going to be higher mpg. I cross check the odometer against the GPS to correct to actual miles traveled often enough to have a correction factor I use.

 

[670cc]

I've been correcting my odometer reading for MPG calculations since day one and always report corrected MPG. The odometer on my bike is off only 1.5 to <2.0% depending on the brand of rear tire and amount of wear on the tire. I've never had a bike this accurate.

I track GPS miles and compare to displayed odometer miles every so often. It's easy to do in 10 mile increments or one done at 50 or 100 miles. Garmin 2730 or Zumo 550.

Good to know that the error is <2%. I perceived it to be higher based on road signs, i.e. distance to next town, but never checked it against GPS. Thanks for posting your more scientific findings.

Best ever was 82 mpg but that ride must have had the wind at my back. With all that said the mpg is not that good due to odometer inaccuracy. My GPS indicates less miles than the odometer, 15 miles less in 200.

Wouldn't this error would result in better reported mpg, not less? If the bike says you went 200 and the GPS says 185 miles....divide by gallons used...the former is going to be higher mpg. I cross check the odometer against the GPS to correct to actual miles traveled often enough to have a correction factor I use.

I think we're all on the same page. I think Mike is saying that due to odometer error, the actual MPG is not as good as the odometer would have you believe.