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Personal best mpg!

yticolev

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There don't seem to be any recent mpg threads, so I'm starting a new one.

Last tank is the first time I've purposely tried to keep my max speed to 65 mph. Rewarded with a personal best of 79.4 mpg! Filled up at 251 miles, but there was about 40 miles remaining (only found out when I filled, otherwise I would have ridden further - it is always a guessing game with the fuel indicator).

I can only imagine what I would get keeping speed to a max of 55, but I don't have the patience for that.

2012 NC700X manual with Madstad windshield, pretty optimal 70 to high 80 degree temperature over the fill period. Only sop to efficiency is I don't like idling at long lights so I kill the motor. I tend to accelerate briskly but not pointlessly if I have to stop or slow a few seconds later.

68.53 mpg lifetime average over 17,562 miles (I record every drop). Cold weather fills can be as low as 62 mpg, but I don't typically ride below 45 degrees, so the average has a warm weather bias.

I'll never get up to 670cc's Fuelly average of 76 mpg of course but I am very happy with the efficiency I am getting.
 
My average over the 17,000 miles since I started using Fuelly is 69.5mpg. My three best are 79.2, 79.5, and a whopping 79.8 on July 17, 2015. I have found that speed is the killer on my bike's mpg. Those days were riding between 35 and 50 miles per hour in the mountains of Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. It wasn't so much how hard I rode the bike, but was more so that I didn't ride fast.
 
Good job, yticolev! Just goes to show it’s possible. Don’t try to catch up with me or your ride might be too boring.

As Agent says, speed is a huge factor. My personal best came from riding about 45 mph for almost 300 miles. It got 94.5 mpg.
 
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Good job, yticolev! Just goes to show it’s possible. Don’t try to catch up with me or your ride might be too boring.

As Agent says, speed is a huge factor. My personal best came from riding about 45 mph for almost 300 miles
I don't think I could tolerate 55 mph, I'd go bananas at 45! Plus 45 would be unsafe on the highway. Where did you do that, Natchez Trace Parkway maybe? Or the Blue Ridge?
 
I don't think I could tolerate 55 mph, I'd go bananas at 45! Plus 45 would be unsafe on the highway. Where did you do that, Natchez Trace Parkway maybe? Or the Blue Ridge?

Blue Ridge.

Plus, the local roads around my neighborhood are rough, oil and chip, loose gravel, blind hills and curves, and barely over 1 lane wide. It’s not safe to go over 45 mph. That’s why my mileage is so good. I’d love to go on the state highways, but they’re in even worse shape because the state is nearly bankrupt. The Interstates are plentiful and in great shape, I suppose because it’s federal money, but they’re no fun.
 
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My best is 76.5. I have not tracked it in a long time. My mindset has adapted to a more spirited riding style which tends to run contrary to fuel sipping :)
 
Mine is 99-mpg, i later backed it up with a 98-mpg on the same stretch of river road. I also have several mid/low 80's mpg. As the others have already pointed out, speed = wind resistance/drag. and those are a killer of good MPG! There are many other little tricks that you can learn that all help to increase your "Smiles per Gallon". I've been on Ecomodder.com for many years and have learned so much from those guys about fuel economy and how to achieve some serious numbers. Many of those guys/gals are incredible at what they can achieve in everything they drive/ride and hold classes to tech others. Several good threads there specifically on how to get better mpg's with anything. There are only a few a few great rides in my area that i can achieve my high numbers on, they either follow a beautiful lake or a beautiful section of a local river where the speed limits are around 40-50. I get up into 6th gear and count the pops! I am old so i do not tuck when i ride. I like to sit upright and comfortable. On the freeways, and only during a severe headwind or pulling one of the several mountain passes in my area, i will tuck going up the pass to help keep my mileage higher. And always, treat yourself at the end or middle of the ride to some delicious PIE!!! One of my favorite river road routes is right off of the freeway for me. I ride it out 50 miles and 50 miles back. There is also a really cool place for PIE at the oldest known restaurant in Idaho. The Enaville Snake Pit, where the new owners just hired and flew out a chef from New Orleans and man can that guy cook some serious New Orleans style food!! If any of you guys/gals are out my way give me a holler' and we'll make a fun trip out there for a beautiful river ride where we'll just have to stop for some Cajun food and fresh home-made PIE!! :{)
 
Best of 77.2 MPG. Average is 69.8, was over 70 but cold weather hurt it this April and early May. Doing an Iron Butt next Saturday is sure to bring my average down quite a bit.
 
I must have the lemon in this lot; at ~70mph I get 50-54mpg... steady speed, no acceleration. If I go past 75, I get about 45-48mpg. :(
 
I must have the lemon in this lot; at ~70mph I get 50-54mpg... steady speed, no acceleration. If I go past 75, I get about 45-48mpg. :(

Do you travel with large side bags? Do you see any FI faults that might indicate a bad sensor causing the bike to run in open loop mode? Is your final drive gearing non-stock, or is your rear tire a non standard size that causes incorrect odometer readings?
 
I must have the lemon in this lot; at ~70mph I get 50-54mpg... steady speed, no acceleration. If I go past 75, I get about 45-48mpg. :(

Something is isn’t right, I get 62mpg going flat out
75 tipping along & 80 keeping the RPM right down ?
 
Hey Boo... Keep us informed on your Saddle Sore/Iron Buttox ride!! I would like to know how yours goes. I too am planning one, I am shooting for next month for mine after things slow down a bit a work and i can stop working 6-days a week. It is about 500 miles from my place to Billings Montana and return home. Although, an alternative route for me would just be 250 to the west and back and then 250 to the east and back and be done. That way i'd be a lot closer to home if something did happen or i couldn't make it/wimped out...hahaha! :{)
 
Hey Boo... Keep us informed on your Saddle Sore/Iron Buttox ride!! I would like to know how yours goes. I too am planning one, I am shooting for next month for mine after things slow down a bit a work and i can stop working 6-days a week. It is about 500 miles from my place to Billings Montana and return home. Although, an alternative route for me would just be 250 to the west and back and then 250 to the east and back and be done. That way i'd be a lot closer to home if something did happen or i couldn't make it/wimped out...hahaha! :{)
I'll be boasting if I succeed, you won't hear anything if I dont :D. Me and My buddy that is doing it with me have done 700 miles in 16 hours and we weren't even really trying.
 
I have a DCT and never average in the 70's. Generally, for all riding, I get in the low 60's. I do notice higher mileage on the winter blend of gas, less ethanol I assume. I used to fuelly, but quit after awhile. I decided to just ride. If I wanted to save on gas that bad, I'd stay home.
 
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Fuelly says my best is 78.6, but that is a statistical outlier. Usually mid 60s. Wind can kill my mpg.

I didn’t start on Fuelly until I had owned the bike a bit, so who knows. I still have all the receipts except for a couple that went through the washer, but I am not going back through them.
 
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"Do you travel with large side bags? Do you see any FI faults that might indicate a bad sensor causing the bike to run in open loop mode? Is your final drive gearing non-stock, or is your rear tire a non standard size that causes incorrect odometer readings?"

I do have narrow side bags (caribou/pelican), but I have ridden without them and seen little change. Stock final drive & tire dimension. Have had it checked out at two different dealerships. No on seems able to figure it out.
I am open to any suggestions.
 
I started this thread with a 79.4 mpg best ever fill. My next fill was 78.2 mpg even though I was riding a bit more conservative hoping to get to 80 mpg.

I will say it was a bit cooler. Both my motorcycle and my hybrid seem to do better in 80 degree weather than 70s. I cannot find any information online about engine efficiency related to 10 degree ambient temperature steps, say from 30 degrees to 80 degrees. Clearly there is a large, well observed difference between 30 and 80 degrees though (some of which is due to winter gasoline formulations).

But just two tanks of significantly better mpg has boosted my lifetime mpg from right at 68 to pushing 69 mpg over almost 18,000 miles. Fun to see, but I might have to go back to brisker riding.
 
I started this thread with a 79.4 mpg best ever fill. My next fill was 78.2 mpg even though I was riding a bit more conservative hoping to get to 80 mpg.

I will say it was a bit cooler. Both my motorcycle and my hybrid seem to do better in 80 degree weather than 70s. I cannot find any information online about engine efficiency related to 10 degree ambient temperature steps, say from 30 degrees to 80 degrees. Clearly there is a large, well observed difference between 30 and 80 degrees though (some of which is due to winter gasoline formulations)

On EcoModder.com you'll find exactly that, and many other things attributed to adding to or taking away from good MPG!!! On there you will find many helpful tips on increasing the MPG on anything you ride/drive. :{)
 
On EcoModder.com you'll find exactly that, and many other things attributed to adding to or taking away from good MPG!!! On there you will find many helpful tips on increasing the MPG on anything you ride/drive. :{)
Never thought of looking there, thanks. While there were no studies I could find, significant data was posted by several suggesting that mpg peaks at around 80 to 85 degrees. Exactly what I was thinking with very limited data. It appears that the increase is linear from about 40 degrees to 85 degrees, with a considerably steeper line below 40. Very interesting.

For the first time in 6 months I checked my tire pressures (bad owner). To my embarrassment, they were 8 psi low. That makes me think tire pressure on a motorcycle is a fairly trivial component of efficiency as my last two tanks were 79/78 mph, a personal best per the title. I certainly notice low pressures in car efficiency.

Anyone anecdotally documented lower mpg on under inflated tires?

On my OEM Dunlops, I could notice lowered handling performance with just 4 psi under inflated. I'm only on my second set of tires, but could not tell the difference with another brand. That's a bit concerning on a couple levels.
 
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