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Ride Technique VS Fuel Economy

The best I've achieved is 74.5 mpg running highway speeds in the 70 to 75 and sometimes 80 mph speed range. I can't explain why my best mileage was on the highway. Maybe it was down hill? The worst achieved, in the low to mid 60's, was the first tank after the winter storage season, but I was out in the shed running the bikes several times throughout the winter. And talk about boxy bags! The pelicans I have mounted are among the boxiest. Try to make sure you're filling it to a consistent level to record a more accurate efficiency reading and have the dealer check your ecu to ensure accurate fuel delivery. Can't think of too much else.
 
This thread just caught my eye. especially this post. "Nice 5th post, implying that the mileage figures posted for the last 18 months are all a pack of lies or achieved by pussies riding 45 mph.

Welcome. :)"


My Fuelly mileage is correct period! I even add GPS data to back mine up. I made it for my own records to see what I can get with my bike. I could care less if anyone believes it or not!!
My best tank has been with a Givi E55 Maxia 3 top case and E35 panniers, because that's my normal set up.
My average is around 66 mpg with a 80+ mpg high. I know how to get good mpg's but my time impedes that.
46 mpg is 85 mpg fuel mileage in my world. I can back up my numbers with facts! Can you?
I'll add more to this thread when time permits. This post is just for a tag for ...
Calling me a liar is fight words!!!!!!
 
I empathise, 12nc700x lol.

I felt quite snarly with my F800ST and the mileage I got on it compared to everyone else on fuelly, mine was truly atrocious for most of the time.

I'm not doing so hot with my NCX either, I can just squeak over the 70's mpg once in a while, but I can also get below 50, so I can get a wee bit miffed with all these 80+ mpg flaunting mpg gurus on the board, heehee.

I think it's us, not them that are "doing it wrong" as far as riding habits. It's just gotta be...:eek:
 
To the OP, your figures do seem very low. The best way I can get my mileage down is if I ride over 75 on the highway. I have the three Honda hard bags and couldnt be happier with my bike. If I experienced your mileage I would have the bike checked.
 
If your shifting by the shift points in the manual your hurting not helping mpg. Like other have said the NC motor is happier at 4000 rpm. It takes less throttle opening when in traffic to run 55mph in 5 gear than 6 th gear. For me weight and wind are a bigger factor than how hard I rev the motor. I only weigh about 150 lbs. and the best I've gotten is 79 mpg. With my wife on the back I can loose 10 mpg. I'm not gona tell ya how much she weighs. :)
 
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12NC700X said:
Sorry. It was meant as sarcasm, not as an insult. I see you have an ST1300, had an '04 myself that I put 48k miles on. What year? Color? I miss my ol' ST.
Click to expand...
Sarcasm is difficult to use in internet forums in particular with new members no one has had a chance to get to know. I am sorry as well with my "get off my lawn!" response. I have had my fill of doubting Thomases and lumped you in with the lot of them.

After 18,000 miles on my NC I have come to believe it matters less how I twist the throttle and more about top speeds traveled. For instance while I am riding on mountain roads I am always on and off the throttle and constantly rowing up and down through the gearbox but average speeds are still just 35 to 55 mph due to the tight twisty roads. I still get figures around 70 mpg and this astounded me the first time and that day I was riding with a bunch of ST1300 buddies. I had to flog the NCX to stay up with the hair on fire group. If I am out trying to get the highest possible figure (for fun and my own reasons I have done 84 to 94 mpg on these efforts) I am shifting between 3 and 4,000 rpm and do not exceed 50 mph and try not to stop at all after the initial start. That is incredibly boring riding so on the average fun ride I go up and down through the gears between 4,000 and 5,500 and keep revs above 3000 while cruising but keep the top speed under 65 and pick roads where 50 to 60 are as fast or faster as other traffic. I did that today on a 85 mile ride and got 72 mpg. I weigh 155 lbs and had a top box on but no side cases. My worst figures of 45-46 mpg were riding 80 to 85 into a stiff headwind.

FWIW I always correct my odometer mileage down by 2% as it is demonstrated over many observations on my bike to be 1.5 to 3% optimistic and unless traveling I always use the same pump at the same station. I try to be as accurate as possible with my figures.

Oh yes, the ST1300. I have an '05 in Candy Graceful Red. I wish it had 48k on it. Yesterday it turned 122,947. I still love this bike and intend to keep it a while. I did a gas mileage comparison a while back on the two bikes and will copy and paste it:


One of the magazines I like to read, Bike, has a gas mileage loop that they ride test bikes on in order to gather a number for MPG comparisons but I don't know how they control the variables. The EU has a rolling road test (dynometer) that all new motorcycles are given in order to get a MPG figure similar to our EPA test for cars and trucks but I don't know how well the EU figures relate to the real world. These published numbers piqued my curiosity however and it had been eons since I checked the ST1300 mileage so I laid out a 100+ mile loop of local roads and rode my NCX and ST on it back to back on a recent weekend morning. I tried to simulate a cross country ride the way I actually would ride it which included passing vehicles at highway speeds and riding briskly. The loop included about 25% interstate and the rest posted 55 mph country roads that run through a few small towns. Within my own limitations I tried to ride both loops identically and surprisingly the loops came out 2 minutes apart and within 1 MPH moving average. I filled up at a particular pump at a gas station and refilled at the end of the loop at the same pump to reduce variation from different pump calibration. I filled the tanks to approximately the same mark on the fill area of the opening. I rode the first loop alone and the second one with my friend Steve on his Moto Guzzi Griso. That is a beautiful Italian machine.

First up was the NC700X:

IMG_0544.jpg

IMG_0546.jpg

IMG_0550.png


Then the ST1300:

IMG_0539.jpg

IMG_0540.jpg

IMG_0543.png


I was not surprised the NC delivered an increase in mileage of 54% over the ST1300. The average mileage on the ST's information center has been at 42.1 MPG for thousands of miles and and have been getting between 65 and 75 MPG practically every tank on the new bike but what I think is surprising to me is how the NC has made me think about how I ride and the compromises that manufacturers have been selling us based on horsepower wars of the last forty years. The NC700X is basically a 50 hp, 475 lb bike that tops 110 mph. My recently departed 1981 BMW R100 was basically a 50 hp 475 lb. bike that topped 110 mph. The R100 delivered an average 40 MPG on regular gas. Of course the ST1300 does things the NC700X cannot do as well but if some of the efficiencies of the new Honda can be designed into big touring bikes large increases in MPG can be achieved with little loss in performance. It's nice to have a tourer with 150 hp but I find it really isn't needed, at least for me and what I need a bike to deliver. There are large differences in weather protection of course but the little bike actually has a higher allowable passenger and cargo weight. If buyers want a touring bike like this I hope Honda provides it. A lot of us are looking for Honda to bring us a new ST and I hope it brings some of these efficiencies to the sporty tourer class.
 
Fuelly:

60 fuel ups
71.0 Average
best: 80 mpg
worst: 54 mpg (head wind)
large home-made wind screen
rider weight= 216 lbs.
 
I don't know if I could be as diligent as others about fuel tracking, but I've checked at least half of however many fill ups I've done in 1400 miles. My mileage was less consistent in the first 500 miles or so, with a high of 71mpg and a low of 59. But lately, even when I've thought my mileage would be higher or lower because I went somewhere off the beaten path or took a side trip, my results are stunningly consistent. I get 63.8 or 64.2 or bang on 64 - always something right in that tiny range of variation and exactly what Honda tells me I should get. I weigh 220lbs(+/-), have only average soft bags and ride with a 22" sport Madstad at Midway settings up and tilt angle. (I've played with the screen positions a little but that doesn't appear to change mpg.)

While I may have changed routes here and there, it probably hasn't changed road types and speed from my usual paths, so that's a probable explanation for the unusual consistency. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I'd be complaining that Honda put a chip in my bike to make sure my mileage never changes, no matter what. :rolleyes:
 
Best ever mileage came from canyon riding at 45-50 mph in 6th gear.

I attempted to duplicate that this weekend and got it to 77 MPG.

Shift at about what the manual says and be in 6th gear by the time you are going 40mph. (Never let the rev-meter go above 3K)
Stay at about 45 MPH for the entire tank (if possible), and you'll probably get THE best mileage you've ever had.

Disclaimer: this recipe is annectdotal an has been field tested only one time.
 
StratTuner said:
Best ever mileage came from canyon riding at 45-50 mph in 6th gear.

I attempted to duplicate that this weekend and got it to 77 MPG.

Shift at about what the manual says and be in 6th gear by the time you are going 40mph. (Never let the rev-meter go above 3K)
Stay at about 45 MPH for the entire tank (if possible), and you'll probably get THE best mileage you've ever had.

Disclaimer: this recipe is annectdotal an has been field tested only one time.
Click to expand...

That recipe works for me and it got me my record 94.6 mpg tank .

Greg
 
I ride my bike like I drive my car... I shift at about the same points (maybe a little lower on the bike) and city (4-5 mile commute to and from work, couple of stops per mile) I get about 64 mpg consistently... highway I've gone as high as 74 (50% highway (e.g. 70-80 mph) 50% county roads (e.g. 55-60 mph))

I've got no voodoo (that I know of... though I've not tried a voodoo doll lately...) and I don't have any need or desire to fudge my numbers.

I wouldn't recommend cutting the engine at stoplights personally... safety is obviously one reason, but I also suspect (no proof, but I'd be open to someone testing) that starting and the engine takes a lot of fuel... possibly more than you saved by killing the engine, I think that is why my commuting mileage is worse than my highway mileage, so much more stopping and starting.

I generally cruise around 2k - 3k rpms... and usually don't go over 3k rpms unless I'm in a hurry to get out of the way.
 
Well I do a 150 mile journey every week...it along mostly motorways and dual carriageways... I have a Go cruise...and try to set at around 73/4 mph,,,and leave it there up hill and down dale,until I turn off after about 120miles,,,,The bike pulls well up the hills and blatts along at 83/4mph down a couple of the hills.. I hate having to knock the go cruise off ,but sometimes jerks get in the way...Normally I keep the revs down to 4000,which is just below 80.... oh yes forgot to add I do this journey late at night.....anyway going up on Saturday night I never had the need to knock the go cruise off at all...had a great ride and used 9 litres of juice for 150 miles ,,Is that good? I never do the maths...
 
Thanks to everyone for the replies. I've gotten a little obsessed with this since I bought this bike specifically for the fuel economy and the utility. I've been doing some "tests" the past couple of days and have several more planned and hope to complete them next week. I'll post a write up when I have completed them all. I've seen some numbers in the upper 70's and have improved my overall mileage as evidenced by my signature.

dduelin, thanks for the detailed reply. I also once owned an '04 ST1300 and rode from Birmingham, AL to just west of Baton Rouge, LA on a single tank of gas on that thing. I can't think of the name of the town but it was the last fuel exit before the Atchafalaya bridge. My mileage was over 55 mpg, this was long before I was concerned with such things and actually kept a record. This only happened twice on that bike, the 2nd time was in CO of all places and I got 54mpg on the ST1300. The usual mpg was also in the 40-42mpg range.
 
I've got a CTX700; in red; manual shift and brakes (new crusierish, small fairing, shorter seat version, modified rear portion of the frame of the NCX, NCS, and Intrepid, but with the same power train). For those unaware, the CTX has most of the same components including most the frame (except for the slight modification, forks, wheels/tires, etc. I'm following this fuel economy thread closely, as there is far fewer members and less discussion and interest in mpg over on the CTX forum.

The two biggest issues I've had so far ensuring that I'm recording accurate fuel economy are: (1) Consistent top up level; and (2) Insecurity about the odometer error.

First for the top up issue. My inability to pump in fuel to the exact level, even though I'm using the same pump most times and facing the same way with the same lean, seems to be an area of possible error. I'm used to a diesel car where one can vent and top up to the tippy top each time with no evap emission system to worry with or the threat of accidentally polluting with evap emissions, because the oily fuel doesn't have evap emissions. I find that with the CTX, I can fill to the top, and then the fuel will drop back down to the bars inside the tank. Pump again, and it will do the same again. So far, I've been doing it this way; stopping after two full fills. But is the fuel venting, as with a diesel, or is it going into the evap canister or something that may cause problems later? Should I stop at the bars and just quit? I want to get the most range as is possible, but I don't want to be over pumping and the fuel winding up somewhere else besides the tank. Can anyone on here elaborate what is going on? Is it venting like a diesel or something else?

Secondly, is the issue of a possible trip meter error. I know that it records more miles over the same distance as my wife's Saturn and my VW by about 1.5% pretty consistently. I'm using a 2% error but am waiting to record on fuelly until I know whether I should throw out the 2% or increase it. I plan on borrowing a GPS unless someone knows the odo error.

My records are amazing so far. I've got the stock, short windshield and a 42-liter, Bestem, matching top case. My mpg, all but two tanks, after deducting the 2%, using pure gasoline, have ranged between 76.9 and 78.3. Two tanks, late summer in hot whether, that included road trips, topped 80 mpg. I don't ride like a granny, but I do shift around 3,000 RPM. My miles are mostly highway (about 90-95 percent) and my speeds are conservative on the highway, from 57-65 (3050-3300 RPM), and I keep my highway speeds as steady as possible, but I'm not hyper mileing. I do make occasional passes up to 77 mph when necessary. My commute is very rural, which helps, and I weigh a mere 150 pounds. I usually don't carry anything more than necessary, and I keep my tires a psi or two above the recommendation. I expect a considerable drop in cooler temps, as that's what I've experienced in other vehicles. Maybe 2-3 mpg. The tank I'm on now will tell alot about how colder temps are going to affect the mpg.
 
Gregsfc. I think you are about as accurate as you are humanly possible. The most accurate readings are spanned over several fuel ups. Fuelly does a good job averaging them out. This is what you should base your range at.

I don't do all that. I just fill up to the bar in the tank, record the gallons pumped, and the trip meter reading, Type those into fuelly /done.

And I want to get away from tracking MPG's I just want to sit back and enjoy the ride. But the anal retentive person inside me won't let me be. So I keep doing it. Like a robot on command.

I do this on my scooter and car too...
 
I'm quickly approaching 3000 miles and with very few exceptions I get 63.9 mpg. Doesn't really matter my riding style, how I shift, etc...this past weekend, I got slightly lower mpg, but I had a huge waterproof duffel strapped across the back seat with a folding chair on top of it. I filled up and thought the mileage was worse than it was, but ended up around 62 mpg for two tanks with some unladen riding around Tellico on Saturday. I've been really impressed with the consistent, high mpg, but I have to get a taller screen. Highway speeds I'm getting knocked all over the place if there are any winds at all. Not fun. Should be installing one of those soon...
Thanks for the detailed post dduelen...sometimes I miss the old ST1300, but not when I'm riding in the twisties...
 
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