fuel economy taking a hit

[Tenman]

Gen 1 50k miles. My bike has almost always got 42 ish on the mileage without any gear. I'm driving on the same rough and gritty Ms. roads. The last few tanks. It's been 38 mpg. I see people posting in the 50 mpg range. Mine wouldn't do that unless you put it in a trailer. My bike has been flashed, headers and has a PCV with the map off the PC site. It has a BMC airfilter that I now wish was stock. I have almost always run regular with no signs of knock. I've tried premium and couldn't tell any difference. TB were synced not long ago.

 

[Eville Rich]

Winter gas. Oxinated fuel, and the cold. Happens every year.

Yup. Up here in WI I see a drop off of about 4 mpg with the winter blend and cold weather. Add side boxes and I'm down another 3 from my summer mileage. Cold weather increases the amount of time the system is in enrichment mode plus the diff and engine oil starts colder and thicker. I credit the winter blend with about half the drop-off, but the percentage change is the same as in my cars.

Eville Rich

 

[EricV]

Most of the people getting 50 mpg are running w/o any panniers or top box, not living in states with 80 mph speed limits and some at higher elevation too. My bike is always loaded up and running panniers, etc. 42 is my average mpg. I haven't really checked lately.

As for winter gas, it's all winter gas now in many places! That was E10 back when we mostly got real gas the rest of the year. Now you have to search and pay more for non-ethanol blended gas. It was a scam then, and still is. You use more to go the same distance, so no pollution benefits, never mind alcohol doesn't store btu's as efficiently as gasoline.

 

[Tenman]

Never noticed a drop in winter before. I hope thats the case. Do they sell winterized gas in the Ms.?

 

[EricV]

Apparently there is a little more to 'winter gas' than I thought. All 48 lower US states switch to 'winter gas' on Sept 15th. It's apparently cheaper to produce, which, along with lower demand, causes prices to drop.

From a Google search -

The difference between summer- and winter-blend gasoline involves the Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) of the fuel. ... The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says conventional summer-blend gasoline contains 1.7 percent more energy than winter-blend gas, which is one reason why gas mileage is slightly better in the summer.

 

[Dogdaze]

Apparently there is a little more to 'winter gas' than I thought. All 48 lower US states switch to 'winter gas' on Sept 15th. It's apparently cheaper to produce, which, along with lower demand, causes prices to drop.

From a Google search -

The difference between summer- and winter-blend gasoline involves the Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) of the fuel. ... The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says conventional summer-blend gasoline contains 1.7 percent more energy than winter-blend gas, which is one reason why gas mileage is slightly better in the summer.

Winter gas?? That's just nuts, never heard of such a thing, still in Europe we just pay way too much for fuel anyway so doubt they would do anything to make it cheaper.
But as others have pointed out, cooler temps and luggage would make a difference, I get @50mpg /US, but Spring to Winter and no luggage.

 

[Mak10]

My experience is the same as Eric’s

Naked my bike will get 50+ if I keep it under 65. Givi v46 top box doesn’t change it at all. Put my side boxes/panniers on and it drops 4-5 mpg. Ride 80+ and it drops another couple.

I don’t feel too bad though as I have other bikes with far less power that don’t get any better mpgs.

 

[RCinNC]

It's not so much "winter gas" as it is "summer gas". If I recall correctly, summer blends contain additives that inhibit evaporation in the hotter summer months. It was probably much more of an issue back when most cars had carburetors and mechanical fuel pumps and vapor lock was a much bigger problem. The summer blend costs more to produce, so fuel costs more in the summer. Perhaps these additives also increase the energy of the fuel, hence the better mpg in the warmer months. I've noticed the change in mpg in the winter also, which I attributed to the change in fuel and the colder denser air requiring more fuel to create the proper mix for combustion.

 

[Sierra1]

My opinion? Colder air is denser, requiring the computer to add more fuel to keep the mixture right. Here in Texas, with summer temps over 100, and the winter temps in the 50s, mileage and power variances are very noticeable. When the temps, and mileage drop, the power increases. And, as Eric mentioned, altitude has a similar, but opposite, impact on mileage. The higher the altitude, the higher the mileage; but it comes at the cost of decreased power. I don't think the fuel itself is to blame; I don't see any difference in power or mileage between regular and super.

 

[Tenman]

My mileage has just Recently taken the drop. If its winter gas. It should have shown up before now. I've had this bike 5 years and it hasn't ever done this before. 38 mpg sux

 

[richarddacat]

I hate to mention it but we had a fearless leader once say that checking our tire air pressure would reduce fuel consumption by 3-4%.

Just saying.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Tire pressure will have an impact on most vehicles.

But when my mpg drops, it's a good indication to replace the plugs, check the TBS (I saw you recently did), and maybe clean the injectors.

 

[Tenman]

I checked 3 plugs. They looked new. 9000 miles on them. Tires are always up. I don't smell any gas like it rich. Gonna recheck throttle sync with my crappy syncpro and run some injector cleaner. It runs great except for a surge at 2000 rpm. I've had the surge for years. Anthony flashed it and said he couldn't get rid of it.

 

[Xclimation]

50 mpg!!! (If I'm going down hill and wind on my back)

 

[richarddacat]

When mine was new the best I got was 48-49mpg, having too much fun with it now and my average has been 42-43.
I’m thinking about a flash but I’ll bet that will bring it down to what my FJR was getting. 38-40.

 

[Nikolajsen]

This whole season, which now is over, I drove 7188 km (4492 miles)
Average over the whole season is 22,7 km/l (53,6 mpg)

(yes, I drive like an old man)

 

[Dogdaze]

This whole season, which now is over, I drove 7188 km (4492 miles)
Average over the whole season is 22,7 km/l (53,6 mpg)

(yes, I drive like an old man)

If Denmark is anything like Switzerland, I cannot afford mortgage and fines, only one, so my fuel consumption is decent......

 

[Nikolajsen]

If Denmark is anything like Switzerland, I cannot afford mortgage and fines, only one, so my fuel consumption is decent......

You are absolutly correct
That's one reason for the low fuel consumption

 

[Sierra1]

I've "been told" that the gasoline in the UK is of higher quality, or octane, than the US. True? False?

 

[RCinNC]

Here's a link explaining US vs UK octane ratings. They don't use the same rating system, so the numbers will always be different.

https://www.etuners.gr/fuel/

There's a lot of information on line regarding fuel production and octane ratings, if you want to look beyond that link I posted.

If you were using octane as a synonym for quality, it's not. They might call 93 octane fuel "premium" in the US, but that doesn't mean it's objectively better because it has a higher octane rating. It just means that it has additives in it to prevent early detonation in higher compression engines.