GS owner jumping ship...

phooey

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Joined
Jun 6, 2019
Messages
12
So how much gas does your GS hold ? What is your actual MPG ?
The Tenere holds 6.1 gallons, my new 2018 seems to get considerably better mpg than my previous 2013 did but different driving conditions could be the reason. I recently did a 4,500 mile Colorado trip and averaged 51 mpg.
I have never owned a BMW mostly because there are no BMW dealers around here.
I squeeze about £26 in which is close to an empty tank. Dunno what that is in Gallons... 5 ish ?

EDIT....
Looked it up - 5.28 US gallons or 20 litres
 
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CajunRider

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Joined
Nov 10, 2017
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10
Location
Lafayette, LA
I got a blue 2012 with the aluminum Jesse Bags.

Just got home from a 4k mile trip (1-up). Louisiana to Montana to S. Dakota back to Louisiana.

Interstate runs saw low fuel start flashing at 190-200 miles.

Back road touring all around MT and SD never saw the low fuel flash (had other riders with me who had to stop earlier)... But I got a regular 50+ mpg (close to 60 a few times).

My daily commute (some highway, some town) sees 45 mpg usually.

I didn't push it once the fuel light started flashing, but it's supposed to have 0.9 reserve... Should be good for 40 miles.


Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk
 

GSequoia

Active Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2019
Messages
173
Location
Torrance, CA
Commuting to and from Downtown Los Angeles (mix of low speed lane splitting and 80mph cruise) in touring mode with stock tires I average around 40 mpg. With Kenda Big Blocks it drops to 38-39. In sport mode I see around 37-38 on stock tires. My bike is stock ECU, intake/air filter, and exhaust. Crash bars plus Givi tail box most times.

Note if you do get it. The fuel gauge is very pessimistic and the range indicator is schizophrenic. The most I've ever put in the tank is 5.8 gallons and that was some 60 highway miles past when the bike started to say "holy hell watch out your almost out of fuel!"
 

phooey

New Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2019
Messages
12
So how much gas does your GS hold ? What is your actual MPG ?
The Tenere holds 6.1 gallons, my new 2018 seems to get considerably better mpg than my previous 2013 did but different driving conditions could be the reason. I recently did a 4,500 mile Colorado trip and averaged 51 mpg.
I have never owned a BMW mostly because there are no BMW dealers around here.
For the sake of accuracy Google maps says I did 290 miles commuting to work and back. The bikes odometer says I did 308.5miles and the ( unreliable ) fuel strip lying I've still got 27 miles to empty.
I'll run it dry and see.

Not bad in fairness ( over reading by just 6 miles in 100 ).
 

phooey

New Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2019
Messages
12
Commuting to and from Downtown Los Angeles (mix of low speed lane splitting and 80mph cruise) in touring mode with stock tires I average around 40 mpg. With Kenda Big Blocks it drops to 38-39. In sport mode I see around 37-38 on stock tires. My bike is stock ECU, intake/air filter, and exhaust. Crash bars plus Givi tail box most times.

Note if you do get it. The fuel gauge is very pessimistic and the range indicator is schizophrenic. The most I've ever put in the tank is 5.8 gallons and that was some 60 highway miles past when the bike started to say "holy hell watch out your almost out of fuel!"
So I have heard....eminently liveable with once you know its issues though :)

somewhat less amusing is being told you have 8 miles of gas left and running out on the motorway 4 miles from the gas station you expected to make....:(
 

Madhatter

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Mar 25, 2013
Messages
3,846
Location
buda texas
I have a 2012 , and as far as fuel mile per gallon , the bike says on average about 42 mpg . on highway trips 42 to 43 as long as I stay under 75 mph. over 75 and the mpg start to drop . best worst trip was last year on a trip to ft. davis texas down I-10 . had 30 to 50 mph head winds most of the way, 36 to 38 mpg running 80mph fully loaded with camping gear. my buddys wee-strom 650 was down in the mid 20s trying to maintain the 80mph speed limit.... I have on other trips where I drafted behind 18 wheelers (do not recommend as 18 wheelers are dangerous ,and you do not know what might exit out form underneath them ) 60 plus mpg … the bike is stone cold stable , and reliable ….. best bike I have ever owned .
 

phooey

New Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2019
Messages
12
I have a 2012 , and as far as fuel mile per gallon , the bike says on average about 42 mpg . on highway trips 42 to 43 as long as I stay under 75 mph. over 75 and the mpg start to drop . best worst trip was last year on a trip to ft. davis texas down I-10 . had 30 to 50 mph head winds most of the way, 36 to 38 mpg running 80mph fully loaded with camping gear. my buddys wee-strom 650 was down in the mid 20s trying to maintain the 80mph speed limit.... I have on other trips where I drafted behind 18 wheelers (do not recommend as 18 wheelers are dangerous ,and you do not know what might exit out form underneath them ) 60 plus mpg … the bike is stone cold stable , and reliable ….. best bike I have ever owned .
What I am reading suggests the MPG isn't going to be far off the BMW flavour adventure style bike. I am happy trading a few in return for build quality and the reliability that comes with it.

Thanks to everyone for all the input.
 

14kmtnman

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Joined
May 18, 2014
Messages
476
Location
Yakima, WA
2013 pushing 40k miles. Altitude does seem to make a difference . In Denver commuting to and from work I get in the low 40's (T or S mode). When we trail or day ride at 10,000 ft I get 55-60. On our trip to Alaska, 2 of us pushed 230 miles pretty regularly out of the tank. The worst mileage on that trip was between Wheatland WY & Casper WY. Rode thru a really black sky storm, lots of water downpour, with very high cross and headwinds. We both got about 32-35 mpg in that section. At 80 mph my average is in the lower 40s. Hard cases or no, with or without large tailbag, bigger windshield, the mpg's are all the same. I do have a flash on the ECU.
 

GSequoia

Active Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2019
Messages
173
Location
Torrance, CA
For the sake of accuracy Google maps says I did 290 miles commuting to work and back. The bikes odometer says I did 308.5miles and the ( unreliable ) fuel strip lying I've still got 27 miles to empty.
I'll run it dry and see.

Not bad in fairness ( over reading by just 6 miles in 100 ).
FYI I haven't verified the odometer but the speedo on my 2016 is dead on accurate at various speeds (up to 90) compared to GPS.

I have a 2012 , and as far as fuel mile per gallon , the bike says on average about 42 mpg . on highway trips 42 to 43 as long as I stay under 75 mph. over 75 and the mpg start to drop . best worst trip was last year on a trip to ft. davis texas down I-10 . had 30 to 50 mph head winds most of the way, 36 to 38 mpg running 80mph fully loaded with camping gear. my buddys wee-strom 650 was down in the mid 20s trying to maintain the 80mph speed limit.... I have on other trips where I drafted behind 18 wheelers (do not recommend as 18 wheelers are dangerous ,and you do not know what might exit out form underneath them ) 60 plus mpg … the bike is stone cold stable , and reliable ….. best bike I have ever owned .
FYI I've been getting my mileage through a fuel tracking app I use and the odometer. I don't know if the odometer is as accurate as the speedometer. Comparing my fuel tracking app with the onboard trip computer finds that the trip computer is just a bit optimistic, like it will say 42 when the math says 40.
 

GSequoia

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Feb 27, 2019
Messages
173
Location
Torrance, CA
pen and paper and simple math , actual millage divided by actual gallons to get actual mpg..... no apps , no batteries , no bike computer needed... when I want to be accurate .
Yup, the app is just an extension of that and is doing the same thing. I like to keep a history so I can see trends and spot mechanical issues early. I do it for all of my vehicles.
 

Longdog Cymru

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Jul 21, 2018
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Swansea, Wales, UK
FYI I haven't verified the odometer but the speedo on my 2016 is dead on accurate at various speeds (up to 90) compared to GPS.
My experience is rather different to you. According to my Garmin Zumo, 30mph on the bike’s Speedo is 29mph, 50mph on the bike is 48mph on my Garmin while 80mph on the bike’s Speedo is 73mph on my Garmin. If you consider a recent tour around Northern Europe that I did last month, my bike’s odometer told me I had done 2072 miles while my Garmin contradicts this and tells me that my trip was 2003.2 miles.

Unless you have your motorcycle or cars instruments connected to GPS, I would take speedometer and odometer readings as approximate, ie the legal requirement is that they read within 10%
 

GSequoia

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Feb 27, 2019
Messages
173
Location
Torrance, CA
Unless you have your motorcycle or cars instruments connected to GPS, I would take speedometer and odometer readings as approximate, ie the legal requirement is that they read within 10%
Absolutely agree on a matter of course which is why I was so surprised when I noticed that GaiaGPS's reported speed and the speedometer were dead on at various speeds. I actually ran it up to 90 in Death Valley, set the cruise, and took a few different looks to verify. I was rather shocked.
 

Cycledude

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Jan 29, 2016
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Rib lake wi
The speedometer on my 2018 typically reads 1-2 mph fast when compared to my gps and at least for me that’s acceptable. My previous 2013 speedometer read more like 5-6 mph fast.
I have not verified the odometer compared to gps but I suspect the odometer reads quite a bit faster than reality.
 

14kmtnman

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May 18, 2014
Messages
476
Location
Yakima, WA
At anything much over 35 mph my (2013) speedo is showing close to 5 mph over. At an indicated 80 mph, my gps is at 75. It sounds like the newer years are much closer to matching.
 

spinalator

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Apr 13, 2016
Messages
234
Location
Saskatchewan, Canada
My last bike was a VFR 1200, which has a tiny tank (size matters), and makes a hooligan out of your throttle hand, so the s10 feels like I have doubled my range without unsightly gas cans on my pillion. I won't bore you with arguments about speedo's (clocks?) but every Canadian one I have seen is 10% off. 110 = 100 kph actual, 44 = 40, etc. Smart phone app and Garmin GPS are within 1 kph of each other, and call my speedometer a liar!
 

RogerRZ

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Apr 8, 2018
Messages
257
Location
New Brunswick, Canada
On my recent BBG1500, of the 8 tankfuls that I rode to the flashing light, 7 of them were from 150 to 175, light flashing for ten or so miles. This was all interstate droning, at 74 to 79mph, depending on jurisdiction. I put in right around 4.75gallons (US) per fillup. On the 8th tankful, the light starters flashing at 140 miles, and 8 pumped in exactly 5 gallons. This legs’s speed was around 84mph. Bike had side and top cases, combined weight of myself and cargo around 225lbs.

My total average for the trip, was hand calculated to be 6.78 l/100km, or 34.7 us mpg. The odometer was out roughly 1%. I was running Shinko 804/805 combo, weather was 50-75 degrees! And I rode roughly 600 miles of rain.

And maybe YOLO, but YODO (you only die once). Don’t be stupid...
 
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