Gas Mileage

Calboy

Active member
I never got 40mpg or above, so I have a question for the ones that do.
Do you guys stay in the power band most of the time and never short shift, or do you actually ride this bike as if it had a 300cc engine and ride it with the mind of a 85 year old rider?
What's the secret of your spectacular mpg?
 
Speed limit ride from Ft Lauderdale, to Jupiter, some on cruise, 65 MPH. 135 miles round trip. 53mpg
Around town, to and from work, 5 miles each way, I get 36. Engine barely broken in, little over a
thousand miles. After break in, MPG jumped 20%, from 30 to 36 around town.
 
I never got 40mpg or above, so I have a question for the ones that do.
Do you guys stay in the power band most of the time and never short shift, or do you actually ride this bike as if it had a 300cc engine and ride it with the mind of a 85 year old rider?
What's the secret of your spectacular mpg?
Run ethanol free fuel, or treat the crap with a fuel additive. I was doing 70-90mph all last weekend...I was averaging 40mpg..with two up, on a bike with less then 600mi on the odometer.
 
I never got 40mpg or above, so I have a question for the ones that do.
Do you guys stay in the power band most of the time and never short shift, or do you actually ride this bike as if it had a 300cc engine and ride it with the mind of a 85 year old rider?
What's the secret of your spectacular mpg?
I find best mileage is achieved keeping the engine between 1800 and 2500 RPM. I tried a tank doing that & got 45MPG. Most of the time I run the motor up to 3000 or 3500 RPM, so I don't get that high consistently. Highway riding will kick it up or a smooth backroad with sweepers that doesn't require lots of speed changes will also help.

I have other bikes that are far faster, so I've been trying to keep it at least <3000 for shifting and as a result, I'm hovering around 42MPG overall. I was less than 40 MPG in the first 600 miles as it was breaking in, but also I was getting used to the lower RPM power band.

I should note, I rarely ride on the highway... find it too boring, so my MPG is likely much lower than those that spend a lot of their miles on the highway.
 
On my first fill-up, the fuel warning light came on at 142 and I was at 146 at the pump. I only squeezed in 3.2 gallons--45 MPG. This assumes the tank was full from the dealer.
I'm hard on the throttle most of the time.
 
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The speedo on the R18 is happy,+4mph.
If you really want to verify gas mileage use a gps to get a correct miles traveled and divide by gallons used.
Mileage will improve with break-in.My guess is the bike isn't fully broke in till around15- 20,000.
I'm knockin on 15 and she seems to be gettin there with a bit more power and exhaust note.
 
Oh,btw.2 wheeled folks should be gettin 40mpg on average.


& I'm not 85 but will be 72 on thursday.Hope that helps.I have been riding since 1962(12).
Funny,my friend is 81 and still puts 20,000+ on his bike and rides with the Loners here in Arizona.I will make it a point to ask him if he rides his 107 RoadKing like it is a 300cc bike,LOL!
Throttle rockin and baby rattles can add to decrease fuel mileage.Just a thought.;)
 
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The speedo on the R18 is happy,+4mph.
If you really want to verify gas mileage use a gps to get a correct miles traveled and divide by gallons used.
Mileage will improve with break-in.My guess is the bike isn't fully broke in till around15- 20,000.
I'm knockin on 15 and she seems to be gettin there with a bit more power and exhaust note.
Agree 100%.
 
The speedo on the R18 is happy,+4mph.
If you really want to verify gas mileage use a gps to get a correct miles traveled and divide by gallons used.
Mileage will improve with break-in.My guess is the bike isn't fully broke in till around15- 20,000.
I'm knockin on 15 and she seems to be gettin there with a bit more power and exhaust note.
Yeah, mine runs more like +6mph fast at 65 mph based on my GPS. It's one of the most enthusiastic speedos I've had on a bike. My GS speedo is pretty off as well. 2 -3 mph off is pretty common, but the R18 is off more than most.
 
Oh,btw.2 wheeled folks should be gettin 40mpg on average.


& I'm not 85 but will be 72 on thursday.Hope that helps.I have been riding since 1962(12).
Funny,my friend is 81 and still puts 20,000+ on his bike and rides with the Loners here in Arizona.I will make it a point to ask him if he rides his 107 RoadKing like it is a 300cc bike,LOL!
Throttle rockin and baby rattles can add to decrease fuel mileage.Just a thought.;)

Amen!!
 
Well, I operate it like a cruiser...don't typically wind it out, but also don't drive it like an 85 year old. I typically get low to mid-40s. I don't consider that particularly good though. I typically get 5 to 10mpg better on my R1250GS when ridden the same way.
 
I never got 40mpg or above, so I have a question for the ones that do.
Do you guys stay in the power band most of the time and never short shift, or do you actually ride this bike as if it had a 300cc engine and ride it with the mind of a 85 year old rider?
What's the secret of your spectacular mpg?
When I take it easy, I get 45. When I have fun, I get 36.
 
California has historically mandated fuel blends that are more tailored to their air quality problems than what a majority of places use and it may give you less bang for the buck contributing to lower MPG.

I'm in R18C's demographic being retired and as to mileage I and a majority of my riding friends cover (15-20K most years with a few higher and a few lower). I don't really pay much attention to the tachometer after I calibrated my body to it, but as often as I may "short shift" I also let her stretch her legs with RPMs right at +/- 4K,( mostly less). It's a very flexible engine and I enjoy her to the widest parameters possible.

I think the bike is about as aerodynamic as a piece of plywood when she has her windscreen on and extended high speed runs likely use a bit more petrol or at least it has on everything, but maybe my sport touring bikes.

I have 1 traffic light controlled intersection 2 miles from my home, but I have to specifically travel to it as on all other options the nearest one is between 12-27 miles away. If I lived in a more metropolitan area I would think seeing 0 MPG at every red light and the constant accelerating and adjusting for heavy traffic would impact MPG more than a rider's birthday count.

You don't describe your riding, but both of my rides to lunch this week were approximately 300 miles crossing the Appalachians into neighboring states and there were zero "cities" miles, non-ethanol 90 octane was used and there were maybe 6-8 traffic lights on each ride with MPG calculated by hand right at 49.X MPG. I run at a spirited pace (whatever that is) and love how stable and predictably she handles with obvious limitations as to design. Mine came with Michelin tires and I only grind the peg feelers on a roundabout or certain intersections at relatively slow speed. My front tire chicken strips are approximately in the little Michelin Man's head-neck area and the rear is scuffing the sidewall rubber nubs so plenty of rubber left, but at the limit of ground clearance.

Anyway, We likely are "apples and oranges" as to everything, but the same motorcycle as to operating parameters so literally your YMMV.

🍻
 
Oh,btw.2 wheeled folks should be gettin 40mpg on average.


& I'm not 85 but will be 72 on thursday.Hope that helps.I have been riding since 1962(12).
Funny,my friend is 81 and still puts 20,000+ on his bike and rides with the Loners here in Arizona.I will make it a point to ask him if he rides his 107 RoadKing like it is a 300cc bike,LOL!
Throttle rockin and baby rattles can add to decrease fuel mileage.Just a thought.;)
I got 40 MPG on my first tank of gas..... happy about that I am !! !
 
Backroads mostly with lots of shifting. I like to stay right around 2,500 RPM. Some days I’m in a bad mood and riding like I stole it. Others Im just cruising around at A leisurely pace. I’m only on my second tank but so far. 41.6 mpg average via onboard computer. 15% ethanol mix. 11 miles each way back and forth to work with a number of stop signs.
 
I never understood why a rider would rev out a bike to over 4k rpm before shifting (unless running from an officer of the law). I shift by 2.5k rpm usually and get good gas mileage.
 
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