| Author | Message | ||
     Joshuasanders |
Howdy y'all, been a while . . . O.K., I am unsure of where to post this, but I wanted a "reality check" in relation to my bike. By way of a general poll, what kind of gas mileage is everyone getting on their bikes (please advise as to any engine mods and body mods that may alter this figure better/worse)? I am assuming that no one is averaging 70 mpg . . . unless they are a horse jockey in their real life . . . As for me, I am riding an 03 Blast with a KN oil filter (only engine-type mod), but , alas, my bike has a history of engine issues (factory extended warranty as a result). Presently, I generally ride one up (5'7", 130 lbs) and I switch off between the stock fly screen and the windshield (depending on length of trip and weather) and I have stock saddle bags. Based upon these variables, my MPG varies, but I am generally switching to reserve around 80-90 miles (slightly better on highway). I will be tracking my specific MPG this week, but would like to know if my MPG is up to par or whether I am still having issues . . . at least engine issues (the psychological ones are generally beyond the ken of this forum . . . except for my desire to continue to tinker with my bike as finances allow). And, I am also curious as to whether Buell's claim has withstood the test of time.  Thanks and happy spring riding to all! | ||
| Buellkat |
I have a V&H exhaust-with appropriate jets, no airbox, K&N air filter w\mod to mount directly to carb. Buell Windshield or Stock Windscreen. 5'6" 130ish, one up, no rider and I will get 130 miles usually before switching to reserve....and even then I can only fill up with a little over two gallons, I have never gotten all 2.8 like it states it will hold. (Even when I know all the fuel was out of the tank.) My Buell cents worth Kat | ||
| Joshuasanders |
O.K., forgive my learning curve here (I am criminal defense attorney who is still learning which side of the wrench is up . . .), but would the V&H exhaust and relevant jetting increase or decrease MPG? If your experience is representative, my bike aint doing so hot (I have noticed some perceived performance issues which refocused my opinion on this issue). Thanks for your input and it will go into the final tally. I am curious as to which rig gets the best gas mileage (very timely based upon the usery and robbery occurring at gas stations across the nation - I'm in New Jersey so I really shouldn't complain all things considered, but I will anyway ). | ||
| Reuel |
Back when my Blast was stock, and I was gentle with the throttle, I averaged 68 mpg or so. Then, as I started getting aggressive and spending more time on regular roads instead of highways, it went down to about 65. Later, I changed the exhaust. It dropped to about 58 or so. I changed my intake, and it dropped to 53. I then found out I was running lean. I put in my Pro Series cams, and richened it up. It then got about 49, but I blame that partially on the overexertion of my right wrist. I was running a bit too rich, so I took the shims off my needle, and went one step up in both jets. Power flattened out, as in I didn't have strange drops and increases as I moved the throttle. Mileage went back above 55. One note--when mileage was around 58, I went for a long ride, where I averaged 60 mph, and didn't stop much, and got 65 mpg. Riding style, aerodynamics, and total body mass (215 today!) makes a lot of difference. | ||
| Swampy |
You will drop MPG when you do the modifications as you will not be able to stay out of the throttle. I can't help here as I don't know how the Little Kid rides, he simply won't ride with me anymore and I am not giving him any gas money, and the Big Kid, when his Blast is running, rides it like he is trying to break it. | ||
| Sarodude |
Joshua- I don't mean to try to belittle your experiences, but is it at all possible that you may be dragging the rear brake? The only times I know of with mileage that bad (and nothing being horrifically wrong with the bike) are the time I ran WFO for an entire tankful (not saying much on a Blast) and the time a friend of ours was having bad mileage issues, then a "mysterious" seized rear brake. No mystery as far as I'm concerned. Easy test. Ride the highways with your toes on the footpegs and see what happens... -Saro | ||
| Luckyduck |
Joshua, My stock set up with Buell windshield and 190lbs of me got 60mpg at 55-60mph and about 45mpg at 70mph. Now after rebuilding the clutch and mangled primary, installing the Jardine with quiet core, K&N, rejet and no windshield I get about 52mpg at 70-75mph (ok maybe some of the time at 80mph). On longer, faster freeway rides I tend to put my feet on the passenger pegs and hunker down pretty good. I have not been staying at slower speeds for long enough to check mileage. In a couple weeks I will do a check as it is 600 miles round trip to my parents, it is mostly little roads so I will have some good 60-65mph numbers. Overall, the mileage has been about 10mpg less than I expected for over 3K miles that I've had it (2500 of those it was stock). Not sure where Buell gets the numbers they post as I have never gotten over 60mpg, even with a tail wind and going slow. I guess I was used to my KLR250 that got 65-70mpg pretty much all the time. Paul | ||
| Swampy |
I will tell you that no matter what you are driving, once you go over 55mph your fuel consumption goes up sharply! The Sportster hits reserve 85-90 miles with me driving it and 70-75 when the Big Kid is riding it. | ||
| Fast1075 |
Yesterday on my first "pleasure" road trip (as opposed to the obligatory commute as weather allows) on my "new" '06 in mixed riding on a 125 mile run. I got precisely 67.1 MPG. Pretty sedate cruising with a handful of other guys...we ran around 55-60 most of the time. My bike at this time is utterly stock but conditions were ideal for good performance...high barometer and low water grains...effective altitude around 1200 ft. | ||
| Joshuasanders |
Sarodude, no offense taken. My little 8.5s, unfortunately (as that would be an easy fix) are not riding the back brake. As for speed, I ride at about 70 on the local highways and than am in short city drives between highway stints. I do not find that I ride WFO regularly. My experience seems to be slightly worse than Luckyduck aka Paul. Ugh. I am thinking that my original engine issues were never solved by the dealer . . . I thank all for their thoughtful contributions, establishing that I may not be as crazy as the dealer will surely think that I am . . . | ||
| Toniportray |
How (ir)rational would it be to attempt to boost mpg by switching to smaller jets? I've got stocks in now (and bike is stock), but I'm wondering if I put in smaller jets if there would be any corresponding increase in mpg. I don't mind loss in power. My thinking is that smaller jets would lead to fuel starvation during idle, but that this could be compensated with by providing an increase in the idle throat size using the idle speed adjuster screw on the carb. I'd like to boost mpg 5-10 if possible without substantially overheating my engine and having it meltdown at some obscenely young age of 20-30k miles. Anybody have any thoughts? The main carb thread has some good information about which sizes run lean and super lean, but my concern is whether such changes would significantly boost mpg. As Jesus used to say, "What say ye?"  | ||
| Reuel |
If you're going to be pushing it towards lean, you'll want to use an air/fuel sensor of some sort. 14.7:1 is ideal for standard carburetors and fuel injection. You could probably safely go to 16:1, but then again, maybe not. Lean conditions are more destructive to your engine than rich conditions. For idle, screw in the idle mixture screw, then turn it out 2 turns. If it starts well and idles well, try going a quarter turn back in and see if it still starts and idles well. For the other jets?  | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
Did you ever get your bike running right? If you have a stock Blast then the jetting is already fairly lean. Leaning it out more is a chancy endeavor. I'd leave the slow jet and idle mix alone and go to a 165 main or 160. You also may need to use a colder spark plug and retard the timing to avoid knock and ping. You may end up going so lean that you're more into the throttle to make up for lack of power, which would defeat your purpose. A good exhaust would do you better than just leaning it out. There are other ways to increase mileage too such as upping the tire pressure. It all starts getting a little risky as you'll be putting your safety at risk (a seized engine from running too lean at highway speeds can dump you on the ground quick). | ||
| Toniportray |
I'm still waiting for Buuueller to send the exhaust muffler... Before the exhaust header cracked on the pipe, the bike was running quite well. I haven't been able to touch it since because the muffler is off. Last I was getting around 65mpg 'cause most of my 46 miles commute is highway. Sometimes the shifting is fussy when I take off from 1st or 2nd gear, lurching and acting like it hasn't shifted all the way. I've got the primary tension to where I'm pretty sure it's right. Not sure what the deal is with that, but it's quite rare to occur so I don't worry about it much. I've been riding my Yamaha600 around since the Buell doesn't have the muffler, and though the Yami is a lot more fun, it's gas mileage isn't as good (~45). Last week, the freeway was shutdown 'cause some dumb ol' granny ran into a semi and knocked it over (the semi overturned trying to avoid the bitch), so all traffic was rerouted to some back-country roads. Me and some guy on a dirt bike (with street tires) were stuck in traffic, so we decided to play cat and mouse with the oncoming traffic in the other lane. We would dart into the other lane long enough to pass a segment of bumper to bumper traffic, then dart back over into our lane. That was probably the scariest riding I've ever done on that Yamaha, since we were doing all this on blind turns and up and down the San Francisco bay hills. Dangerous as hell, but better than sitting in traffic for 4 hours. Cool thing was cops didn't care 'cause they couldn't come after us if they tried. Couple of lady pigs were watching us and they just watched us go by. Hehe. Gotta love the riders here in Cali! | ||
| Reuel |
Clutch slip! I get the same thing. | ||
| Toniportray |
Now that you mention it, that's probably exactly what it is. I don't know why I didn't realize that before, since I know all about clutch slippage. Maybe the Chevron Delo oil is fouling up the clutch in the primary. It's 15w40 oil that I thought would be good in there. Maybe not. When I get the bike up and running with a replacement exhaust, I'll ride around some more and see how it handles. If it keeps it up I'll change to a different primary fluid (good ol' 75w90 gear oil is what the dealership originally put in it and it ran fine on that despite folks saying to avoid it here). Thanks for the hint. I just smashed this huge spider that's been hiding around on my desk all day playing hide and go seek with me under all my papers and behind my monitor. Take that you little f*$ker!  | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
I use Redline 75w90. Not all 75w90 is bad, but some is. Some will mess your clutch plates up quickly,some will destroy your stator, some will do both. Same goes for using engine oil in the primary. When in doubt use what HD/Buell recommends. | ||
| Reuel |
Someone thought his transmission was dropping first and popping back in. Didn't make sense to me. I've tried 3 different oils in there. None of them fixed the problem. I get the least amount of complaint from the Mobil 20W50. Smoothest shifting, too. | ||
| Toniportray |
In the last week, I've learned to not underestimate aerodynamics as a crucial factor in fuel economy. During the last 180 miles of my riding, I've obtained a consistent 84mpg. No joke, and completely stock except a K&N air filter. The trick? My riding consists of a speed range of 60-65mph (as opposed to my normal 70-75mph) and I scrunch down as low as I can on the bike to minimize wind resistance. The biggest factor though is tailgating the Semi's. Snuggle up close behind a big rig where he can't see you (I know it's kinda dangerous) and you can ride there with almost no wind resistance. I have a higher seat, but I want to see if I can make a super low seat that will have me sitting so low that I don't have to hunch over in a sportbike-rider position. It might look really dumb, but 84mpg over 65mpg is a huge improvement. And when I'm paying $4.70 a gallon, I'm willing to do anything to boost mpgs. Maybe putting in a smaller main jet could bump that close to 90mpg. Nice! So try it sometime and see what kind of mpg boost you get. Just look out for cops when tailgating... | ||
| Reuel |
You might be at the peak of your MPG. Going too lean is hazardous to your engine. | ||
| Robi |
What does WFO mean? I'm switching to reserve around 100+ miles. New rider, so I'm trying different things. Student also, so was wearing a back pack, and just got a summer riding jacket (more streamlined). Started strapping my backpack to the rear seat instead of wearing it. I sweat a lot less, but also it lowers the center of gravity and I enjoy the ride a lot more. I don't think I'll be able to accurately determine its effect on MPG, because I'm also riding a little bit more smoothly every day I ride. I too was disappointed a bit by the gas mileage. It is what it is, and I understand nothing is perfect. I weight 213, but I'm going to try some of the suggestions, such as watching my foot on the break peddle. I was using the 65 mpg as the selling point to all the friends and family who told me to not get a bike. They don't need to know it's really about 50, which is still better (and funner) than any car out there. Next stop, need to find where the forum might explain why I seem to be having to top my oil off at the last few fill ups. | ||
| J2blue |
Robi, your experience is very similar to mine. I weigh about the same and usually have a small, but light backpack on. The rated gas mileage is probably based on a rider weighing 165 pounds, traveling on a flat track at a speed of 55 mph. The smaller engine is more drastically affected by the riders weight and aero-drag encountered above 55 mph. I have obtained close to 70 mpg when riding no faster than 50 mph on relatively flat country roads. Other factors that I've noticed affecting fuel consumption are the terrain, especially steep grades, and ambient temperature. Earlier this summer I was driving through town when the temperature surrounding me and the bike could easily be over 100 degrees. This was stop and go traffic(mostly stop) which leads to engine temps much higher than optimum. I've accepted that 100 miles per full tank is good to plan for. Yesterday I actually got much less, but I was on a steep, dirt mountain road. When riding mildly in a group I usually get 120 to 140 miles to the tank, which works out to be close to the rated mileage. | ||
| Reuel |
WFO=Wide Fornicatingly Open! That's when you turn the throttle as far as it will go and keep it there a lot like I do. | ||
| Xgecko |
the other issue with MPG is ethanol...I have documented a 10-15% mpg loss now that they put cheap whiskey in the gasoline | ||
| Robi |
Thx. I was sort of thinking Wide and Open, but totally missed the Fornication Under Consent of the King. | ||
| Xgecko |
last year before widespread use of sour mash I got over 150 before reserve when I rode to Ithaca NY from Westerly RI...this year 120-130 max. I am not a fan | ||
| Reuel |
Now that I think about it, I believe that's the only real factor. I might try getting some of that octane boost that's good for 10 gallons per bottle and put 2 bottles in and see how it goes. | ||
| Indybuell |
Octane boost shouldn't have much affect on MPG, it only boosts the fuel's ability to resist detonation (knock) | ||
| Reuel |
It did last time I used it. Got 60 MPG without changing the way I ride. | ||
| Toniportray |
Robi, these blasts just burn through oil. That's just how they are. I've already poured down 5 quarts of oil just over the 3k mile mark. I think about 4 quarts per 2500 miles is normal for this bike as others have had this experience. If you vent the crank case tube into the atmosphere (I recommend it), then the oil loss is a bit higher than this; as mine is. I did however put a piece of shop rag cloth over the end of the tube to minimize this. I have also found that synthetic oil doesn't burn as much as the Dino-DNA aside from having other documented benefits on engines. |
