| Author | Message | ||
     Wavex |
Ok, a few ppl asked me to provide feedback on the '09 XB12Scg, so here it is... I am still breaking the bike in (300miles right now), but the fuel light came on today after 110miles... I put just over 3 gallons in... that's a pretty low mpg of just over 36mpg. The 110 miles were half freeway, half city streets. I`ll keep posting my numbers... | ||
| Voofighters |
Thanks wavex.. I've got an XB12S 08' with 3100 Miles on it.. It consistently gets 38-42 MPG.. I wonder if Buell actively recognizes this as an issue or something thats performing as designed..? Personally, I'd feel much better if they would release some official statement regarding this topic.. "blah, blah blah," would be acceptable.. Anyways, not much solace in hearing you're getting the same "great" mileage as the rest of us 08' Buellers.. Who knows though, maybe with a larger group of "dissenters", they'll look into this? Anyways, thanks for the info. Definitely keep us up to date if something happens! | ||
| Big_b |
I have an 09 xb12ss and have filled up 3 times. first tank got 140 mile, 2nd 160, and the third 120. All of these were filled up as soon as the light came on and I put in 3.6 gallons each time. I've got 100 miles since the last fill up hopefully this one is more like 160 miles. I did notice that the 120 mile tank was just short trips back and forth to work and the 160 mile tank was one continueous trip. Also I was told at the dealership to check the oil after everytime I ride for the first 1000 miles. I do this and notice sometimes after a short trip or two my oil level is below the bottom line it dosn't take much to bring it back up to the middle. I've had to add a couple of times and I only have a little over 500 miles, is this normal? Other than that the bike runs great it has that surgeing sensation bellow 3000 rpm in first gear but everyone I've ever ridden has done that. I did the hose reroute it seemed to help a little. | ||
| Boltrider |
Big b: Mine is an '08 with 2200 miles on it and it uses some oil too. Just keep an eye on it and add accordingly. It's normal for these motors to use some oil. (Message edited by boltrider on August 21, 2008) | ||
| Birdy |
Well my '07 was getting about 32-35 MPG until I hit 4000 miles then it started to climb. Now at 8000 miles I get 50+ MPG all around. | ||
| Werewulf |
ok, what i would really like to know, is if the 08 stumble is gone with the 09! is it still there?.. something tells me that nothing has changed, since customer service denies it ever existed... | ||
| Hexangler |
+1 Birdy. I'm at 15k and am getting at least 50mpg. These engines take a bit of breaking in. Weird, I know, but this has been my experience as well. | ||
| Big_b |
Yea it seems to stumble in first gear low rpm's. is this what your talking about? There is another thread about tuning this out. is there a way to tune the 09 models? I would like to add an exhaust and an open air box. Can I get away with an exhaust without tuning? | ||
| Yardsale |
I've got an XB12S 08' with 3100 Miles on it.. It consistently gets 38-42 MPG.. odd, i have read all sorts of these posts about poor fuel mileage on '08s but mine doesnt seem to be in this pack i guess...im at about 2100-ish miles now and my last calculation was just a touch over 51mpg. before my engine break-in period however i was in the 34-36 range as far as exhaust without tuning, i havent tuned mine and i have a muffler and filter and it runs like a champ | ||
| Snackbar64 |
Maybe Bringing back the XB9 will solve this. That was the best around town motor they used in their complete line . I guess it only exists in the City X now. I still get somewhere in the high 50s on my 03 XB9R | ||
| Boliver |
15,000 miles and my xb12scg 2005 averages 53.5 mpg. | ||
| Jettdawg |
About 600 mi on my '09 and getting about 42 mpg so far... I expect it'll go up as I rack up more miles  | ||
| Firebolt020283 |
ok so every one with 08's and 09's have complained about some aspect of there FI system my question is what was buells thinking in changing from a system that seemed to be pretty good to one that seems to perform like crap? | ||
| Jettdawg |
I've wondered the same thing... "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Some people complained about the fan running too often, so maybe they fattened it up a little to help cool the cylinders, just a guess.  I'm hoping a new version of EcmSpy comes out that's compatible with '08s and '09s sometime soon. I'm not really complaining just yet... bike's barely broken in and I expect mileage will go up. That's what happened with my truck... after about 6k, mileage jumped by 3-4 mpg. | ||
| Sslowmo |
I have a xb12r '06. 25,000(s)miles. I get anywhere from 48 to 55 mpg. My fuel light comes on around 150 mile. That's with the tank filled up to the next opening inside the tank, if that makes sense. I only would get around 90 to 120 at first but as time goes on it get's better mpg. | ||
| Arctic_firebolt |
They weren't thinking. More importantly they REFUSE to LISTEN either!!! My '08 XB12R, yields 41 MPG at best. I have approximately 3K miles on it. As far as what you are saying Sslowmo, that makes perfect sense. Never fill it passed the inner opening!!! That is extremely important from what I understand. | ||
| Randomchaos |
Filling past the inner opening will cause it to pee gas out the vent tube, ask me how I know . Would be really bad to do this on the Cali model, could potentially clog the vent line in the charcoal canister. I bought my 04 model used with 3800 miles on it. It liked to drink oil, and got pretty poor gas mileage until I got around 5000 miles on it. Now, with only around town riding I get around 40-45mpg. Out on the open highway, I get around 55-60mpg. I have also had to only add a little oil every 2500 miles, not half a quart every 1000 | ||
| Buellinachinashop |
I was just up on Buell.com and saw that the fuel capacity is 3.82 gallons, the reserve is .75 gallons. My light comes on at roughly 118 miles on the trip, since I'm not standing at the gas station waiting for it to come on I usually have to ride about 5 miles to fuel up. On average, I've been watching closely, I've been adding 2.6-2.8 gallons of fuel (when I go straight to the gas station instead of pushing it). So it seems that my fuel light is coming on with a gallon or more left in the tank, which doesn't seem right. I have an 03 9. Have the frames been changed to increase fuel capacity? I thought XB fuel capacity was 3.125 not pushing 4. | ||
| Randomchaos |
Tank size was increased. Not sure what year, but it was deffinately increased. My 04 12R usually takes 2.6-2.8 to fill it up after the light comes on. I also only ride maybe 5 miles or so once the light comes on. Comes on after about 110 miles with only around town riding for me. | ||
| Punkid8888 |
Frame was changed in 06, new frame eliminated the air intake tube running through it and went to the screen around the filler cap, thus you gained that space in fuel capacity, I think it was a gain of about 0.20 gallons or something like that | ||
| Wavex |
OK I put 350 miles on the bike this weekend and kept getting between 35 and 40mpg. I have an Scg, and the tank is slightly smaller than the S I believe... I`ll have to look at the user manual tonight to confirm. I have about 600 miles on the bike now and plan to do an oil change tonight (Rotella Synthetic + Mobil 1 filter). I`ll keep posting my numbers... | ||
| Tpoppa |
My light comes on at roughly 118 miles on the trip, since I'm not standing at the gas station waiting for it to come on I usually have to ride about 5 miles to fuel up. On average, I've been watching closely, I've been adding 2.6-2.8 gallons of fuel (when I go straight to the gas station instead of pushing it). So it seems that my fuel light is coming on with a gallon or more left in the tank, which doesn't seem right. I have an 03 9. Have the frames been changed to increase fuel capacity? I thought XB fuel capacity was 3.125 not pushing 4. On the '03's The fuel capacity is listed as 3.7 and 0.7 of that is the reserve. However the actual fuel capacity on the '03's is 3.4 (I assume that the fuel pump and fuel filter are taking up 0.3) the 0.7 reserve is accurate. | ||
| Swordsman |
"They weren't thinking. More importantly they REFUSE to LISTEN either!!! My '08 XB12R, yields 41 MPG at best. I have approximately 3K miles on it. " Er.... The new FI system has been out BARELY a year, and the "they don't listen to us" crap is already flying? EDIT: On second thought, maybe you were talking ABOUT the people that are complaining and have so few miles. That would make sense. ~SM (Message edited by Swordsman on August 25, 2008) | ||
| Rhun |
since 2009 dropped the 12S is all of the remaining Buells now the long frame? The extra capacity would be nice, if the mileage is lower. Unfortunately I have the 08 S so range is now an issue. Wasn't really with my 05 9SX. Most of the kmarts and Walmarts carry a 1 gallon 4 oz. plastic gas can that is small and fits in my saddle bag. I guess I will have to carry it for rural excursions. Swordsman I don't know what year of Buell you have, but going from high fifties or sixties MPG to low 40s is a big deal. Putting gas in the tank every 100 miles gets tedious. My 05 9SX started out running great and getting good mileage. Should I have expected something different from my latest state of the art greatly improved, per sales literature, Buell?? | ||
| Jlnance |
since 2009 dropped the 12S is all of the remaining Buells now the long frame? No, the CityX and the Firebolt are the original XB frame. | ||
| Arctic_firebolt |
Hello Swordsman: No, I was talking about Buell. Correct me if I am wrong but are you finding it acceptable that a FI system performs this poorly after a full year release? Without so much as a word of response from the company? IMHO 65% of advertised MPG isn't a bug it's a disaster. | ||
| Thump4fun |
Have the frames been changed to increase fuel capacity? I thought XB fuel capacity was 3.125 not pushing 4. My XB12Ss long has a whopping 4.40 gallon tank, with the reserve coming on at 0.83 gallons left. Mine seems about right, as I can put in about 3.6 - 3.8 gallons after the light comes on (given some distance to get to a gas pump). As for MPG, I have just over 600 miles on her and she's getting only about 34 MPG. However, ALL my riding is city riding right now. So based on previous posters here, I'm looking forward to getting better mileage in another 2k miles or so, plus better on the open highway. I also changed over to Mobil 1 synthetic last weekend at 500 miles, and I can't say for certain whether that made any difference yet or not. I just started documenting my mileage/fuel at the last fill-up, so we'll see going forward if it trends up or not. | ||
| Petereid |
My 08 XB12XT runs great. I"m getting 46 mpg and I smile every time I go for a ride. Maybe I'm just easy to please. I didn't buy a Buell for its mpg rating. | ||
| Thump4fun |
Good point Petereid! I'm sure we're all grinning like school kids when we're out riding and hitting the curves. But it's also nice to be spending less on fuel at the end of the month. At this point, I'm saving a little compared to my commuter car (Ford Focus @ 25 MPG) and ALOT compared to my SUV (Toyota Sequoia @ 13 MPG). Maybe I anticipated a bit more savings, and by next summer after a couple thousand miles perhaps I'll see it. But yes...the joy of riding my Buell has a benefit all its own!! And honestly, if it stayed at 34 MPG I wouldn't be pleased with that fact but it's not my primary motivation for getting such a wonderfully fun machine either. | ||
| Swordsman |
Arctic, what I find is that there are too many people complaining about "poor" MPG on brand new bikes with hardly any miles on them. IMHO, people need to chill with the fist-shaking until they have enough time on the road to justify it. I'm not saying the FI system is perfect... far from it. I'm still disappointed with how my '06 runs below 3k rpms, and from what I've read, this issue is ongoing for the new bikes. So if you wanna' gripe about that, hell, I'll join in! But the fuel economy is another matter altogether, one that requires a little more time before you'll even know if you have a legitimate gripe. I will say that the MPG specs on the site seem unrealistically high. I've never heard of ANY Buells getting that kind of highway MPG other than the Blast. Seems like 45-55 mpg is the average I've seen posted for previous models, and one of the reasons I don't think your numbers sound too far off. I thought everyone knew that EPA "estimates" were to be taken with a a grain (sometimes a dash) of salt? ~SM (Message edited by Swordsman on August 27, 2008) |
