| Author | Message | ||
     Odd |
So i have a 984 sportster that gets 35.7 mpg provided I don't twist the throttle to hard, just wondering what a Buell 984 gets for mileage? | ||
| Rick_a |
Mid to high 40's is pretty typical. | ||
| 1313 |
i have a 984 sportster Never heard of one of those. Need more details... | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
984 = 883 bored over? | ||
| Odd |
Life started as a 883 then I changed the flywheel,cylinder, heads cams ignition and a few other parts till I had a 984 | ||
| Ratbuell |
Mid to high 40's is pretty typical. I get that out of my Ulysses 1203...if I can keep my wrist out of it, that is... | ||
| Aesquire |
My Gt380 2 stroke got 35mpg. So did my GS750, GS1100 & Yamaha 750 triple. Those are disappointing numbers until you put in context what cars got from 1973-1983. And take into account the horrible aerodynamics of naked bikes. My 1205 cc Cyclone gets 55mpg if I ride the speed limit, plus 5-10, and accelerate with moderate enthusiasm. ( enough to have fun, pull away from traffic ) If I ride like a lunatic, I can pull that down to the 40s. Steady expressway drones @75-80 get me about 50mpg. Breathing improvements help mileage and/or performance. I discovered that long ago putting headers & ported intake manifolds on v-8 vans in the 1970s. I should point out the Buell heads on my Cyclone have bigger valves & ports than Sportster heads & Iget almost double the power of same year Sporsters, nearly stock, just a few tweaks like velocity stack in the airbox & breathers to a catch can. (Message edited by Aesquire on August 31, 2019) | ||
| 86129squids |
GT380? Gawd I loved those old Suzook 2 smokes. Wish we could bring them back... or wish I could find a vintage one for the stable. | ||
| Aesquire |
Power of a 250, weight of a 500! I loved mine. IF I was going to get a 2 stroke for the stable, and couldn't find one of the last generation, as smog laws outlawed them, then a Yamaha RD400 would be my choice. | ||
| 86129squids |
I once had a 1984 RZ350. Bored .40 over, Spec II pipes, one tooth smaller front sprocket, etc.... like God's own slingshot! Sold it because would randomly die- didn't know at the time it was a black box problem. Wish I still had that thing. A RG500 Gamma would do too. The be all/end all 2 smoke would be the RZ500 V-4. Zoomy! | ||
| Pwnzor |
My xb12r always got 50+ mpg unless I was trying not to | ||
| Aesquire |
Buells, the H-D based & improved models, get phenomenal mileage compared to typical bikes of half or more the displacement. You might expect a 250 Rebel to get in the 50s. The reason is simple. Low rpm, good breathing, & operation well below full potential. My S3 fairing on my M2 really doesn't reduce air drag that much, everything behind me is turbulent drag, and very few bikes are better. Nature of the beast. I learned the trick to better mileage, breathing & operation in the lower torque band back in the 70s. I wasn't going to go to skinny tires, & there isn't a lot of drag reduction possible on the brick ( dodge van ) I drove, and I tried all the aero tricks. Much later in life I read how Charles Lindbergh, who resigned his commission over political differences, ( FDR hated him for being a vocal anti-war guy before Pearl Harbor ) went to the Pacific as a civilian tech rep, and taught cruise control techniques to the Air Force P-38 & Marine F4U pilots, nearly doubling their range. ( the Admiral Yamamoto mission was only possible because of these techniques and the Japanese "knowing" that his trip was beyond the range of enemy fighters ) Keeping in mind that in a Lightning, you can control manifold pressure somewhat independently of RPM, by varying propeller pitch. ( equiv. of hearing in a road vehicle. Changing the "bite" the blades take on the air ) And mixture was manually controlled. Typical cruise settings might be "square" 24 inches of manifold pressure & 2400 rpm. And quite a bit rich to keep the engine cool. Lindbergh taught them to crank up the prop pitch, so RPM was down to 1800, and give it more throttle, boosting manifold pressure to 28+ inches, and leaning the mixture, while watching the cylinder head temps. Same speed, half the fuel flow. Power is breathing & RPM. Keep the RPM down, and you burn less fuel. Improved breathing increases power by letting you burn more fuel. Hit a happy balance & you get better mileage at cruise speed. On my Cyclone, I run a modded air filter system with a velocity stack to improve breathing. Erik and crew gave us the free breathing heads. My improvement is negligible in comparison. I just short shift by habit & ride the wave of torque. Car makers know this too. But until this latest generation of muscle cars, pollution control & driver ignorance kept them from properly taking advantage. But if you consider the current Camaro/Challenger/Mustang performance models, they all have 6-10 speed transmissions with serious overdrive gearing to allow great acceleration and good highway cruise mileage. Compare today's against muscle from right before the smog laws, and you see both more power & better economy. | ||
| Tootal |
Getting the mixture to swirl is also huge. I remember my 1982 Yamaha 750 Maxim. Yamaha had what they called YICS or Yamaha Induction Control System. It connected all the carbs together and somehow caused the mixture to swirl. I remember in order to synchronize the carbs you had to have a special tool to shut off the YICS to separate the individual carbs. I also know that bike made great power and got great mileage to boot! Then EBR did something with the cams and intakes I think. Anyway, it also swirled the mixture and increased power and fuel mileage. Now Toyota's new four cylinder is using valve angle and intake angle to cause the air to swirl in the cylinder, filling it faster and doing what you're talking about. | ||
| 86129squids |
Yamaha had all kinds of neat tricks over the years. I always lusted after the GTS1000, the one with the James Parker designed front end. Greg, Suzuki also had TSCC, "Twin Swirl Combustion Chambers". For me, things got more boring by the 90's, for cars and bikes. I like the old stuff. | ||
| Rick_a |
There's a few bikes out there recently that I really like...the Yamaha MT-10, FZ-09, and XSR900, and the Suzuki GSX-S1000. I'd own any one of them, if I could. | ||
| 86129squids |
Odd, sorry about the highjack(s)... but, I got something here I found on local CL: https://knoxville.craigslist.org/mcy/d/loudon-99-h arley-davidson-buell-m2/6965917327.html Pretty nice looking machine! | ||
| 86129squids |
Heh- just got back from the grocery, pork chops for dindin... my bill was $9.84. | ||
| Cupcake_mike |
my 06 uly (1203) used to get to mid to low 50s when new (to me at 18K), now at 92K I am low 40s, plus use about half a quart of oil between oil changes (every 5k). I go pretty fast but don't really beat the hell of it. Overall for a $2000 bike, I can't complain. | ||
| Etennuly |
My 05 City X 984 ran usually around 48 mpg. Never could get 50+ even though I tried. My 06 Uly 1203 has ranged from the worst of 41 to just over 70 while hyper mileing to see what it could do. Running 80 to 90 on the slab gets 45-46 In the Tennessee twisties I can haul ass and get 52 to 55 mpg. Around the area riding it does 50 consistently. | ||
| 89rs1200 |
Since the RS1200 and S2 use stock Sportster motors, the get about 45MPG. Our 1997 & 1998 S3s: Exhaust: Vance & Hines, Factory Race, Supertrapp. Intake: Stock with K&N air filters. Altitude: 4,000 - 6,000 feet. Carburetor: 195 main, 48 pilot/secondary. 58 - 62 MPG, 18 mile run to work, which is mostly open road under 55MPH. 56 - 58 MPG, highway 60 - 75 MPH. S3 trike gets 1 - 2 MPG less. | ||
| 86129squids |
Ummm- you have a S3 trike??? A Buell S3, made into a trike? | ||
| Whatever |
About 45 average for the Piglet. Maybe more on highway. | ||
| 89rs1200 |
Hello 86129squids, Right, an S3 converted to a trike. Love it. | ||
| Pwnzor |
     | ||
| 86129squids |
OK. Phleeeeze. Grain of salt. Everyone's got an anus, about the same as an opinion. I'm trying here. We Buell folk endured the heinous tragedy of Redneck Motors. They took the peanut butter out of the chocolate, no more Reese's. Sold a bunch of fast choppers, which is an oxymoron. Built by... C'mon, follow me. Was the S3 crashed? What led you to triking it? I sold H-D/BUELL for 5-6 years, never EVER seen a tuber frame converted into a trike. Can it be reverted?????????????? Please understand- a Buell S3T is on my bucket list. I've studied lots of things, but I have trouble understanding why one would trike that bike. Do not take offence, please, just enlighten me. | ||
| Ourdee |
My wife has no balance nerves. For her to have a bike, means trike. I think the S3 is one of the cheaper routes to an affordable trike. And it looks good. | ||
| Crusty |
In 1997, my ankle got crushed when a Jersey Barrier fell over on me. While I was in the hospital and still unsure about whether I was going to lose my leg, I started thinking about whether I was going to build a trike or get a sidecar. No matter how things went, I was not going to give up riding. There are many valid reasons for riding a trike. | ||
| 89rs1200 |
Hello 86129squids, Why? Nearly every motor is too tall for my wife to balance at a stop, besides her ankles are too weak to hold up a two wheeled motor. So, trike was to be the answer. Trikes are pricey and have limited availability. She wanted a small sporty trike. I had four S3 Buells at the time. Following the thinking here? Yes easy conversion which can be easily reverted. How? Reversion back to two wheels involves swapping the swingarm and belt for the stock one. The 1997-1998 S3 had the steel tube swingarm. The swingarm is cut and mounting plates are welded on. I bought a swingarm and sent it to; http://frankensteintrikes.com/ They have, in my opinion, one of the best looking and well built trike kits on the market. They had built a buell trike for one of the sons. Kit came in two large boxes, which my wife and I assembled. Additional note on build. Trikes require additional rake. Easy to do with Buell parts. I mounted the long, (16.5"), rear shock using the short, (14.8"), rear shock mount. This lowered the rear by just over 3.5", which increased the rake. Have put 30,000 miles on it without issues, which include two road trips to Washington and Utah. Straight and stable with a top speed of 128 MPH, although, she limits top end to 80MPH. Over 80MPH the front end does move around a bit on uneven roads. (Message edited by 89rs1200 on September 11, 2019) | ||
| 86129squids |
Cool beans. Different folks, different strokes. Sounds like a smart build, especially if it pleases wifey. I'd be scared shitless to do a buck 28 on that rig though. Wow. | ||
| Pwnzor |
89rs1200... I think Squidley probably shuddered to think about an S3 being chopped up for this build... But your explanation has just educated me quite a bit, and it makes a lot of sense now. Well done, I say. | ||
| 86129squids |
RS- maybe one of these days youn's could roll east on those sweet machines. A pilgrimage to southern Appalachia and TWoS would change your life. Conversely, I need to roll west on my BMW one day. Always had the dream of leaving the east coast with my rear tire in the Atlantic, and roll west until my front tire hits the Pacific. That would take 2 things: plenty of discretionary money AND time. Maybe one day. At least I've got the right machine. | ||
| Crusty |
Squids; Terri and I did just that in 2010. We had breakfast in Rockport, Massachusetts, one Sunday and two weeks later, we had Enchilladas for dinner at Oscar's in Newport, Oregon. In between, we attended Homecoming at the Alpine Lodge and the Guzzi National Rally in John Day, Oregon. Terri was riding her XB12Ss and I was riding my Guzzi Norge. It doesn't take as much time or money as you think. We made it back home in Massachusetts in 6 days. | ||
| 86129squids |
I appreciate that John. Sad fact is that in my profession, I'm just a glorified beggar. I love my work, and am one of the best in the business (at least by Knoxville standards). Things are pretty skinny. I sit here typing. I'd been called in on my day off, with the expectations of a busy/remunerative shift about 2PM. Just got called off because the supposed extra business canceled. Oh well. Time to paint the deck. |
