MPG serious issues or am I crazy?

[SiNx]

Hi guys,

I've been wanting to post something concerning my fuel consumption for a while but I wanted to test it intensively to be sure of what is happening.

So here it goes.

I am canadian so I will put everything in Litres and also Gallons for our imperial friends...

My bike takes 13L (3.43Gal) when i fill her up. I fill her up when the last bar starts flashing. I also fill her up on the stan until the gas hits the metal where the pump gun goes in. In theory the bar flashing means I am on my reserve yes?

Ok so with those 13L I ride a whole whooping 200km (124.27miles). Before you say "depends on how you ride the thing" I would like to mention that I commute from home to work and back, through the city going roughly 60-70km/h (35-45 mp/h) never really revving it past 6000rpm. I have about 10 street lights to stop at along the way.

Now I keep reading on here, people hitting 50mpg with their FZ6R. Now lets say some people are generous and most really hit 45mpg... Im still sitting at 36.23mpg!!!

WTF is going on and what should I do/check. I am pretty sure I used to get a good 280km(175miles) to a tank last summer.

Btw the bike is a 2012 with about 5000km (3100miles) on it.

Please help cause there has to be something wrong here...

Thanks in advance!

 

[leem00]

Hi guys,

I've been wanting to post something concerning my fuel consumption for a while but I wanted to test it intensively to be sure of what is happening.

So here it goes.

I am canadian so I will put everything in Litres and also Gallons for our imperial friends...

My bike takes 13L (3.43Gal) when i fill her up. I fill her up when the last bar starts flashing. I also fill her up on the stan until the gas hits the metal where the pump gun goes in. In theory the bar flashing means I am on my reserve yes?

Ok so with those 13L I ride a whole whooping 200km (124.27miles). Before you say "depends on how you ride the thing" I would like to mention that I commute from home to work and back, through the city going roughly 60-70km/h (35-45 mp/h) never really revving it past 6000rpm. I have about 10 street lights to stop at along the way.

Now I keep reading on here, people hitting 50mpg with their FZ6R. Now lets say some people are generous and most really hit 45mpg... Im still sitting at 36.23mpg!!!

WTF is going on and what should I do/check. I am pretty sure I used to get a good 280km(175miles) to a tank last summer.

Btw the bike is a 2012 with about 5000km (3100miles) on it.

Please help cause there has to be something wrong here...

Thanks in advance!

Sounds like you are lugging the engine (riding to conservatively) ...the power band on these bike is roughly 6000 rpm - 10000 rpm.

I fill up standing up on the bike...gets a little extra gas in there...but only when I am off to ride it...never fill up that way and then park it.

 

[JSP]

All city with stop lights, etc like that... Sounds about right.

Fill the tank up, and take it for a long ride. Cruising 60ish mph or whatever and you will be well over 40.

 

[SiNx]

Wait so the 45-50ish mpg I see is on highway trips?!
Yeah that would make sense...

Does the amout of gaz I put in makes sense to you guys? In theory the tank is good for 19L, but 19-13= 6L...
6L reserve seems a bit much no?

 

[JT]

Hi guys,

I've been wanting to post something concerning my fuel consumption for a while but I wanted to test it intensively to be sure of what is happening.

So here it goes.

I am canadian so I will put everything in Litres and also Gallons for our imperial friends...

My bike takes 13L (3.43Gal) when i fill her up. I fill her up when the last bar starts flashing. I also fill her up on the stan until the gas hits the metal where the pump gun goes in. In theory the bar flashing means I am on my reserve yes?

Ok so with those 13L I ride a whole whooping 200km (124.27miles). Before you say "depends on how you ride the thing" I would like to mention that I commute from home to work and back, through the city going roughly 60-70km/h (35-45 mp/h) never really revving it past 6000rpm. I have about 10 street lights to stop at along the way.

Now I keep reading on here, people hitting 50mpg with their FZ6R. Now lets say some people are generous and most really hit 45mpg... Im still sitting at 36.23mpg!!!

WTF is going on and what should I do/check. I am pretty sure I used to get a good 280km(175miles) to a tank last summer.

Btw the bike is a 2012 with about 5000km (3100miles) on it.

Please help cause there has to be something wrong here...

Thanks in advance!

I would suggest replacing both air and fuel filters and also try using another higher grade in gas and check for improvements.

also have you tried using the https://www.fuelly.com/ website and or app.
maybe something to your tracking that may be slightly off.
I would recommend keeping track of miles between fills and volume purchased at pump instead of the (flashing last bar to fill till it hits the metal part) method that may throw you off enough to indicate bad mileage

 

[SiNx]

Replacing air and fuel filter with 3k miles on the bike?!?

And by the way all the good numbers are there. I didn't just come up with those lol I reset my speedometer every time I fuel and write down the quantity of fuel I put in. The fuel is always around 13-13.4L fill up and the distance is always between 180km-200km. I've filled her up 5 times since I have started writing it all down.

 

[Marthy]

Try to shift and keep the RPM between 6-8K RPM. Do you have stock sprocket? Go +1 on the front, that should calm down the RPM on freeway. Bone stock you should hit 47-48 all day long at constant speed, 42-45 combine.

 

[cloudfire]

36mph is actually pretty good for stop and go, city riding at 35-45 mph. I was initially concerned about my mph (you can search my old threads about it). I was getting less than you're getting when my commute was less than 5 miles to work at 35mph. When I moved and had a 15-20 mile ride in to work via interstate, my mph jumped to 42+. I get better than that on my long, fun rides. Take it for a couple of long rides where you top it off to start the ride and fill it up at the end and you should see an improvement in your mph. Of course, you could upgrade the exhaust and use one of Marthy's touring maps and get even better mileage

 

[Invader Jim]

Hi guys,
Ok so with those 13L I ride a whole whooping 200km (124.27miles). Before you say "depends on how you ride the thing" I would like to mention that I commute from home to work and back, through the city going roughly 60-70km/h (35-45 mp/h) never really revving it past 6000rpm. I have about 10 street lights to stop at along the way.

Starting and stopping is not good for optimal MPG. Acceleration takes gas. Braking burns off energy in the form of heat. Your best MPG is going to be when you are riding for long periods of time in 6th gear (50+ mph). 35 mph is too slow for 6th gear. What gear are you in at 60-70km/h?

 

[SiNx]

Try to shift and keep the RPM between 6-8K RPM. Do you have stock sprocket? Go +1 on the front, that should calm down the RPM on freeway. Bone stock you should hit 47-48 all day long at constant speed, 42-45 combine.

Wait, I knew motorcycle engines were made for high RPM but I figured that when I didn't have to run high I was better off keeping them lower. I usualy cruise at around 4500RMP. If I am reading you correctly, I would have better mileage when running higher RPM? And this would be better for the bike?

Now THAT is something to make me smile about hahaha There is nothing like a nice revving engine sound

And to answer Invader Jim, I am usually in 4th gear. I think

 

[yellowfz]

36 mpg is not bad for city riding, at 35mph I usually stay in 4th gear, just so if a acceleration event is needed it will do so quickly.
Riding with the wife and her Vulcan I try to ride behind if not I will run off and leave her, so following her and shifting and revving to match her cruiser I will get about 42mpg city, now when I ride by myself I get worse because of my riding style.

Stock gearing is not bad but if you ad weight ie bags and such, go -1 on front or +2 on rear to help with the added weight stress or doing track to stay in higher gear in and out of corners.

Seems 46 to 52mpg is about right for highway riding.

 

[MistahT]

Try to shift and keep the RPM between 6-8K RPM.

Maybe that's the reason I average in the 30s, I usually ride between 4-5k rpms. Much higher and I feel like it's unnecessary or I'm hurting the bike (I know I'm not).

 

[Riccochet]

Maybe that's the reason I average in the 30s, I usually ride between 4-5k rpms. Much higher and I feel like it's unnecessary or I'm hurting the bike (I know I'm not).

Same here.

 

[Pinarello Rider]

Maybe that's the reason I average in the 30s, I usually ride between 4-5k rpms. Much higher and I feel like it's unnecessary or I'm hurting the bike (I know I'm not).

Same here.

Yup - I was crusing in to work today at 65-70 mph and it's 6k. Sounds like it's revving awfully fast. I'm gonna have a hard time believing that my gas mileage will improve if I keep it around 7k instead of 5k.

 

[linkgt]

Wait so the 45-50ish mpg I see is on highway trips?!
Yeah that would make sense...

Does the amout of gaz I put in makes sense to you guys? In theory the tank is good for 19L, but 19-13= 6L...
6L reserve seems a bit much no?

I get the same Mileage you're getting and the VAST MAJORITY of my riding is on the highway. I actually made a thread on this about 2 years ago. It started approximately 7 months after riding it. All of a sudden, my MPG plummeted to 36 mpg or so. 40 ON A GOOD DAY. i've tried every suggestion available (Air filter, 93 octane gas,+1 up front sprocket, Spark plug change, Oil change, SYNCH THROTTLE BODY) I will not get the same mpg anymore that i used to and my riding style has not changed.

I used to "race" the engine pretty often and would take the bike to top speed. My guess is I wore the engine or something and I gave up on trying to get better mpg. I'll miss the days when I got up to 160 miles, then i had to fill up. Now I get the flashing F-trip at 124-130 mpg... feels bad

 

[yellowfz]

Typically higher RPMs mean less gas mileage, unless you have Marthy's gearing then you are doing 35mph in first gear at 6000rpm.
Right now with -1 on front @ 6000rpm the bike is running 62 to 63mph, and has very good city riding characteristics, good torque @ low rpms.

 

[BKP]

I agree with JT. Check your filters. You may only have 3k on the bike, but it doesn't hurt to check. I also found my mileage went up when I was religious about maintaining the 33/36psi (except when I ride 2-up, which is rarely).

You need to use either Fuelly (online), or FuelLog (android app), to enter *exact* fill-ups to the .01 litre, to get an accurate measure.

-My riding is 50/50 highway/city. I'm averaging 45-48mpg.
-I haven't yet upgraded to a +1 front (I have it, but haven't installed it yet), and I expect the mileage to improve further.
-I cruise between 5k-5.5k, typically, and shift close to 6k.
-My mileage improved measurably (5-6mpg) after switching from Roadsmarts to Michelin PR2s. That may be the bike's further break-in over time, and paying more attention to pressure, as much as the tire upgrade.
-I always warm it up to at least ~125 F. before taking off (yeah, I know there's no carburetor, but I believe it's a best practice, anyway).
-I *do* ride it hard, and never babied it (including during break-in).

On the other hand, my mileage on my new Optima sucks canal water...

 

[badgerflips]

I cruise at about an indicated 80-85 mph for about a 45 mile stretch each way to work and get 50-52 mpgs with saddlebags lightly loaded. I weigh about 190 and I don't tuck. Using 10% ethanol 87 grade gas in Virginia. I thought I'd get worse mileage but it's doing better than expected.

 

[badgerflips]

Also to note, I have stock gearing and I'm running mobile 1 10-40 synthetic, maybe it's helping...?

 

[FastFreddy]

Is it just me ? I've noticed mine seems to use more fuel if I'm sitting around 4000 rpm most of the time for commuting speeds. Cruising at 3000 or 5000 rpm seems better.