How much fuel does your bike use?

[ambrose78]

Well I've had my bike for a couple of months and have now ridden about 3000kms. I would say my use is fairly typical, not wringing its neck off, cruising 100-120km/h on highways and generally puttering around town with the odd fang here or there just because.  

My bike has returned:
a best of 6.5l/100km (36mpg US/ 43mpg UK)
a worst of 7.5l/100km (31mpg US/ 37mpg UK)
generally gets about 6.9l/100

It seems to me this is pretty high. Particularly when it gets up to 7.5l/100 as my car generally gets better than this.

Just wondering what everyone else is getting in the real world.

[aussie]

I've got to be honest and say that I've never considered measuring. I know that I'm undoubtedly a rarity here......<thinks he may have to go out and test>

[steve hawkins]

I have to admit, that the higher of your two values is not atypical.  However you might be able to improve things with a carb rebuild - new jets and needles.  If it has not been done recently.

What colour are you plugs?  Generally dark brown to slightly sooty means you are running rich.  Light tan is good.

I normally got betwee 160 to 180 miles out of a tank with my Cafe Racer, but it mostly local mileage with a lot of town riding and wringing it neck out on the open road.  On a long run I would expect up to 200 to a tank.

What that works out in mpg I do not know - as I have no centre stand I am probably not even filling my tank to the top!

Hope this helps.

[Yikes]

OK, I have to ask.  What is "the odd fang here and there"?  I'm stumped.

[Darwin_R65]

The odd fang may be otherwise put;

Giving it a blat now and then,
Sometimes hammer it,
or
Occasionally opening the throttle hard.

It sounds like the sort of riding I myself do now that I'm in my 40's.
I ride sensibly most of the time but occasionally revert back into habits from my early 20's.

Man when I think back on my younger riding/driving habits how did I ever make to this age?

John

[drewboid]

My mileage tends to be more in the 40-45 MPG(US) range. My R75/6 doesn't do quite as well running about 35-40 MPG (US).  
Of course when my fiance and I ride together the combined mileage for two vehicles is on the order of 22 MPG - about what my toyota gets but it is a lot more fun!

[Bob_Roller]

Your fuel consumption is a bit on the high side.

Does your fuel contain 10% ethanol.

My '81 lost about 4-5 miles per gallon when the fuel supply changed from MTBE to 10% ethanol about 10 years ago.

Bing recommends that you replace the needle and needle jet at about 25,000 miles (41,000 km.).

It wouldn't be a bad idea to go through the carbs, and do a quick change of the rubber parts, along with the needle, and the needle jet.

I 're-built' the carbs on my '81 about 2 years ago, and I found that one of the needles was set to the wrong position ,from the factory.

If you are not the original owner, jet sizes, and needle position may have been changed from the factory specs.

Also, how accurate is your odometer ?

The odometers on these bikes are notorious for having problems.

Are you consistent in filling the fuel tank to the same level each time?

I use the bottom of the filler neck as a guide.

I was getting a consistent 220-225 miles (360-370 km.) to reserve,
now its around 200 miles (328 km.) to reserve with 10% ethanol in the fuel.

I guess this works out to be around 17 km/lt., or 5.9 lt/100km.

[montmil]

... It sounds like the sort of riding I myself do now that I'm in my 40's...
John

John, you're still a young whipper-snapper. Don't you be dis'n us senior R65 riders. May have to give you a time out from the sandbox.  [smiley=whip.gif]

Monte You'll be reading the back of my T-shirt Miller  

[nhmaf]

If I am riding some distance and being fairly consistent/smooth about things, even riding at 100 km/h or a bit over I still generally get somewhere in the 40 - 45 MPG range.   If I am doing numerous shorter trips, or doing some more 'spirited' backroad riding it may dip into the upper 30s, but I have never gotten less than around 36-37 MPG (US Gallon)  

[ambrose78]

Thanks for the input. Cheers.

I still generally get somewhere in the 40 - 45 MPG  

I was getting a consistent 220-225 miles (360-370 km.) to reserve,

This sounds better. More riding less stopping at petrol stations.

I use the bottom of the filler neck as a guide.

That's what I have been using.

The first time I filled the bike I filled to the hole halfway up the filler neck. And then was rather alarmed to see petrol dripping over the spark plug leads at the next set of traffic lights as it must have been coming out the vent hole from being overfilled!! Since then no problems with the bottom of the filler neck.

Does your fuel contain 10% ethanol.

I generally avoid the 10% ethanol like the plague. Though I was forced to put ethanol fuel in the tank on the last fill as it was the only service station in the town I was at and had already hit reserve.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to go through the carbs, and do a quick change of the rubber parts, along with the needle, and the needle jet.
 

Sounds like the next thing to do. I'm not the original owner and don't have a service history for the bike.

Also, how accurate is your odometer ?
 

No Idea. I've never calibrated it. It seems reasonably consistent to what my car reads over similar journeys.

The odd fang may be otherwise put;

Giving it a blat now and then,
Sometimes hammer it,
or
Occasionally opening the throttle hard.

Spot on. The fun bit of the ride

[Bob_Roller]

You mentioned an overflow of fuel after putting too much in the tank.

If you hadn't noticed, on the bottom of the tank on the left side there is a small pipe that comes off of the tank, if you put a length of hose on it, if you overfill it again, the fuel will go down the hose and avoid  the hot engine parts !!!

[nhmaf]

Yes, the overflow hose seems to be something that is most commonly missing from most of these bikes - I *think* that they came from the dealer with hoses, but since it adds another thing to remove whenever removing the tank, I am sure that many people thought "I'll just be careful when I fill the tank and be rid of it".   I decided to put a hose back on (And route it back to the swingarm pivot area) to make sure that any overflows avoid all the electrical, sparky bits as well as the hot headers, etc.   There is definitely a bit more miles available in the tank if one goes up a bit above the bottom of the filler neck, but I wouldn't recommend it unless one has an overflow hose installed "just in case".

I think it is a good safety tip for everyone to consider on their airhead.

[Bob_Roller]

Well, I know my bike didn't come from the dealer with one installed.

The third fill-up after getting the bike, I overfilled the tank thanks to a pressure surge from a couple of other people that were refueling their cars, and shut off their nozzles at the same time.

I was engulfed in a cloud of vaporized fuel, as I had just had the bike out for a 2 hour ride, and the engine was as hot as it will ever get.

I installed the hose shortly after that.

[Ed Miller]

My only complaint with ethanol in our gas is that it seems to expand more as it warms.  Like when I used to fill the bike up right before I get to work, and the gas expands up into the tank opening.  On the BMW I can just smell gas as it goes out through that hole and the drain hose.

I'm repainting my Triumph tank this spring because it doesn't have one.  I no longer fill up right before I'll be parking the bike.

[montmil]

The fire danger of fuel overflowing onto a hot engine cannot be overemphasized. A fuel overflow drain should be a mandatory addition to your bike if not presently installed.

When purchased, both my R65s lacked this simple safety feature and I would not have been aware of its existence were it not for the this R65 forum.



The tank's drain pipe extends vertically out of the tank bottom. I shortened a simple nylon 90 degree fitting so the drain line would remain tucked under the tank and out of sight. Vinyl tubing extends aft to...



...terminate with a short length of hard NylaFlo tubing. The hard tube fits through an existing hole in the rear footpeg bracket. Zip ties secure the routed line at a couple points.

BTW, a full fuel tank, even one that has not been over-filled, may vent fuel when parked in the sunshine for extended periods. The fuel expands when heated and will vent through the line.

Recip-powered aircraft are notorious for this. On hot Texas days, as I walk the ramp, I'll occasionally spot avgas dripping from wing tank vents. Just like with the BMW's, I stop fueling tanks at the base of the filler tube.

Monte