MPG experiment

[Dave_C]

I decided to try for best gas mileage on my ride to work today. I set the cruise control at an indicated 69 mph(rather than cruising at my usual 80+mph. I reset the computer. I arrived at work (50 mile commute) with an indicated 53.4mph. Much better than my usual 40-41mpg. Way better than the Civic hybrid I used to have. A guy on a LT went buzzing past me at about 80, he waved, but looked at me like i was an idiot. I don't know if I could handle going that slow every day, but I would sure save a few bucks.

[notacop]

Riding at 80 makes one the idiot. Excessive use of fuel and great potential for a speeding award.

"Go That slow!" Gimme a broke. I've seen the blokes blasting by me at their happy 80 while I glide at 69-70. Who gets the ticky a few miles down the road? Mr. Gotta Go Fast, that's who.

Getting more mature(old as hell) has it's perks. Don't have to be the first guy there any more. Besides who want to get to work in a hurry?

 

[Haynes]

I've run my car on cruise control at speeds between 90km/hr and 140km/hr at the same time taking readings of inst fuel usage from the trip computer. It's a very good lesson on speed vs fuel consumption.

If we were all very fuel conscious, we wouldn't drive cars much over 95km/hr (60ml/hr).

I'd like the opportunity to test the speed/fuel consumption on my RT. Then again, perhaps I would be better not knowing.

[JayW]

I once rode for several hours through Big Bend NP at a consistent 45 mph (Park Rangers were everywhere!) and returned 72 mpg on that tank

 

Jay

[moshe_levy]

I've run the same experiment on the bike with similar results. It's even more dramatic in the car. My Prius returned 51+MPG on a 60 mile (mostly highway) commute to work with CC set to 65mph, and only 39 with the CC set to my usual 79mph.

 

-MKL

[Mike]

Riding at 80 makes one the idiot. Excessive use of fuel and great potential for a speeding award.

 

That is a very bad attitude, contrary to the Almighty's plan.

 

If God had intended for us to go only the speed limit, He would have put speed governors on motorcycles. Therefore, it is God's will that I ride as fast as possible at all times, limited only by those factors which, in His infinite mercy and wisdom, He has deemed controlling of my speed: power, gearing, weight, friction and drag. This is the Gospel, according to Mike.

 

Amen.

[notacop]

Amen, Mikie!

I love to speed too, also but am fascinated by getting the most out of the fuel tank. And I don't want no stinking tickeys.

Best I got on my RTP was 60mpg slugging around Colorado.

Damn the rev limiter, full speed ahead. Into the valley of death rides the intrepid Beemerphile, chased like the dog he is by the local constabulary! oorah.

[Mike]

Of course, just to be clear, I am speaking in the hypothetical.

[Dave_C]

 

If God had intended for us to go only the speed limit, He would have put speed governors on motorcycles. Therefore, it is God's will that I ride as fast as possible at all times, limited only by those factors which, in His infinite mercy and wisdom, He has deemed controlling of my speed: power, gearing, weight, friction and drag. This is the Gospel, according to Mike.

 

Amen.

 

I agree with you. Although, my miles remaining on this MPG experiment tank indicates I'll get more than 350miles on this tank. I have 60k miles on this bike and probably average around 40mpg.

[rolling18]

not bad!

my latest MPG test:

usual: avg speeds 55-60 = 58 MPG from full tank 380ish miles

UNusual: 70-75 49 MPG full tank 290 miles

(all hand calculated)

obviously including variables.. weather, weight, roads ect

 

I LOBVE this bike more and more every time i ride it!

yes im a NEEEW bee (3mos so far and only 2k miles) i ride it whenever its not raining out

[notacop]

If it's any condolence or point of aggravation, I normally get 60+mpg with the 800ST with California REGULAR gas and got 72.9 going from Buena Vista to Crested Butte on a lunch run last year.

Maybe it was just Colorado, it is a superb place.

I always get the receipt and figure the mileage. This mornings' run up Angeles Crest to the Tunnels and back, 186.0 miles/ 3.026 gals.

Oh, yeah, that was at the speed limit.

[Bologna]

Speed Limit or posted limit?

[Deek]

Just to put things in perspective, when I tow my 33 ft fifth-wheel RV down to Florida my Chevy diesel averages 11.5 mpg. That's at 61-62 on the cruise control....if I go faster, which I rarely do, I will loose at least another 1 mpg!

 

On my RT I usually average around 48-49 mpg touring in the 65-75 mpg range. Faster and the mileage drops off a bit, which is logical.

[MotorinLA]

Riding at 80 makes one the idiot. Excessive use of fuel and great potential for a speeding award.

 

That is a very bad attitude, contrary to the Almighty's plan.

 

If God had intended for us to go only the speed limit, He would have put speed governors on motorcycles. Therefore, it is God's will that I ride as fast as possible at all times, limited only by those factors which, in His infinite mercy and wisdom, He has deemed controlling of my speed: power, gearing, weight, friction and drag. This is the Gospel, according to Mike.

 

Amen.

 

By your statement/logic I guess that makes me the Hand of God. I'll have to point that out to the next guy I give a ticket to...

[MotorinLA]

BTW noticed a significant mpg increase (3-4 mpg) just by slowing from 82-84 mph to 76-78 mph. I suppose wind, or lack thereof, may have contributed a little, but it is still a nice increase.

[ratfink]

I never ever never get as good a mileage as other piople claim, gasoline or tires either one. Are you guys sure someone isn't adding gas to your tanks while you are not looking?

[pbbeck]

I just got home this afternoon riding from Cedar City, UT to Long Beach, CA. My GT posted 50.0 mpg overall and I was cruising 75-80 mph the whole way. Yesterday, tooling around Utah at slower speeds, the GT posted a record 54.1!

 

That's using non-CA gas. When I fill up with CA gas, it drops to 47 at best.

 

 

[Mister Tee]

The sweet spot for mileage on the RT seems to be 60 to 70. I don't care to eat gas by going 80 either, but on some stretches of the I-5, if you don't, you get rear ended.

[dirtrider]

The sweet spot for mileage on the RT seems to be 60 to 70. I don't care to eat gas by going 80 either, but on some stretches of the I-5, if you don't, you get rear ended.

 

Hi Mister_Tee

 

That seems to be pretty universal on the 1200RT’s. Some of it is wind resistance and some is engine fuel management. On the 1200RTs I have put my duty cycle meter on the fueling system stays on the o2 sensors until about 70-75 mph, then pretty well goes open loop due to engine load. This does depend on bike loads and engine load but somewhere in the low 70mph range the bike goes off o2 control and onto fixed fuel trim. That fixed fuel trim is richer than the 14.7:1 the o2 control tries to maintain.

 

[Peter Parts]

Why would you think cruise control drives more economically than you can? What you do with your wrist (about 10 times a minute on even dull roads) runs the bike smarter and with more intelligent anticipation than a machine. And having a throttle counter-force spring helps you work the throttle with materially greater ease, speed, and precision... obviously.

 

At least with the weird tank on my S, no way to measure MPG except over the longer term of several tanks. (Kind of like the oil level glass, eh.) If you ride a whole day at one speed, there's a chance of accurately judging MPG v. speed.

 

I've recorded on a spreadsheet every tank on my boxer and 3.0 L car for a half-dozen years and more. In fact, since I record the date of the fill-up, I calculated how much fuel is lost due to evaporation independently of speed.

 

Ben

not from Lawrenceville, GA

 

Footnote: after changing the cat converter on my car, I was able to detect a small improvement in MPG.

[dirtrider]

Why would you think cruise control drives more economically than you can?

 

I don't think that and further more never said that.

 

 

[Peter Parts]

Why would you think cruise control drives more economically than you can?

 

I don't think that and further more never said that.

 

 

Sorry you are taking that so personally, dirtrider. As you may not realize, when you click quick reply, it is sticks in the name of previous post. No offense, please.

 

Whatever it is you do believe, here is the very first sentence of this thread, "...I decided to try for best gas mileage on my ride to work today. I set the cruise control..."

 

Ben

[Fubar]

I've run my car on cruise control at speeds between 90km/hr and 140km/hr at the same time taking readings of inst fuel usage from the trip computer. It's a very good lesson on speed vs fuel consumption.

If we were all very fuel conscious, we wouldn't drive cars much over 95km/hr (60ml/hr).

I'd like the opportunity to test the speed/fuel consumption on my RT. Then again, perhaps I would be better not knowing.

Done the same with the wife's Altima. 65 mph = 34-36 mpg, 70 mph gets 31 mpg, 75 mph gets 28-29 mpg. On a 210 mile trip to the in-laws it takes me 15 more minutes to get there. But who cares? (I've even seen 45 mpg in the same car at 45-50 mph but how long can you do that and where?)

The RT is similar, 70 mph gets me 45 mpg, 75 gets me 41-42 mpg. On the last FLC2C run I got somewhere near 53 without using cruise at all and lots of turns and speed changes from 30-55 (and a burst just into triple digits near the end).

[Fubar]

Riding at 80 makes one the idiot. Excessive use of fuel and great potential for a speeding award.

 

That is a very bad attitude, contrary to the Almighty's plan.

 

If God had intended for us to go only the speed limit, He would have put speed governors on motorcycles. Therefore, it is God's will that I ride as fast as possible at all times, limited only by those factors which, in His infinite mercy and wisdom, He has deemed controlling of my speed: power, gearing, weight, friction and drag. This is the Gospel, according to Mike.

 

Amen.

Praise the lord and pass the bandages! (I love sarcasm.)

And for what its worth, freeway on-ramps are great places to test rev limiters.

[taters]

i don't speed anymore since i moved to nj.... but back in nevada i had my 04 rt up to 115....quite the rush...one has to speed in nevada especially going from vegas to reno....