| Author | Message | ||
     Jphish |
I have never gotten more than 48mpg on my 08X with 12k mi & light usually shines @ about 160. I generally don't watch the odo but rather wait for the light to come on and start looking for fuel. (hoping I don't need to use the 30oz in the MSR bottle) Riding around Montana / Idaho Bitterroots this week glanced at the odo & 180.5 was staring back! WTF? - no light was showing, thought uh oh, bulb burned out. Problem was we were just out of Wise river and 30 miles to nearest gas @ Melrose. Then @ 184 light comes on. went 214.2 mi and only took 3.98 gal to just a few oz's over top of filler ring. (just before the point where it siphons out all over the bike & ground) Figured I must have miscalculated something - but had repeat performance on next leg - 54 mpg! That 'Big Sky' country must have a beneficial effect on fuel consumption as well as fine trout fishing. Bucking headwinds back to Oly was back down to 46-48mpg. But fuel consumption generally improving with reflash - though the fan runs damn near all the time now. Not sure I like the trade off. Cheers! | ||
| Froggy |
Baby it a little and get 60mpg+, or 240 miles before thinking of stopping   | ||
| Maximum |
I had always averaged 48 mpg on my normal commuting in the Denver Metro area...but a couple months ago I moved to a new house 15 miles up a sweet canyon road just west of Golden. Now with an extra 30 miles of spirited canyon carving per day, I am now getting 52 mpg consistently! So I don't know if it is the spirited riding...or the fact that the canyon road takes me up to 8000' of altitude...but I am most definitely getting about 10% better fuel economy! Plus I am finally able to wear out my tires evenly...no major flat spot in the center from too much highway action!  | ||
| Florida_lime |
Makes me wish I had bought an '06 instead of the '07 I ended up with ! I do see an improvement when I am up in the mountains, and off the interstate or daily commute. 48 mpg is the BEST I've ever seen. Of course, that isn't while riding like a girl ! (froggy)  (Message edited by florida_lime on July 24, 2009) | ||
| Thesmaz |
You guys must ride a lot slower than I do! If I see between 150 and 160 miles before the light comes on I'm happy! Of course, anything slower than 130kph on the Italian hi ways will get you killed! | ||
| Lens |
So, this forum is peppered with reports of better gas mileage at higher altitudes. While I do not dispute these reports, I was wondering why this is so. The only consistent difference in altitude is air pressure. Any theories on how lower atmospheric pressure would increase fuel combustion efficiency? It there any way of reproducing this affect for us poor slobs who are stuck in the flatlands? Or is the affect just the result of slightly less aerodynamic drag? (Message edited by LenS on July 24, 2009) | ||
| Froggy |
Ive gotten 75mpg at high altitudes. At higher altitudes, the thinner air means less air is getting into the engine, and requires less fuel to have combustion. You also make less power at those heights. | ||
| Odie |
Maximum- I'm jealous. You know the roads I have down here.... | ||
| Maximum |
You know you are welcome to come visit any time you want Odie! | ||
| Jphish |
Good points - I live @ sea level (Oly Wa) and we were running around at the 5-6 thousand ft level. I would have thought 'thinner' air (less O2) would make for poorer mileage. Montana air maybe thinner, but more powerful. Go figure. j | ||
| Cycletlh |
07 with 24,000 miles. Worst since new was 46 @ 80mph with strong headwind. Best was 62. 2 tanks back to back above 8,000 feet elevation. Live at 2,000 feet. Most rides vary from 0 to 4,000 feet. Average since new is better than 50 mpg. Fan runs almost all of the time. | ||
| Jphish |
Yeah Cycletlh - My mileage improved significantly with reflash last month. But fan runs nearly all the time now even @ 70*F ambient temp. Never used to do that. Guess thats the trade off. I should probably order a new fan to have on hand as spare for the inevitable. j |
