Author |
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Keys
| Posted on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - 07:47 pm: |
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- As a former cyclist, I have wondered why I have never seen aero wheels on a motorcycle. You can do it with stretched lycra so weight is not a problem. Spokes traveling through air as well as rotating faster with every added mph churn and produce the most amount of turbulence on a bicycle. ? - |
Syonyk
| Posted on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - 08:06 pm: |
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Interesting... I should build something & try it... |
Afhans
| Posted on Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 12:48 am: |
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Looks like I am stuck with my 30ish MPG commuting miles and my 31-33ish riding miles. Thanks Froggy for sharing everything & everyone else too. For me, it was things I already knew. But I bought the bike for fun. And I don't get much fun from trying to get good MPG. My only disappointment with the 1125r is that I expected (maybe foolishly) to not have to fill up, but every 190 or so miles, not every 100. But this is cool because I not get to look for a touring bike as a second set of wheels. |
1125rcya
| Posted on Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 01:44 am: |
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35 mpg average 45-55 instant mpg while cruising I have yet to get over that 35 mpg ave. |
Zac4mac
| Posted on Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 09:45 am: |
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reset last week when I re-installed the Erik Buell Racing ECM. 38-39 mpg commuting with occasional twisties and triple-digit jumps. This is the best Loretta has ever run. Z |
Daniii
| Posted on Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 09:54 am: |
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I can get 43 cruising, but I still average 33 or so. Somehow, I just can't control the right wrist. :-) |
Daniii
| Posted on Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 09:59 am: |
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PS: If you have a Garmin, wired to the accy circuit in the headlamp area, and you shut off the engine, the Garmin loses power. Not a problem for the GPS portion, but the XM radio receiver needs power to work. |
Blake
| Posted on Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 09:59 am: |
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"Requesting Froggy" NOOOOOoooooo!!! Whew, thought the apocalypse had been kicked off there for a minute until I read the thread. Just please don't repeat his name three times in succession! |
Rpm4x4
| Posted on Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 10:06 am: |
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Well Froggy, I tried but I could only contain myself for about 30 miles. I came upon a great twisty road... ahh you all know the rest. I was able to get an average of 46mpg without any of the radical suggestions posted earlier. Just lowering the speeds to 55-60, mild accel, no brakes for curves. I think the big ones are light accel, lower speed, and anticipating the need to stop or slow down. I tried to never use brakes and coast up on stuff. I take this same trip of 220 miles every tuesday evening and return wed evening. I am going to try a different route with less stops and lower speed limit and see what kind of results I can get. Mainly just curios. It would be cool if I could achieve the trip without stopping for fuel. That makes up for the lower speeds as well. |
Froggy
| Posted on Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 10:20 am: |
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quote:PS: If you have a Garmin, wired to the accy circuit in the headlamp area, and you shut off the engine, the Garmin loses power
If you are quick and toggle it from off back to run, the period with the accessories not having juice is either really short or not at all. If you do it right the engine will still cut off, but at higher RPMs the engine has enough momentum to restart itself. I think the settings can be altered in TunerPro, I am looking into it. Also what I should of noted in my last post, don't go by what the cluster says, I find it reads low, especially if you engine off coast as it can't count it. To calculate your fuel economy, reset your tripometer at every fillup, then drive till you need gas again. Fill up consistently, like always on the side stand and always fill to the same point. I stop filling when gas starts to come over that lower ring below the gas hole. Calculate the tripometer reading divided by the amount of gallons you put in your bike, that is your miles per gallon (230 mile trip/4.60 gallons = 50mpg). Rpm4x4 - Yes, it does require a bit of self control, and honestly that is the hardest part. Absolute power corrupts absolutely or so they say 220 miles is very doable if you are able to restrain yourself and focus on what you are already doing. You would have to maintain an average of 47mpg to do 220 miles without the gas light coming on. I am sure you can pull it off. |
D_adams
| Posted on Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 10:43 am: |
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Froggy Froggy FROGGY Like that? |
Afhans
| Posted on Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 11:34 am: |
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D_adams, Could you do it again, but with different colour font for each Froggy? (Message edited by afhans on April 29, 2010) |
Clk92vette
| Posted on Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 12:27 pm: |
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I averaged 33 MPG on my first 700 miles, and am averaging 34 over the next 200 miles. I am sure that the drag from my front brake rotor was hindering my average, but it has gotten better with wear in. Most of my miles come via my commute to and from work which is a good mix of highway and rural two lane with just a little stop and go. It lends itself to good efficiency and I averaged 25.1 MPG in my Vette last year on just over 8,000 miles. I have to believe that I could average close to 40 MPG with my R if I really minded my right hand, but don’t think that the ends would justify the means. There are two things in general that strike me as being out of whack concerning motorcycles, cost per pound and mpg. Let’s say the “average” bike costs $10k and weighs 500 lbs., that equates to $20/lb. And if the average car weighs 4,000 lbs and costs $24k that equates to $6/lb. Certainly the economies of scales contribute significantly in the manufacturing process. But safety equipment adds a considerable cost to automobiles, and that is the main reason that GM can sell a minivan in China for $6k. The materials are no more special than the automotive industry and the engineering effort is definitely less intensive. As far as the MPG is concerned, rolling resistance and weight are two key factors in efficiency. With half as many wheels, 1/8 the weight, and ¼ the frontal area the MPG just doesn’t add up either. Oh well, the fun factor is still worth every penny. |
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