150 miles between fuel stops

[the-other-bradders]

am I riding it too hard??!? or could somethijng be wrong??!?

first couple of rides saw 200+ before I needed fuel, now the light comes on aorund 130 and I HAVE to get fuel by 150!

 

[david a hall]

howmany litres do you put in it after 150 miles?

 

[colinw]

I'm gonna watch this one I get 150 to a tank, last time i ran to 0 on the countdown and fuelled 18.5 litres

 

[the-other-bradders]

about 17-18l normally, so roughly 38mpg, same as I have got from my 04 blade and not much more than a ducati 996sps for road riding

 

[sockpuppet]

am I riding it too hard??!? or could somethijng be wrong??!?

first couple of rides saw 200+ before I needed fuel, now the light comes on aorund 130 and I HAVE to get fuel by 150!

Have you added panniers since the first few rides?

Riding style changed (e.g. city riding)

Are any of the brakes binding?

Were you taking it easy for the first few fills while it ran in?

What speed do you cruise at on the M/Way etc?

 

[Rong]

Just bought my first GS (1200 with Akra), On 130 mile trip back from Brighton, cruising at about 80 on motorways with panniers and top box I seem to have managed about 50 ish to the gallon. One thing that someone maybe able to answer for me though, the fuel guage shows full untill I've done about 70 miles then it drops down to half. At this point it then goes down as the fuel is used, is this normal behaviour for the guage?

 

[sockpuppet]

Just bought my first GS (1200 with Akra), On 130 mile trip back from Brighton, cruising at about 80 on motorways with panniers and top box I seem to have managed about 50 ish to the gallon. One thing that someone maybe able to answer for me though, the fuel guage shows full untill I've done about 70 miles then it drops down to half. At this point it then goes down as the fuel is used, is this normal behaviour for the guage?

That happens on my car. Usually because I've over filled it.

 

[the-other-bradders]

A and B road riding, probably average 80ish most places (NSLs obvioulsy), leading rides or part of rides with mainly sports bikes

dont do motorways!!

have fitted top box......but its the same before and after

noticed brakes were a bit sqeeky today, riding without earplugs, thought I may have got some cleaning spray on them

 

[Jon P]

One thing that someone maybe able to answer for me though, the fuel guage shows full untill I've done about 70 miles then it drops down to half. At this point it then goes down as the fuel is used, is this normal behaviour for the guage?

Yes - that seems about normal

 

[david a hall]

A and B road riding, probably average 80ish most places (NSLs obvioulsy), leading rides or part of rides with mainly sports bikes

dont do motorways!!

have fitted top box......but its the same before and after

noticed brakes were a bit sqeeky today, riding without earplugs, thought I may have got some cleaning spray on them[/QUO

if you average 80ish on a and b roads, i expect you are taking full advantage of the revs, and engine breaking, the bike weighs the thick end of 1/4 of a tonne, thats about the mpg you would expect

 

[the-other-bradders]

cool thanks, sounds like its just how its ridden

what would be expected if touring with a bit of luggage? kind of pace where you can at least enjoy a bit of the country you're in!!

 

[Schtum]

if you average 80ish on a and b roads, i expect you are taking full advantage of the revs, and engine breaking, the bike weighs the thick end of 1/4 of a tonne, thats about the mpg you would expect

I disagree. In that sort of riding, which is pretty much what I do all the time, I average 45 - 47 mpg.

 

[RickG]

I agree with schtum, I get close to 50mpg pretty much regardless of how I ride unless it's 2-up with panniers and constantly over 90mph on the M-way for in which case it drops to nearer 40.

Regular as clockwork I get 200 miles to the fuel warning light then there's about 50 miles left in the tank.

guess you could try riding like you did early on when you got better milage and see if that makes a significant difference? If not I'd recheck how much you actually put in the tank when you refill as like the others say the fuel gauge isn't 100% accurate.

 

[BeemerBaz]

When I fill up, and its filled almost to the top of spout my distance remaining usually says 217 miles, I rode back from the IOW the other evening, 2 up and pretty rapid in a strong wind, got home having done 187 miles and 30 miles remaining on the distance remaining, pretty accurate I think ?

 

[Packer]

Could it be a duff oxygen sensor resulting in an over rich mixture? Is the exhaust pipe sooty?

Have you filled the air filter with muddy water at any point when wading floods or something similar?

I have to be riding very hard to get my less fuel efficient 1150 below 40mpg, ¨like on a track¨ hard!

 

[Paul Rochdale]

In the States, I regularly used to get 290 miles on my Pan before needing to fill up. Over here about 240 miles depending on the type of riding. Some Yanks reckon on over 300 miles but I could never manage that, ever.

 

[karnevil]

Touring,fully loaded one up and not hanging about nd alo in the Alps i get between 200 and 250 between fill ups regular and have been getting this since i got the bike new and had the same from my firt GS(When it worked!)
I filled my tank to the top when i got the bike and ran it till it spluttered on a decent run(carrying some spare fuel) and noted the milage this with the fuel gauge gives me a good indication of what milage I have left.This yer I ran over 30 miles loaded into Merano with zero mikes left showing on the display.
I'm sure at least one person on here will cream "Thats not the way to do it"
But it works!

 

[Owen Snell]

Normal 200+ miles to the tank, approx. 50 to the gallon regardless of supermarket or 'super' unleaded. The only drop off was when I had one tank with all short runs, then it dropped a bit, maybe 45 mpg. Panniers on all the time, motorway and open roads, rarely less than 80 cruising (not much traffic here).

 

[Gipsy]

I agree with most on here. 200 miles or so to the tank one up, a little less if chasing the wife's fireblade. The only time I noticed a big drop off of MPG was while touring heavily laden with both panniers expended. Then I was down to 170 miles or so.

 

[bmwrich58]

am I riding it too hard??!? or could somethijng be wrong??!?

first couple of rides saw 200+ before I needed fuel, now the light comes on aorund 130 and I HAVE to get fuel by 150!

Are you sure about making all the fillups the same?
Keep in mind that even off by half a gallon/2 ltrs will upset mpg figures.

Average mpg's are right about 39-41 at normal riding speeds. Getting a little throttle crazy will drop the mpg's into the mid 30's.
Riding with an easy hand and keeping the rpm's low but not lugging it, will
return higher figures like lo 40's.

Best way to figure mpg's is to make sure you fillup all the way where you can actually see the fuel in the filler neck. And repeat this again so as to get the most accurate figures. Letting it fill until the pump shuts off by itself will result with different figures as different pumps each have their own pressure sensitive shutoff values.