Fuel Consumption and tank ranges

[rocks]

I came back from 4600 miles of european riding in mid june. Put the bike in for its 24k service and have ridden it three times since, due to the work.

I seem to be getting 180miles to reserve..ie when amber light comes on.
Its a standard 1150GS with a standard tank, remus y piece and standard can.

This weekend, I filled up and did 150miles of north wales finest roads, mostly fourth and fith gear long streches with 3rd for twisties. Not majorly fast ridding, and unladen.

I am sure I was getting better mileage out of bike before the service, just havent got any records to prove it. Raised the issue after my first ride out following service with blue bell, but dont know whether to push it further.

The throttling is fine and bike appears to be a bit more powerfull but that might just be that fact its not hauling a load of camping gear around as per earlier this year.

What sort of mileage should I expect;
1. Country roads, full tank to reserve? (mostly fith gear, as six too low)
2. Motorways, full tank to reserve? (mostly sixth gear cruising at 70mph)

I keep seeing reports of 220 to 240 miles per tank.. mine doesnt seem to be anywhere near that, but i havent ever really pushed too far into reserve.

 

[fatnfast]

I also get around 180 to the amber light with a mix of motorways and A- roads. I have run it another 30 odd miles with the amber light on and it did not run out, so I guess it will exceed 200 miles to the tank. With a little more spirited riding I can get this down to 160-ish to the amber. Mine has a Y-piece and Remus. I dont think you have anything undue to worry about.

 

[ELIMINATOR]

Too variable, none of us rides the same style or route to make direct comparisons. I don't accelerate hard (rear Tourance 12,500 miles ) up & down the motorway anywhere between 50 to 100 (briefly) if I top up to the brim, I've seen 220 before the light, other times it's 190. But sometimes I might be filtering at 30, so there's no consistency.

In France it was about 150!!!!!!!!! That was a long stretch at about 110 to 120, might have been worse, I distinctly remember thinking the tank must have sprung a leak

1150 twin spark, std. exhaust.

 

[rocks]

French and spannish toll road

In France and Spain, at 115kms/hour on the gps, I would get over 150 per tank fully loaded, as it was at 150miles i would need to fill and stop to let my backside recover a bit..

I guess its true, we all do ride differently. Just a little concerned as I am not a fast rider, though i do like short bursts now and then but its usually only for a couple of bends and then ease off, and only if i know the road, and i can see its clear.

Problem, has been just not getting out on the bike and having along break since serve, i guess its easy to get paranoid about things, especially when I read people are getting 240miles out of a tank. Admitedly, i have never run the tank to very low. I guess I should keep and eye on how many litres i am putting in per miles.

 

[Bananaman]

I am that sad person.......... when I get a fresh bike I like to know what it gets to the gallon.
Having checked mileage over the past three weeks since getting my 1999 1150GS I have done nearly two thousand miles, I guess I must be lucky as I get 250 miles per tank usually between fillups, that's down to one bar usually, sometimes no bar.
Mileage worked out between 52 and 55mpg between fill ups
I am not going to grumble at that mpg.
To be fair a lot of that mileage was on A and B roads, not commuting. Will work that out as well as am now back nose to the grindstone.

Just looked at fuel gague now and it's showing 1/2 full with 158 miles covered so far, that is commuting and a couple of rides locally

 

[cookie]

i've had a best of about 190 and a worst of 121

maybe the garage reset your TPS richer?

 

[rocks]

TPS

Cookie I suspect you might be right, the bike seems a bit more powerful than I remember, and it was leaving dark marks on the sides of the TT pannier on the exhaust side. I seem to recall reading a thread, i think by Steptoe about a bike who's bike started running very rich and guzzling fuel, was doing the same.

If my memory recalls correctly, I believe fitting a y-piece can make your bike run a little bit leaner which can cause problems for wear, so woner if the garage have tweaked the mix up a bit too stop this.

 

[Dickieboy]

I think Eliminator says it, there are too many variables, I'm a tarmac type so I'm very pleased with my mpg, I'm mostly on country roads with some lanes thrown in so I would be bitterly dissapointed to get less than 200 miles to a full tank on my 1150, I've got a standard can with a y piece, and the fuel tank was modified by a previous owner so I can fill it to the brim. I weigh the best part of 20 stones and rarely if ever have the panniers on the bike, I use gentle progressive exceleration and never thrash the old girl.

 

[Keith Chapman]

My 02 1150 single spark standard tank, with Y piece, Standard can and techlusion box will give 200miles to amber (one bar showing) during summer and 180 to amber during winter. This is general riding, a mix of London commuting and pleasure riding.


After fitting the techlusion box I had my bike was setup on a dyno and runs slightly rich judging by the left hand rear indicator.

I guess that the winter drop is due to the "brains" deciding that the mixture needs to be richer for longer as the bike takes longer to reach running temperature, and that what fuel is in the tank is not expanding in the cool of winter.

 

[Tsiklonaut]

1100GS gets 290 miles out of tank travelling slowly. Everyday average i get around 250 miles out of tank , altough RID says it's empy already around 190-210 miles.

Speeds are 100 to 120 kph, 20% city riding.

Tank fits 23-24 usable litres, a bit over 25 litres if leaning it to the right side once the tank is sucked empy. Then you have a another 15 miles left to search for the fuelling station

 

[Bigtwin]

On mainly dual carriageway commuting, with a bit of contry road - 15 mins out of the 40 - I get 250m to last bar on my 1150 Adv - never run it right down into the warning light, but I'd guess it'd be good for another 30-50 miles going fairly easy?

I have however, worked the fuel out a few times when I was doing an extra 1/2 hour across London on top of the above - it was always near as dammit 55mpg. That's one up, no panniers (just a topbox), crusing at 80 slowing a little through town...

 

[Steptoe]

Confused to what your question actually is -

has the consumption changed since the service, does the fuel light come on sooner.

The 24K service should include a fuelfilter change. Sometimes the float arm can get moved while getting the pump in and put to replace the filter, and the fuel readings will be slightly altered to what you maybe used to .

But as everyone says, no one rides their bikes the same, so it's impossible to go by the amount of fuel other peeps use.

Not much you can do about it - just fill as and when needed, works for me

 

[Vern]

My 1100 always does between 10-15 miles a litre regardless of how I ride it.Filled up yesterday at 222 miles and it took 20lts which means there's still 8lts left in the tank.

The best thing to do,is run it dry,so you know how far you can go,then fill it up and see how much it takes!

Like steptoe says,every time I change the fuel filter,I run it dry to see where the sender arm ended up.It's never in the same place

 

[rocks]

Details..

Steptoe, Vern.. cheers..

The issue is, I "think" the bike i using more fuel than before the 24k service. I dont seem to be getting the mileage I remember I was getting before the service.

The 24k service didnt include the tank filter as it was optional and i chose to leave it till the next service.

I tend to ride till 1 bar on the guage and then fill up. I havent ridden it dry ever. I will keep and eye on the litres going in, and the mileage and road types. I would rather it ran rich than too lean from what I read about wear etc, just dont want to be paying for the privelage and planning to head to morroco next year so want to ensure i am getting the mileage that i can from it.

 

[Taff]

.. The issue is, I "think" the bike i using more fuel than before the 24k service. I dont seem to be getting the mileage I remember I was getting before the service....

What's wrong with keeping a record of the mileage our bikes (or cars for that matter) are doing? I'm not suggesting you keep figures to 4 decimal places but a regular check can do no harm, can it? In fact its probably a good idea, as it could be a sign that somethings wrong if your MPG takes a nosedive for no apparent reason.

A word of warning though, don't go by the number of bars as a guide - how often have you put the bike away with it showing 3 bars, then you take it out the next day and the yellow warning light comes on straight away, and its showing 1 bar?

 

[mumfy]

I came back from 4600 miles of european riding in mid june. Put the bike in for its 24k service and have ridden it three times since, due to the work.

I seem to be getting 180miles to reserve..ie when amber light comes on.
Its a standard 1150GS with a standard tank, remus y piece and standard can.

This weekend, I filled up and did 150miles of north wales finest roads, mostly fourth and fith gear long streches with 3rd for twisties. Not majorly fast ridding, and unladen.

I am sure I was getting better mileage out of bike before the service, just havent got any records to prove it. Raised the issue after my first ride out following service with blue bell, but dont know whether to push it further.

The throttling is fine and bike appears to be a bit more powerfull but that might just be that fact its not hauling a load of camping gear around as per earlier this year.

What sort of mileage should I expect;
1. Country roads, full tank to reserve? (mostly fith gear, as six too low)
2. Motorways, full tank to reserve? (mostly sixth gear cruising at 70mph)

I keep seeing reports of 220 to 240 miles per tank.. mine doesnt seem to be anywhere near that, but i havent ever really pushed too far into reserve.

last month did 220 miles loaded with camping gear at 70/80mph all on A
roads down to Essex=56 MPH

 

[Dellis]

I could never suss either of my 1150's out. A B C roads 180 miles to light on, motorway (80 - 90mph) 160 miles to light on, alpine passes giving it some stick 200 miles to light on??? A Belgium mate of mine has found the same principal on his 1150 RT.

Dave

 

[Bananaman]

Well filled up today after a week of commuting mileage, (I worked last Sunday)

16.3 litres = 3.5189 Imp Gallons over 177.4 miles
177.4 divided by 3.5189 = 50.4134815 mpg, which is pretty OK for ten miles of slow traffic and a reasonably clearish 40 mph limit for a couple of miles.

So to recap my 1150GS seems to get between 52 and 55 mpg on runs out on short motorway journey then A and B roads. Commuting mileage is 50mpg, so am I a really gentle rider? I don't think so.
And on the ride outs Mrs B and usually a picnic or luggage of some sort, usually shopping accompanies us on the way back