I fear you may not be aware of the full range of BM fuel gauge and yellow light idiosyncrasies
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Mine is just a decorative feature on the LHS of the RID.
.Mine is just a decorative feature on the LHS of the RID.
Odd progressive fuel economy failing.
- Thread starter jtw000
- Start date
I fear you may not be aware of the full range of BM fuel gauge and yellow light idiosyncrasies
Mine is just a decorative feature on the LHS of the RID.
+ 1. Some of the guages just aren't accurate enough to give you a true reading. You need to do a proper check or just get realistic with mpg.
Feck me, at current prices and according to you figures of 160 miles for a tenner, your Fireblade was doing nearly 80mpg
Think you have a dodgy memory of fuel was half price
Without wishing to teach anyone how to suck eggs, I'd follow the advice and spend the extra to fill up the tank to the bottom of the metal cone inside the top of the tank (ignore how much you put in as its not relevant at this stage), reset the tripmeter to zero, ride around for 150 to 200 miles, go back to same filling station, same pump position fill again to the bottom ring of the metal cone.
Lets say you did 150 miles on 16 ltrs
divide litrs by 4.546 gives you 3.52 gallons
divide 150 miles by 3.52 gives you 42.6 mpg, which is about the average for my '04 1200GS
again with apologies for those whose intelligence I've insulted with the above
Lets say you did 150 miles on 16 ltrs
divide litrs by 4.546 gives you 3.52 gallons
divide 150 miles by 3.52 gives you 42.6 mpg, which is about the average for my '04 1200GS
again with apologies for those whose intelligence I've insulted with the above 
rdover
Registered user
My old 06 GSA would sometimes do 300 miles to [indicated] reserve, sometimes 285 and more often 315 miles. My calculated fuel consumption was almost identical each time. 
NorthernBoy
Registered user
Mind, whether or not the OP is measuring right, it's still not a great figure for mileage.
Stick a 100bhp 1200cc engine in a small family car, and you'd hope that you'd average 40-50mpg nowadays despite it hauling around over a tonne of metal, fluids, and occupants.
We have a bike that probably comes in at about 300kg wet with rider, and lots of us are only getting 40mpg. Personally, with the mileage I'm doing, I'd fancy a bit more economy from the next model.
It's funny that it bothers me, as I have no problem at all in averaging about 20mpg from my car, (although that's got over 400bhp, an 8 cylinder 4 litre engine, and weighs about 2,000kg fuelled and occupied), but it does.
Stick a 100bhp 1200cc engine in a small family car, and you'd hope that you'd average 40-50mpg nowadays despite it hauling around over a tonne of metal, fluids, and occupants.
We have a bike that probably comes in at about 300kg wet with rider, and lots of us are only getting 40mpg. Personally, with the mileage I'm doing, I'd fancy a bit more economy from the next model.
It's funny that it bothers me, as I have no problem at all in averaging about 20mpg from my car, (although that's got over 400bhp, an 8 cylinder 4 litre engine, and weighs about 2,000kg fuelled and occupied), but it does.
Fill it.Take a spare can full.Ride it.When it coughs put the spare juice in .note the mileage.Simple.Works for me,Said this all before but get shouted at.I have no need to start staring at the horizon for petrol station untill the 225 mark,regular.
rdover
Registered user
I forgot to add that Ave mileage on my 06 GSA was 48mpg (tuned and ridden reasonably hard with wide panniers). My 09 GSA gives me 55+ on a long run solng as I ride like a Nun. In the real world I get about 47mpg dropping to 42 on a thrash.
As for comparing to a car, can I get a family car that can do 50mpg and 0-60 in 5 seconds and that can filter through traffic jams? Nope, didn't think so.
As for comparing to a car, can I get a family car that can do 50mpg and 0-60 in 5 seconds and that can filter through traffic jams? Nope, didn't think so.
300kgs??? You must be anorexic or something
You forget that the GS has the aerodynamics of a brick unlike the nice slippery shape of a car.
jtw000
Registered user
Ok, there's lots of different ways to measure things. A tenner is as good as yardstick as any and it's always clicking off the pump at about £9 so it's roughly taking the same amount of fuel. It's even worse today, got around 90 on the last tenner, only around 70 today. I take her off road, is there a sensor I could have damaged? I've checked her over and can't see anything dislodged or cracked. Will a service include a remap? Can i map her with a more up to date tune? Will a PC sort this out? I've been advised not to fit one but at this point I'll try anything.
In that case why don't you try taking it for a service at a reputable dealer / marque specialist, tell them the problem and get it sorted then?
I still fail to see how a tenner can be a good yardstick even you say it takes roughly the same. Do you use the same garage at the same price all the time? Fuel prices can be as much as 10p per litre different so you would get a litre less than with the cheaper with translates to @10 miles.
Unless you top the tank a few times and do manual calcs about actual fuel used versus actual mileage completed (ignoring the guage), you will never get an accurate reading. If the bike is under warranty, the dealer would expect you to do this to check the mpg.
My bike had a full system check and reprogramme at 48k so I'm guessing you can ask your dealer to reset ecerything to factory settings
I'd get it into a dealer for a good check over.
jtw000
Registered user
The fuel prices are a lot more consistant than my bike. I think my big problem with here is the attitude that it's going wrong, go ask someone to fix it for you. I don't understand this and i don't want that either. This is my bike! I want to fix it. This is making me want to sell it to get a bike i can work on and fix myself. I've noticed the people who are suggesting taking it to dealers are the ones having the biggest trouble understanding what is effectively a very basic principal of keeping an eye on fuelling which is something everyone should be doing anyway, all the time as it's an effective yardstick of the efficiency of the engine. It's certainly something I always do and have never had a bike behave like this before.
I have fitted upgraded pipes and filters without modding the electronics because the dealer told me that the computer would adapt to the changes itself. The fact remains this problem was there before the change. I don't know how I can explain this more simply. Either you understand the concept of using a fixed amount of fuel as a guide to milage or you can't but the fact remains the bike is getting progressively worse and the question remains as to what could be causing that.
I have fitted upgraded pipes and filters without modding the electronics because the dealer told me that the computer would adapt to the changes itself. The fact remains this problem was there before the change. I don't know how I can explain this more simply. Either you understand the concept of using a fixed amount of fuel as a guide to milage or you can't but the fact remains the bike is getting progressively worse and the question remains as to what could be causing that.
by the same token,there are people here who seem to want to create there problems,does it run badly does it missfire does it stall on you? if no then just stick fuel in when it needs it and enjoy
No problem with the concept whatsoever. You just haven't told us how you are doing it. Sticking a tenner in is not the same as using a fixed amount. For all we know, you started with a near empty tank and are gradually filling it up sticking a tenner in when you feel like it and saying "oh it's used a tenner's worth of fuel" which clearly would be rubbish. No doubt you are taking a more sensible approach but it ain't clear at all. Nor would we give much credence to relying on the gauge or the consistency of the low fuel light.
Several people have suggested the TPS and told you how to reset it. It is free, easy and DIY to try out. Have you actually tried it?
cmyers_uk
Guest
lets have some facts here , do you keep a spreadsheet of litres filled to miles ran and type of driving and what RON is the fuel?
Using your £10 got 70 miles , against my £10 got 88 miles but that was all motorway at 90 - 100mph and traffic jams. If I went offroad I would have used more for less miles. There are so many variables but from your post i really cant tell whether its normal or just varying because your doing a day offroad for example.
Looking at other threads O2 sensor is one thing to look at and TPS. But in your position Id make sure its wasnt within a normal range. Not sure without going to find a modern bike that your are comfortable working on its a requirement to meet emissions that they get more electronics to control them which in turn require more tools etc to tune thats certainly true with my car.
In your position I would do some specific test so I could speak to people who understand the bike giving them hard facts.
good luck , hope you find the answer
Using your £10 got 70 miles , against my £10 got 88 miles but that was all motorway at 90 - 100mph and traffic jams. If I went offroad I would have used more for less miles. There are so many variables but from your post i really cant tell whether its normal or just varying because your doing a day offroad for example.
Looking at other threads O2 sensor is one thing to look at and TPS. But in your position Id make sure its wasnt within a normal range. Not sure without going to find a modern bike that your are comfortable working on its a requirement to meet emissions that they get more electronics to control them which in turn require more tools etc to tune thats certainly true with my car.
In your position I would do some specific test so I could speak to people who understand the bike giving them hard facts.
good luck , hope you find the answer
Chris Terry
Registered user
Sounds like you've made your mind up !.
I'm not sure you are going to get a objective view here (we all love the GS, warts and all!!)
There have been several suggestions as to possible causes but you don't seem to acknowledge them. Apologies if I have misunderstood but your initial post gave me the impression that you have modified the bike as a response to incorrect running instead of attending to basic service items? Clearly this is the action of someone mechanically clueless therefore the problem would be better attended by someone technically competent.
So why don't you try the TPS reset ? Your dealer has told you that the computer has adaptive programming; if you do the TPS rest it resets this adaptive program. I have already stated that I notice a gradual degradation of fuel economy unitl a TPS is done.
It will take you 10 seconds. Why not gather the toys
, give it a go and report back to us all. If you don't, with the way the nights are drawing in this thread will descend into a winter long debate about the validity of various methods of calculating MPG figures. Save us now, reset your TPS, throw a tenners worth in your tak and let us know what happened. You could also check your rear brake. I once found that there was enough crud on the rear pad retaining pin to cause the pads to bind. That will sure feck up your MPG.
You can't expect us to diagnose your exact issue. We can try and help you with our experiences; we can also try to see if there is any flaw in your conclusion drawn from your observations.
'Course you could buy a KTM, and hope the engine lasts longer than 300 miles
jtw000
Registered user
What is a TPS? Nobody in this thread has said what it is? If it's the on off, three times with the throttle then yes i've done it but will run three or four tanks to show a pattern, at the moment no improvement but my riding style has changed on the last tank due to carrying luggage and a pillion which i would naturally expect to make an impact. It's not the brakes, it runs freely and i've had the wheels off to check bearings, etc already.
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