R1100 GS Fuel consumption

[aaroNZ]

It was one of those days....everything went wrong. Was told my Uncle had died and was sorting out flight to get up to Taumaranui for the funeral. In hind sight I should have taken the car.

Seem to have cracked the right hand cylinder head cover (the plastic part, not the alloy itself).

What have you done to your thumb?

I can't ride 'till my thumb heals, otherwise I'd offer to drop round and help pick her up. Hopefully not too much harm done?

 

[aaroNZ]

Thanks for the smile King Rat.

Did pour a bit out onto the road...found the overflow pipe now

I'm ok...apart from seriously wounded pride...and being very annoyed with myself.

Ooooh bugger. That is not good for the fuel consumption letting it all run out of the top...

Hope you are OK. You'll have to go and fill up again now, and start all over with new calculations.

I suppose you could include the odd tumble to give an accurate overall consumption figure.

 

[aaroNZ]

Thinking I need to explore this CO business. I assume I have the original exhaust on mine. Looking at the photos of the CO pot, I couldn't find one, so perhaps I have whatever the alternative is.

My fuel consumption has gone to the dogs, I might as well drive an old jag or something, I put the stock exhaust back on and when I ran the CO meter on it last night it just would not turn down, another CO pot on its way.

Stewart

 

[Stewart H]

Thinking I need to explore this CO business. I assume I have the original exhaust on mine. Looking at the photos of the CO pot, I couldn't find one, so perhaps I have whatever the alternative is.

If you can see a Lambda sensor on the right side of your exhaust down by the brake lever area then you have no CO pot, I am unsure of the chronology of the changes though.
Stewart

 

[cartejo5]

50 + mpg

Mines a 98 non cat version with 55k on it. Its doing 50+ mpg used for quick commutes and weekend playing.

 

[aaroNZ]

By non cat, will this mean neither Lambda sensor or CO pot?

Mine is a 94 with plastic tank. 83K miles.

Mines a 98 non cat version with 55k on it. Its doing 50+ mpg used for quick commutes and weekend playing.

 

[MattW]

By non cat, will this mean neither Lambda sensor or CO pot?

Mine is a 94 with plastic tank.

Excellent choice - so's mine I get 250 miles from my plastic tank before I see a warning light.

Mine's a non cat, CO pot model although yours may be an export model with a cat (not sure what the NZ / Aus market required back in '94). As far as I'm aware, all CAT bikes have a lambda sensor (required to ensure the cat does its job) and all others have a CO pot. However given the age of our bikes there's a chance that a previous owner may have ditched the cat and be running with no lambda sensor or CO pot but if you still have the standard pipe then its probably unlikely.

Easy to tell - as Stewart says just look for the lambda sensor on the pipe after the Y piece near the brake pedal (quite a big chunky thing - can't miss it). Or for the CO pot look at motobiker's picture in this post: http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1905585&postcount=12

 

[aaroNZ]

Fantastic info..thanks MattW!! I will have to take a look in the light of day and check it out. Good to hear that you get such good mileage....something to make comparison with.
Appreciate you taking the time to respond.
cheers
Aaron

Excellent choice - so's mine I get 250 miles from my plastic tank before I see a warning light.

 

[Cortina]

Ah Dunedin NZ ... sounds like where I spent plenty of time a while back servicing before , during , and after Silver Fern Rally !! (4 wheels)
Now 1100 Fuel consumption : Last year , was getting fed up with 37 to 48 mpg range .. average 44 over about 5000 miles. decided time for action and tried TPS , what I thought was a dirty air filter , plugs - all to no avail , exactly the same.
Eventually found CO pot , and a measuring machine ... success ! Average now up to 48.5mpg , and now see 51 / 52 on a longer run. By colour of exhaust I could adjust a bit more , but maybe not. Improvement seems to be more on lower speed / throttle opening runs - rather than at high speed steady throttle situation.

 

[aaroNZ]

Hi Cortina (hmmm had one of those...a Mk4 Aussie Assembled Ghia)
Glad to hear you've visited our fair city...hope you enjoyed your time here.

Ah Dunedin NZ ... sounds like where I spent plenty of time a while back servicing before , during , and after Silver Fern Rally !! (4 wheels)

I hear ya....I am wanting to try to resolve my 'galloping consumption' as I fear it is well below par

Now 1100 Fuel consumption : Last year , was getting fed up with 37 to 48 mpg range .. average 44 over about 5000 miles. decided time for action and tried TPS , what I thought was a dirty air filter , plugs - all to no avail , exactly the same.

Eventually found CO pot , and a measuring machine ... success !

Ok....I think this is my no lambda sensor shot

Which would make this my CO pot? (it doesnt line up with the hole as it is swinging around in the breeze, perhaps from when previous owner took off the paniers and bars)

If indeed this is my sensor...what is my next step? Try and find someone with a meter? What am I looking for in terms of settings?

cheers
Aaron

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

might be some more useful info in this old thread of mine - particularly post 12

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37769&highlight=mixture

 

[aaroNZ]

Thanks motomartin,
I have been through those threads now....still not a lot wiser..other than...." Do NOT fiddle with this pot unless you have a CO monitor on the bike. You could destroy your engine by running it too lean."
Also noted someone else said that their pipe was very black/sooty around the hole itself. Mine qualifies there too.

might be some more useful info in this old thread of mine - particularly post 12

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37769&highlight=mixture

 

[MattW]

Yep, you've found your CO pot.

Now you've a couple of options:

However, before you do anything, make sure the rest of the bike is in good order (i.e not needing new air filter, valve clearances etc).

You can either find a local garage which has a CO meter (doesn't have to be a bike place, most reasonable car places will have one) and see if they'll stick it on the meter while you adjust.

Or buy / borrow a meter and do it yourself.

Before you do it, make sure you read up on the procedure and make little adjustments, allowing time for things to settle down. I've never done this on my bike (although I have on a few cars) so it's be a good idea to ask someone who has first hand experience (I know <strike>motobiker</strike> edit: oops - meant StewartH on here has recently done his and there are bound to be many others, Steptoe will have done hundreds).

M

 

[Stewart H]

You found the CO pot , mine turned out to have died, (Replacement used one from Motor Works £15) it mounts in a rubber block which is a push fit onto a bit of bent tin which in turn is held in place by one of the rear rack mounting bolts, I replaced mine last week then borrowed a CO meter, hopefully the back end of the bike will not be sooty any more, thankfullly it was a pretty windy day when I did mine, but the bike still got a bit hot under the collar running at idle for a while, a couple of electric fans would have helped to be honest, the motor needs to be a full operating temperature and my meter required a good twenty minutes warming up too, make half turn adjustments and allow time for the changes to register on the meter, clockwise to weaken.

The bike certainly runs better, now to see if my fuel economy returns.
My Brother lived in Dunedin last year, but now has gone back to the North Island

Stewart

 

[Wrigsby1]

A tip is to find a friendly MOT garage that you can drop a £5er or more and do it the setting yourself. As with the 16v K's the pot is anticlockwise for + and clockwise for -, how very German. Takes about 5 mins and half of that is getting the hole lined up. Make sure engine is hot though or the reading will keep changing.

I usually get 10+miles per litre or 45+miles per gallon. If the pot breaks down then it defaults to over rich as I remember, so getting sooty exhaust.

Different exhausts can bugger this up of course...

G