What MPG?

[The Pilot]

 

Averaging 44 so far.  I change the windscreen often depending on temperature and have only noticed a 1 mpg difference with the sport screen on. Typical cruising speed is only 59 mph though so aero is not a huge factor. I’m 6’5” / 240 Lbs and have the seat set in the high position.  Also bags on 99% of the time.  Akrapovic exhaust with a tune and leave every stop light in full afterburner...then set the cruise.

Edited July 29, 2021 by The Pilot

[petshark]

17 hours ago, The Pilot said:

 

Averaging 44 so far.  I change the windscreen often depending on temperature and have only noticed a 1 mpg difference with the sport screen on. Typical cruising speed is only 59 mph though so aero is not a huge factor. I’m 6’5” / 240 Lbs and have the seat set in the high position.  Also bags on 99% of the time.  Akrapovic exhaust with a tune and leave every stop light in full afterburner...then set the cruise.

It seems that I spoke too soon. Filled the tank today and got the worst mileage ever. 36 MPG.

Most of if spent today in A mode on a 5 hr round tour with a lot of wind. And I did spend a lot more time in 2nd gear where I'm usually in 3rd. But no idea why I seem to have the worst mileage of the entire forum.

[2and3cylinders]

Last ride on the return leg with the rear steel belts showing I did not exceed 60 mph and stayed off the slab so more traffic lights, and for the first time ever in 48k miles got 48 mpg!

But that's got to be a fluke as I usually average 40~41 mpg.

Vcyclenut flash, stock size db screen with spoiler, 2 up on rear sprocket, Givi case guards with driving lights, KTM hand guards, Renthal Street Naked taller bars, SW-MT skid plate, Shad SH46 top box (rarely run my SH36 panniers), wider & lower foot pegs, front Fenda Extenda & rear hugger extension, fork axle sliders & rear lift bobbins/sliders, 320 mm rotors & radial MC reservoir.  6-1 & prolly 260 in ATGATT (I'm up at least 15 # since the pandemic, and another 10 due to a bad back).  All aforementioned because all will serve to increase GVW and wind resistance (drag) and engine rpm for a given road speed under load thus reducing mpg.

New T32 doughnuts to be scrubbed in thoroughly today at excessive speeds at unreasonable rates of acceleration and deceleration.

So I predict mpg dropping to the norm on a mix of 91 RON E0 & E 10.

[petshark]

Eureka. I think I figured out why I briefly detoured from my 40 MPG average.

I got 46 MPG only because for once I didn't fill it to the brim that time. By that I mean when the gas pump stops, pull up the handle and add more fuel until it reaches the top of that insert thingy.

One liter less in the tank makes a 6 MPG difference because the calculation is offset by comparing the amount of fuel you put in with the distance you did on the previous tank. So first it went up but when I filled to the brim like before yesterday I got 36 MPG and so it balances out again.

That means that nothing has changed and the more aerodynamic MRA screen does not make much of a difference after all.

I'm 200 in ATGATT so a lot lighter than you @2and3cylinders but we still get the same lowest-on-the-spectrum mileage. Weight also does not seem to be the differentiator. I never ever get 48 MPG even when doing the odd commute.

[knyte]

6'0, 200 lbs.  Maybe +20 lbs ATGATT gear and another +50 lbs when touring.

[Wintersdark]

300lbs naked, probably around 330 in gear, 6'4", ride almost exclusively in A mode and at high RPM's.  48mpg according to the bike - I've never bothered to actually track it manually.  

[knyte]

18 minutes ago, Wintersdark said:

48mpg according to the bike

Woah, that's really good.  I wonder if it's your booster plug?

[Warchild]

Another data-point in the discussion - myself and Warchild-wife recently did a stint in central Nevada. Following numbers represent 2-up, full FJR1300 side bags and a full Shad40 - so we're heavy by factory standards.

 

 

Day 1, I was in a hurry to get to Ely, and really rampaged the roads in a naughty fashion. Setting the cruise-control at 85+ ranges for hundreds of miles at a time. First tank was 41mpg, the 2nd was 39mpg.  ☹️

Day 2, I purposely kept the cruise control at a painful 67-mph, and was rewarded with a solid 53-54mpg. For the amount of weight the bike is carrying, I find this exceptional. It's allows for a reasonable 200+ mile range. At least the price of boredom speeds is knowing you can make it to the next dusty Nevada town, and hope there is available fuel. 👍

[Yamajank]

1500 miles in Wisconsin twisties and going hard (90-100) on straight country roads (which aren’t  many) and 70-80 on the highway.  I averaged 48.5

[2and3cylinders]

Took it relatively easy yesterday to scrub in the new T32s

 Actual average Was about 41.5, Gauge read 43

 Other than short bursts Tried to maintain a maximum of 76 MPH

 Running ways on waze on my cell and my new Zumo XT, the speedo read 2 mph higher at 76 mph

 Safe tank mileage seems to be about 165 leaving about .81 gallons on reserve or 29 miles to fumes.

 

[Wintersdark]

On 7/30/2021 at 4:33 PM, knyte said:

Woah, that's really good.  I wonder if it's your booster plug?

No idea; though if anything it should (very slightly) decrease gas mileage as it causes the engine to run slightly richer while in open loop mode (low rpms, and hard acceleration) and has no effect while cruising.  I *suspect* the bike will report a slightly higher version than actual (see @2and3cylinders's post above)

But, if you're comparing, compare it to what your bike reports - mine shows 20.5 kilometers per liter.   If there's any systemic inaccuracy with how it calculates mileage it should be consistent between bikes that way.

 

[petshark]

11 hours ago, Wintersdark said:

But, if you're comparing, compare it to what your bike reports - mine shows 20.5 kilometers per liter.   If there's any systemic inaccuracy with how it calculates mileage it should be consistent between bikes that way.

IMO it's better to compare real calculations. Yamaha may very well have changed the algorithm a few times over the years in an attempt to make it more accurate. FWIW my bike's average is 5.4 liter/100 km (43 mpg) while my calculated average is 5,9 liter/100 km (40 mpg) so it's 10% optimistic.

20 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

 Safe tank mileage seems to be about 165 leaving about .81 gallons on reserve or 29 miles to fumes.

Just noticed yesterday that the reserve warning came on at exactly 10.0 liter fuel consumption.. out of an 18 liter tank filled to the top (on the center-stand).

If I look at my stats the average fill-up is 14 liters while my dash shows 30 km into reserve. So that doesn't add up;

• If I can get only 14 L in an 18 L tank, that means there are still 4 L in there. 4 L at 6L/100 km = 66 km.
• I found out the hard way that the bike runs empty at just under 50 km into reserve which is why I usually fill up at around 20-30 km into reserve. So there should be 20-30 km of fuel left which is less than 2 L. (2L at 6L/100 km = 33 km)

I don't mind that the bike cannot show accurate fuel information so much as long as I can interpret it correctly. But I seem to be short 2 liters of fuel every tank.

Does anyone have a clue what I'm missing here? Research shows that you can get 18 L in any Tracer when it's empty and I do have a record of filling it with 16,7 L and around 40 km into reserve. (sadly I was not tracking mileage when I ran it empty).

Anyway, not a big deal but if someone has an idea why this is I'd be very interested.

[2and3cylinders]

Is a 15 ~ 18 (or even thru 20) tank 4.8 US Gallons (18.169 Liters) or 18 Liter (4.755 US Gallons)?!

It's both gallons wise, because the Yamaha owner's manuals list both depending on year but in all cases show 18 Liters, so they rounded up to 4.8 and 4.76 gallons (should use 7.55).  I've been using 4.8 but from here onward will use 4.755.

https://library.ymcapps.net/library/om/app/index.html?baseCode=6150&langId=02

I'd have to check my records but I recall filling my FJs tank after running dangerously far on reserve and pumping in at least 4.65 US Gallons.

6L/100 Km = 39.202 MPG US

41.5 MPG US = 5.667 L / 100 Km

Over the last 500 miles and pushing fairly hard 50% + of the time on both high speed superslab and raucous back roads I again managed maybe a bit more than 41.5 MPG US (5.667 L/100 Km), which for me is as good as it gets.

So based on the Yamahaha universally stated 2.6 L / .69 US Gallon reserve and using 41.5 MPG, the last and far left fuel gauge bar will begin flashing and a new window will start counting up (don't you wish it counted down!) indicating there are 28.64 miles to go before our beloved CP3 engine sputters frantically and then suddenly becomes very quiet. Your mileage may very...

So at 165 miles I hypothetically have .779 gallons remaining and 32.33 miles more to go before I'm sweating profusely as I push my not so light now am I FJ-09 to the nearest dinosaur juice station or local farmer's driveway.  165 then is a good number for me, and realizes on average at 41.5 MPG the reserve function triggering on at about 105 or so miles, maybe 109 if I've been a good boy but never farther.  However, after severely testing my skills, nerve and CP3 critical components, I've had reserve trigger at only 90 miles or thereabouts.

Still, A LOT better than my VTR1000F and much more comfortably!

[Wintersdark]

3 hours ago, petshark said:

IMO it's better to compare real calculations. Yamaha may very well have changed the algorithm a few times over the years in an attempt to make it more accurate. FWIW my bike's average is 5.4 liter/100 km (43 mpg) while my calculated average is 5,9 liter/100 km (40 mpg) so it's 10% optimistic.

For sure it is best to compare real calculations, but I don't have that because I'm too lazy* to bother doing it so the only value I have is the bike's display.  What I'm saying is that it's more likely to be a "like to like" comparison than my bike's display to his calculated value.

* Less that I'm too lazy and more that there's no real reason to know more accurately, as while I do lots of long road trips, the Tracer's range exceeds my desire to ride without stopping for gas/snacks/stretching.

[2and3cylinders]

1 hour ago, Wintersdark said:

For sure it is best to compare real calculations, but I don't have that because I'm too lazy* to bother doing it so the only value I have is the bike's display.  What I'm saying is that it's more likely to be a "like to like" comparison than my bike's display to his calculated value.

* Less that I'm too lazy and more that there's no real reason to know more accurately, as while I do lots of long road trips, the Tracer's range exceeds my desire to ride without stopping for gas/snacks/stretching.

How true, especially if one has a large peach size prostrate. 

However there are often times when there isn’t a gas station when you need one in the boonies...