Poor mileage equals problem?

[daboo]

Fuelly results need to be taken with a critical eye.

How many fill ups did the person make?  Are they recording only their top mileage when hypermiling? And skipping their normal results?

Do they live in Kansas where a traffic jam is two cars at a 4-way stop? Or Brooklyn?

On my F800GT, I used to get @50 mpg in town. 55-60 or so on trips.  I'm getting mid-40s now in town. Traffic is just getting so bad. Since there's nothing I can do about it, I don't worry about it.  What I do watch like a hawk, is my MPG on a trip.  And if I wasn't getting what I expected, then I'd be concerned.

Chris

[v1nn1e]

I would say the only way to really do an mpg comparison is to find some time when you can get out on the open road,  reset your avge mpg display and sit at a steady speed for a good 20-30 miles.

Then see what reading you get. Even that figure will depend on your weight, tyre pressures and also the wind speed and direction at the time.

Mixed and urban riding is soooooooo dependent on rider input that varies hugely from one person to the next.

As a final observation, a typical factory ECU tune is going to be set to comply with emissions regulations and that means very lean, i.e. high mpg figures. Almost any aftermarket ECU modification will enrich the mixture and reduce mpg.

[chitown]

'15. Reflashed 2wdw for stock exhaust. Heavy wrist. 10% ethanol fuel vast majority of life. Fat guy. Have run through plenty of full tanks in STD, in A, all city, all twisty, freeway cruising, mixed etc.

38 pre-flash riding light to light flogging isn't out of the realm of possibility. Mine would dip to high 30s stock when flogged. My flash made it richer but not 5 mpg richer.  

Fwiw mileage did improve slightly during the first 20k miles of operation. My mpg never comes close to online figures. Lots of folks that don't ride them that hard out there.

 

[coachluciano]

On 11/4/2019 at 11:44 PM, norcal616 said:

You might be able to see it if you look from the sides along the top of motor, but you just may have to pull the airbox up to see, maybe get a friend to see/help... The hose is on bottom of airbox and goes to valve cover... The "whine" is distinct, you will notice if you did have a kinked hose vs a non kinked hose( I should mention I removed the noise damping foam under the gas tank) so that might make the "whine" more audible... 

I had a kinked airbox hose and didn't even notice it till I blew a seal on the clutch arm at the engine cover...after fixing the seal and unkinking the hose, I definitely noticed the distinct "whine"...

I can tell you that hose in particular is easy to crimp when reinstalling the air box.  I have mine apart for the brake line install and noticed that last time i put the box on i was not careful enough - my hose was kinked, but not completely.  I guess I'll be buying a new hose as this one will no always want to follow the kink-line, unless there is a trick to taking them out of the hose that I am not aware of.

[skipperT]

@coachluciano A new one shouldn’t cost too much, but you could still try working with yours if you want. 

That hose is formed in such a way, so that it naturally routes in a certain way. Take yours off and see if it is still open and holds that form. 
it’s difficult to describe, but almost resembles a “U” that’s rotated on its side, and has a slight twist to it. 
you can reposition it on the valve cover side so that it is pointed in the correct orientation toward the air box. if none of this makes sense, let us know and I’m sure someone can snap a pic. 
-Skip
 

Edited December 18, 2019 by skipperT

[coachluciano]

27 minutes ago, skipperT said:

@coachluciano A new one shouldn’t cost too much, but you could still try working with yours if you want. 

That hose is formed in such a way, so that it naturally routes in a certain way. Take yours off and see if it is still open and holds that form. 
it’s difficult to describe, but almost resembles a “U” that’s rotated on its side, and has a slight twist to it. 
you can reposition it on the valve cover side so that it is pointed in the correct orientation toward the air box. if none of this makes sense, let us know and I’m sure someone can snap a pic. 
-Skip
 

@skipperT Thank for this - yes I do what you are referring to.  I'll snap a picture of what mine looks like.  $12 for a new one so that's good.  Gut tell me to just buy a new one. 

[Buggy Nate]

Best thing you can do with that hose is paint some nice bright alignment marks in paint pen on the air box, hose and cam cover. It’ll make it easy to line up correctly.

[dazzler24]

All this talk of the kinked hose has got me paranoid! I've had the air box off numerous times and never even thought about that when reconnecting the hose and I just put everything back together again yesterday!  My OCD is starting to kick in... I'm going to have to check now!  Damn you all for having such good ideas and noticing things like this! 😉 👍

I'm off to see if I can see it through the frame and avoid having to pull everything apart again.

[skipperT]

20 hours ago, Buggy Nate said:

Best thing you can do with that hose is paint some nice bright alignment marks in paint pen on the air box, hose and cam cover. It’ll make it easy to line up correctly.

The factory does this for you, but noting where the are and making them brighter for yourself sure wouldn’t hurt. 
-Skip

[skipperT]

@dazzler24 fairly certain you can shine a flashlight through the left hand side and view it without pulling any panels. 
-Skip

[dazzler24]

6 hours ago, skipperT said:

@dazzler24 fairly certain you can shine a flashlight through the left hand side and view it without pulling any panels. 
-Skip

@skipperT - Done just that and happy to report I'm good - thanks.  But will have to be more mindful of that hose in future.

Cheers.

[coachluciano]

18 hours ago, dazzler24 said:

@skipperT - Done just that and happy to report I'm good - thanks.  But will have to be more mindful of that hose in future.

Cheers.

Yes. Was playing with my hose last night and if you aren’t careful when you attach it to the breather box, you can easily introduce a kink. You want to “twist” the hose once it’s connected clockwise slightly before you lock it into place.  That will reduce the possibility of a kink significantly.  

[skipperT]

5 hours ago, coachluciano said:

Yes. Was playing with my hose last night and if you aren’t careful when you attach it to the breather box, you can easily introduce a kink. You want to “twist” the hose once it’s connected clockwise slightly before you lock it into place.  That will reduce the possibility of a kink significantly.  

...(I’ll leave this one alone)

-skip

[dazzler24]

14 hours ago, coachluciano said:

Yes. Was playing with my hose last night and if you aren’t careful when you attach it to the breather box, you can easily introduce a kink. You want to “twist” the hose once it’s connected clockwise slightly before you lock it into place.  That will reduce the possibility of a kink significantly.  

Yes, will be paying much closer attention in future thanks @coachluciano

3 hours ago, skipperT said:

...(I’ll leave this one alone)

-skip

@skipperT - Ha!  I too did consider a comment from first reading thinking that it may have been placed as a 'bait' waiting to be taken .... but decided to act my age for a change and thought better of it 😌😋

[coachluciano]

New breather hose showed up today. Original on the left. Glad I ordered a new one. Mine was never fully crimped, but also never fully breathing. This is a focus point when reinstalling the air box. Oddly, the new hose feel sturdier for some reason. Guessing heat takes its toll on rubber.