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Average Fuel Economy Thread


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1300 miles so far, averaging just over 50mpg. Couple of sport rides in the high 40s, and highway trips going 51-53. This is calculated from odometer and gallons, though the on-bike display seems to be within 1-2mpg of calculated.
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Now at 1000 miles I'm getting 46.47 mpg (US). I use an app called Road Trip on my iPhone, so this is the average total miles to total gallons to date. The bike computer had been saying 51 or 52 whenever I check it. During breaking the mileage has risen slightly.  
Of much more interest to me is how many miles can you go on the reserve ticker? I've done 30 before filling up. Anybody done more? Average fill up has been about 4.5 gallons.
 
I find the gas gauge to be really good. With full bars I know I have plenty of fuel. Then, when I start to care about what's in there, it starts telling me. That's what I want from the gauge. Now just need to know when it's actually gonna run out   8-)
Yes. See http://fj-09.org/post/6918  
40 miles then put 17.99 litres of petrol in the 18 litre tank
This signature is left blank as the poster writes enough pretentious bollocks as it is.
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  • 3 weeks later...
I'm too lazy to use Fuelly. Over 3,000mi, all on B mode and I've settled around 48MPG indicated by computer on pretty much every tank. In the beginning I was getting mid to high 50's, but idk if that is just my riding behavior changing or not. 90% lanesplit commuting on freeway in LA (30-55mph average), no start/stops, keep it under 5.5-6k.
 
I hadn't lubed chain in probably 1,000-1,500mi and the front tire was ~6PSI low, so going to see what I get now that I'm taking care of the bike a little more.
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My average over nearly 3000 miles is 44.65 mpg. That's US mpg. That also includes break in mpg which was the worst period. Including the 1st service costs and fuel, it has cost me an average $0.119/mile to ride. In fuel alone, it has cost an average of $0.069/mile.
 
The fuel efficiency has been going up since I passed 1000 miles. I got between 36 and 44 mpg for each tank fill during the first 1000 miles. I've gotten between 42 and 52 since then and I have not gotten below 44 in the last 1500 miles. I find my normal ride to work and playing on the weekend has been near 45 mpg. I tend to play quite a bit and do a lot of passing on 2 lane highways during these time periods. I also seek out the few curvy roads around here and enjoy accelerating out of the curves. None of these behaviors help my average mpg. If I do a longer trip, in unfamiliar areas, I don't tend to play or pass as often and get just over 50 mpg, even if I'm loaded up with my wife on the back.
 
I am using an app called road trip to calculate all this. I have tracked every tank fill and every maintenance related expense so far (just the first service so far). Once I buy tires, I'll put that in there too. It only takes a few seconds to punch in and it's nice to know the costs in case I want to take a big trip. I will have a better idea of the true cost of the trip based on my total cost per mile multiplied by the number of planned miles. The average mpg as reported by the computer has always been optimistic and I do not trust it to be accurate.
 
I thought about starting to track my car to see how it compares to the bike but I can't get my wife to commit to putting in the info when she drives it and for some reason it's harder for me to remember when in the car as well. The way the app works, the information would be useless unless you get every tank fill. I suspect the costs of the car would not be too different from the bike. Us bikers like to justify biking based on the mpg we get. But really, if we are honest with ourselves, biking is expensive. From the riding gear, to the farkles, to the more expensive service and more expensive tires, these costs more than make up for the savings in fuel over a good compact car I would guess. Alas, that's not the real reason most of us ride, including me. Enjoy the ride, but don't fool yourselves into thinking that since you get 50 mpg you are saving any money.
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My average over nearly 3000 miles is 44.65 mpg. That's US mpg. That also includes break in mpg which was the worst period. Including the 1st service costs and fuel, it has cost me an average $0.119/mile to ride. In fuel alone, it has cost an average of $0.069/mile.
 
My Road Trip app reports nearly identical to yours. I'm at 4,500 miles now and all fill ups and maintenance has been recorded in Road Trip.
RKAEtMx.png?1yGMZTZo.png?1
 
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My average over nearly 3000 miles is 44.65 mpg. That's US mpg. That also includes break in mpg which was the worst period. Including the 1st service costs and fuel, it has cost me an average $0.119/mile to ride. In fuel alone, it has cost an average of $0.069/mile.
My Road Trip app reports nearly identical to yours. I'm at 4,500 miles now and all fill ups and maintenance has been recorded in Road Trip. RKAEtMx.png?1yGMZTZo.png?1

Nice.  You're doing a lot better than me on maintenance expenses.  I took it to the dealer for the first service.  Most expensive oil change I've ever paid for on any vehicle.  Not sure I would ever do that again.
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I'm averaging about 41MPG over ~2000 miles. I log every fill-up with Fuelly, so the numbers are based on actual amount of fuel added and the actual number of miles on the odometer. I should point out that I'm a big guy (260 pounds) with a very "active" right hand. I also tend to cruise at ~80mph on the freeway, which likely doesn't help.
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My Road Trip app reports nearly identical to yours. I'm at 4,500 miles now and all fill ups and maintenance has been recorded in Road Trip. 

Nice.  You're doing a lot better than me on maintenance expenses.  I took it to the dealer for the first service.  Most expensive oil change I've ever paid for on any vehicle.  Not sure I would ever do that again.
Out of curiosity, how much did it cost? 
First service is supposed to include throttle position adjustment, which can jack up the price a lot.  I'd be shocked if my dealer did that, though, since my first service was only about $90, which I know to be what they charge for an oil change.  I didn't bother to ask them if they'd done that on my bike, mostly because it seems to be working fine, but it's possible that the diagnostic tools can tell them if it's necessary or not without opening it up.  (I know that's possible on some bikes.  Not sure about the FJ.)  Maybe they checked and it didn't need it.
 
Anyway, I was shocked the first time I had a bike oil change and it came out to almost $100 because the cars are only ~$40 (non-synthetic).  I asked about it and the dealer explained that they're also doing a bit of minor tune-up like chain adjustment, it's not just a straight oil change.  Whether or not that's worth the extra money may depend on whether or not that's the kind of stuff you pay attention to yourself.  A lot of riders don't.
 
I'll tend to have the shop do it if it's in for something else already, but for the most part I don't think it's worth the time spent dropping the bike off and picking it up again just for oil when changing it myself is so quick and easy.  That's especially true on a bike like the FJ where the oil filter and drain plug are so readily accessible.  It takes longer to ride to the dealer than to do the whole job.
 
2015 FJ-09 (Mary Kate)
2007 Daytona 675 (Tabitha, ret.)
1998 Vulcan 800 (Ret.)
2001 SV650S (Veronica, Ret.)
2000 Intruder 800 (Ret.)
 
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Nice.  You're doing a lot better than me on maintenance expenses.  I took it to the dealer for the first service.  Most expensive oil change I've ever paid for on any vehicle.  Not sure I would ever do that again.
Out of curiosity, how much did it cost? 
First service is supposed to include throttle position adjustment, which can jack up the price a lot.  I'd be shocked if my dealer did that, though, since my first service was only about $90, which I know to be what they charge for an oil change.  I didn't bother to ask them if they'd done that on my bike, mostly because it seems to be working fine, but it's possible that the diagnostic tools can tell them if it's necessary or not without opening it up.  (I know that's possible on some bikes.  Not sure about the FJ.)  Maybe they checked and it didn't need it.
 
Anyway, I was shocked the first time I had a bike oil change and it came out to almost $100 because the cars are only ~$40 (non-synthetic).  I asked about it and the dealer explained that they're also doing a bit of minor tune-up like chain adjustment, it's not just a straight oil change.  Whether or not that's worth the extra money may depend on whether or not that's the kind of stuff you pay attention to yourself.  A lot of riders don't.
 
I'll tend to have the shop do it if it's in for something else already, but for the most part I don't think it's worth the time spent dropping the bike off and picking it up again just for oil when changing it myself is so quick and easy.  That's especially true on a bike like the FJ where the oil filter and drain plug are so readily accessible.  It takes longer to ride to the dealer than to do the whole job.

$147.48 and the only thing listed on the bill was an oil change.  I asked about 5 times if they were going to adjust the throttle bodies and all they would say is they just go down the list of what the bike calls for at the mileage it's at and do that.  They would never give me a straight answer.  I seriously doubt they did it.  It's a huge pain for me to take it to a dealer too as the closest dealer is a 45 minute drive for me.  I thought I should take it to a dealer for the first service because I wasn't sure what the protocol was with the warranty as this is my first new bike.  I'm not sure I'd do it again if I ever buy another new bike.  From here on out, I have an independent mechanic that I'll take it to for service.  He can't do warranty work for Yamaha (he can for Honda or Kawasaki though), but he can do everything else.  Oil changes still won't be cheap.  He's got a shop rate of $60 / hour with a 1 hour minimum plus materials.  So, it'll be close to $100.  Still better than the dealer, and I trust that he'll spend the hour making sure the bike is in tip top shape.  He said it's no problem to sync the throttle bodies if I wanted too.  $60 / hour shop rate is really an incredible deal for any shop.  Didn't mean to make it sound like he was expensive.  Just like you said though, it's not like an oil change for a car.  He will be doing a lot more than just draining oil and filling it back up.  He has treated me very well and given me excellent advice with my 1970 CB450.  That bike runs better than most bikes 1/4 its age thanks to him.  He's also eager to tell you how to work on your bike yourself if you don't want to pay him to do it.  He is always booked at least 2-4 weeks out which means he's in pretty high demand considering he is located in the middle of no where, surrounded by corn fields, 25 minutes from the nearest big city.  He's only 10 minutes from me though :D
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Just done a 3000 mile tour around Europe and the bike showed 57.1 mpg average. Working it out with miles and fuel fill ups it actually worked out at about 43.5 real life mpg. Not bad I think!!!
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Nice to have a good trustworthy independent so close to you! 
Doing your own oil change is extremely easy of the FJ-09, I've done mine twice. I do buy a Yamaha oil filter from my dealer though, nice to have that on file if I ever need to make an engine warrantee claim.
FJ-09, 690 Enduro R.
Back Roads. Period.
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Nice to have a good trustworthy independent so close to you! 
Doing your own oil change is extremely easy of the FJ-09, I've done mine twice. I do buy a Yamaha oil filter from my dealer though, nice to have that on file if I ever need to make an engine warrantee claim.
The oil filter trick sounds like a good one. I know an oil change is easy and I may do it myself in the future. For now, I wouldn't mind having the bike checked out by someone that knows what they are looking at on a regular basis. In my mind I'm paying more for this than the oil change. I'm a computer guy, not even remotely a mechanic. It will also get me good records of it being completed.
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I'm very pleased with the fuel economy of my FJ-09.  Fresh from its first service I took it on a 1500 mile ride over the 4th of July holiday around northern California.  Maybe 1/3 of the trip was the twisties (hwy 36, 96, 299, 32, 89, 44, 70) where I took it easy and focused on technique, 1/3 near 100mph on empty highways, and 1/3 droning around 75-85 leaving and getting home.  Overall mpg for the entire trip was 51.6mpg.  On the 85mph highway drones I averaged 44mpg, and on those curvy segments where I took it easy, I got over 60 mpg (64 was highest tank).  I hit over 60mpg on 3 tanks so don't think it was math error multiple times.  I do think mileage improved when I stopped riding in B mode, but not positive.
 
 
 
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  • 8 months later...
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I use the Gas Cubby app to record my fuel-ups. Miles per gallon numbers for the last several tanks have been:
 
34.0 mpg
31.8 mpg
35.2 mpg
27.9 mpg
42.0 mpg
32.6 mpg
...
 
I'm doing a mix of aggressive city driving and bad highway commuting (accelerate, break, weave, merge, etc.) with some actual normal highway driving mixed in. Regardless, I'm pretty proud of the 27.9 tank :-)
 
Early on, I topped 50 mpg on a couple of tanks of pure highway driving.
 
I'm pretty sure that side cases eat a few MPG. Don't know about top case.
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