Saving Gas- Riding in 6th at 40 mph?

[kvanderploeg]

I'll regularly ride at ~40mph in 6th gear, and when I roll on it's not a rocket, but it does accelerate quite well with no lugging. I'm a big guy too, 6'4" and 280lb. Last tank was 168 to reserve with a bit of playing around that would have used a bit more gas. Oh, and I carry a laptop bag that probably weighs 15+ pounds.

Make sure you're filling the tank when on the center stand. This will allow for more gas in the tank.

Kent

[reiobard]

how many miles total are on the bike? I was only getting 130 miles per tank when new, but now i am consistently over 200 before the f-trip comes on. I also use the low grade gas at any gas station and tend to get better fuel economy out of it and the bike runs no different (I have tried the high grade).

I also won't bog the engine like you described, i always just make sure that if i twist the throttle i have more get up and go than an average car but not really ever in the high power band...

[grommit]

Couple of ideas for you...

Make sure your tyre pressures are correct. You'd be surprised how much energy under inflated tyres use up, not withstanding any handling issues.

Plan ahead; try and time your junctions so you do not have to come to a full stop, unless required to.

Be smooth, lots of wild throttle movements can use the fuel up.

[multiplicity]

This whole topic really confuses me. Some people say that you must stay in the 8ooo rpm+ power band, but if I were to do this, with my commute never leaving the 30mph limit, I would always be in 1st gear reving the arse out of it!!! This just can't be right?!?! I tried getting up to 5th, maybe even 6th gear on my commute, but had the same problem as some of the guys here- ie could'nt get instant acceleration which I need sometimes commuting in central London !!! I now don't get above third, but I get only about 120 miles to the tank !!! Just how the hell do you guys get more than this?? (I'm going to check for a hole in the tank tonight LOL)

[reiobard]

A lot of it will have to do with how you are riding, if you are in constant stop and go traffic with top speed of 30 then you will get less than me who has an average commuting speed of 50mph and travel 45 miles each way and only see maybe 5 stoplights for the trip.

[staticghost]

Hi All,

Yeah that is a bit strange. Make sure you fill up on your center stand. I get and average 168-189MPG in between city and Highway and about 19-23MPG on the F trip. Also make sure you shifting is as smooth as possible and to gun to often.
And this is all with two brothers exhaust and power commaner USB III, 2005 FZ6 with 12520 Miles.

Have fun riding all.

[grumpy1luvs2eat]

The one time that I tried to gauge the consumption, I got 250 miles a tank. This was highway miles at 70+. I am 5'7" and 155lbs. I usually don't worry about milage, but thought I should have some idea what the consumption was soon as to figure fuel stops. The gas gauge usually does it for me, but thought I should know anyway.

[dereknjenny04]

I just got my 2008 and I got 218 miles on 4 gallons on my last tank.

I think it is supposed like 5+ gallon tank, so probably could have gotten around 270.

I am5'9" 195lbs.

I ride around 4-5k rpm generally.

[travisj37]

Of course, the manual lists the following for shift points. Apparently, you must ALWAYS follow the shift points table.

I guess, according to this, 40mph in 6th is a bit slow..

[Se7enLC]

"Miles Per Tank" isn't really a useful measure. Nobody is really running their bike down to bone-dry empty, and how much gas is in a full tank really depends on how much you top it off when filling it.

Instead, figure out your gas mileage by filling up after a long trip and dividing the trip meter by the actual gallons required to refill the tank.

Once you have your MPG, you can then figure that you have a 5 gallon tank and see what your real range would be if you pushed it. Over 200 highway miles I used up almost exactly 4 gallons, so that's 50mpg. That means that I can technically get ~300miles before the tank is bone dry. I think the F-Trip starts when you have a little less than a gallon left, so figure you can get at LEAST another 40 miles or so before it conks out. There's no way I'll actually ride 300 miles on a tank unless I can't find a gas station, though.