271 Miles on a Tankful of 87

[karl]

Rode the B roads to New Hampshire last Saturday and then took the long way to work the next and arrived at work with an empty tank. Stopped to fill up on my way home and put 4.464 gal. in. The most fuel in and the longest distance traveled for me. I worry less about running out of fuel now. Hope that does not come back to bite me.

 

[Phil Tarman]

Karl, 264 is my longest distance on one tank. It involved riding through Rocky Mountain National Park (35 mph speed limit most of the way), descending a net 3,000 feet in altitude and being in traffic that moved steadily but slowly at about 55.

What kind of speeds were you traveling most of the time?

Oh, BTW, my 264 was on a tank of 85 octane. Higher altitudes let the refiners use lower octane without worrying about knock.

 

[karl]

45 to 65 mostly 4th and 5th gear. Made no effort to get good mileage just was out enjoying a gorgeous summer day.

 

[Rich]

Riding at slower steady speeds (such as national parks) is where your mileage can truly soar. On the stretch through RMNP (Grand Lake to Loveland) last month my best guess is I was getting 80 MPG. Slow driving through the park all the way to the exit of Big Thompson Canyon.

I used to see this effect on my old GL1000. Tank after tank it would get about 40 MPG. But then, whenever I'd take a day trip through Yellowstone and Grand Teton it'd be 50 MPG, even though a sizable fraction was at higher speeds on the way back home.

 

[karl]

Rode past a few parks. I was riding my comfort level for road condition, sight lines and traffic. About as far from a cruse controlled ride as you can get. I believe the key is very few stops.

 

[Woodaddict]

Most ever on 1 tank was 280.5 miles, ave 58 mpg, forgot my gallons at fill up, but could have made it to 300 miles, run out would have been about 315-320. Didn't want to push it, wife was on bike too. oh yeah, that was 2 up riding, with some stuff in saddle bags and top box. That was mostly mountain riding(15-55 mph) and starting of some 70 mph slab home. The fuel gauge just isn't reliable, when it takes 70 -80 miles to come off of full??????? The NT is just great when you keep rpm's down. This is my first fuel injection bike and I love it.

 

[Rich]

Most ever on 1 tank was 280.5 miles, ave 58 mpg, forgot my gallons at fill up, but could have made it to 300 miles, run out would have been about 315-320. Didn't want to push it, wife was on bike too. oh yeah, that was 2 up riding, with some stuff in saddle bags and top box. That was mostly mountain riding(15-55 mph) and starting of some 70 mph slab home. The fuel gauge just isn't reliable, when it takes 70 -80 miles to come off of full??????? The NT is just great when you keep rpm's down. This is my first fuel injection bike and I love it.

Actually I consider the fuel gauge totally reliable, in that it's repeatable. But it becomes unusable at about 1 gallon left, since it pretty much quits reading once way down in the red.

Another item, of course, is the fuel mileage meters. We all know the totalizer is way high and does not give realistic numbers. But I was checking the in-progress meter a couple of weeks ago and the numbers it gives ARE credible, though it would take some pretty painstaking work to prove how accurate they are.

 

[Phil Tarman]

I agree with Rich. Repeatability is the main issue with fuel gauges. Consider the shape of the fuel tank on the NT -- it's not a cube or a cylinder and the gauge is a float gauge. You can burn quite a bit of gas (at least a gallon) before the gauge starts to drop because the surface area at the top of the tank is so much greater than the surface area down closer to the bottom.

My observation is that when you get to the top of the red, you're pretty close to a gallon from empty.

 

[tawilke46]

I'm ready to stop and stretch well before my NT needs fuel. Usually at 150 to 180 miles. I just refuel then.
It's 377 miles from my house to Edom, Texas. I will do some actual mileage checks this weekend on the pie run.

 

[Bear]

Karl, That's good milage. I have been using Star Tron additive to counteract some of the bad effects of corn juice. Bike seems to perform better.

 

[bicyclist]

I think my best tank was 230 miles. That's because I get nervous when I see that needle pointing at the red E. And I put 4.3 gallons in. I like the gauge because of its repeatability. I'm usually at 90 miles at the first tick and 130 at the second, so I can tell whether I'm burning gas at a faster than normal rate. Fuel injected bikes get significantly better mileage at altitude than at sea level. My F800 got excellent fuel mileage anyway, but was outstanding in the mountains, returning 70 mpg.

 

[Warren]

Karl, That's good milage. I have been using Star Tron additive to counteract some of the bad effects of corn juice. Bike seems to perform better.

I have seen Star Tron advertised in the motorcycle mags and was wondering if it was of any value of if it was just modern snake oil.

 

[1fastbob]

I would say snake oil. "Corn Juice" is fine as long as you keep water out of it.

 

[vzshadow]

I was on a fairly long ride last week and was in a panic because the fuel gauge was below empty and the odometer read 238 miles. I filled up and could only fit 4.2 gallons in the tank. I still had a gallon left.

 

[Bear]

I'm not so sure it is "snake oil". Micah Fenwick, who owns Belmont Motorcycle Performance, swears by the stuff--especially as a fuel stabilizer. He also says that it keeps the injectors clean. I tend to believe him. He builds some incredibly fast dragsters. He also works on BMW, Honda, and Kawasaki touring and sport bikes. I do know that my two-stroke 3HP Yamaha outboard runs very well since I have started using the stuff. It used to be an every two week chore to clean this gelatin like substance out of the carb.

 

[ARKNT]

I get nervous when the NT gauge gets in the red. Better safe than sorry.
With that said I ran out of fuel last weekend on my new to me KLX 250. I'm getting used to the small tank, the trip odometer skipped a beat, and I'm not too sure even yet about the reserve on the petcock. After it died I switched to reserve, then it would run but only about 3/4 mile at a time. Luckily I was only about 3 miles from home. I'll keep a close eye on it for a while.

Brad

 

[karl]

Yes Aaron I am a grandfather and I like to go fast. This all took place on public roads and there where a few times that a ticket could have been earned. The needle on the gauge was all the way to the bottom. Living in the North east here there are typically stations fairly close together. I normally stop at around the 200 mark or so. A few times now The gauge has made me nervous without cause. I have no intent to see if I can push this mark any higher. Just won't worry as much if it will make the next station or not.

I use stabilizer when the bike will sit for a while. Dec-Feb other than that just pump gas.

 

[Herb]

I'm really impressed. I've had a couple of 250 rides. Also through national parks and then one time on a BMW group ride.

My average MPG actually went up .3 as a result of my cross country trip. It's my around town commuting especially in winter that kills my overall average.

 

[vacanefan]

Karl, I've gone close to that: 263 miles before filling up. I've gone over 250 miles many times before fueling. I get a little uneasy when the trip odometer gets above 230 or so. I am always reassured when I fill up to find that I have between .7 to 1.0 gallons left. I'm sure that on mild riding, like on the Blue Ridge Parkway, 300 miles on a tank wouldn't be an issue. My fear of being wrong and having to push the NT to the next gas station prevents me from proving this...

 

[dnktng]

This is for the people that have actually run out of gas on the NT. How far below the "E" is the needle when you ran out of gas? When the engine died on you with no gas was the needle indicating at the bottom as it does before you start the engine? I was at about 2 needle widths below "E" yesterday, and it took 4.3 gallons to my normal fill spot, halfway on the neck while on the sidestand.