Terrible gas mileage

[Bob Denman]

Hi Corey,
Please define, "poor"...

What sort of readings are you getting?

[Coreythebody]

I have yet to do the math, but I will fill up later today or tomorrow and I will let you know. But for example, i last filled up about 120km (75 mi) ago, and I am well below the half tank level on the analog gauge.

Now i have read that the digital gauge is more accurate (honestly i did not even look at it yet), and i also have read on here that i may not be filling the tank properly (nozzle inserted too far so not really filling it up). I am used to my old bike where i could easily see the fuel level in the tank, so i will correct my fueling procedure and calculate the mpg's and get back to y'all.

[Bob Denman]

Once you get the re-fueling routine down; just keep track of the mileage between fuel stops, and the amount of fuel that the bike takes with each stop...

[pitzerwm]

Ok, Went on a 228 mile run today, other than a sore butt and shoulders, it was fun. Checking the mileage, I am getting 26.8 running around town last night and 32.4 on the return leg of the run.

As for the Sea Foam, I put one can in each of 2 tanks of gas. I agree just the filter and the SF wouldn't have made gthat big of difference. I was working on the bike, it was cold mostly city driving with the poor beginning results.

The old air filter, didn't look that bad, but might have been the original. 7400 miles.

I don't care what it is/was I'm happy that its normal.

[belowme29]

I have a 2008 SM5 GS with 11,000 miles on it - I typically get 25 mpg. All this talk of trying to run it at 5500 RPM, does this also apply to the 990 engine?

It floors people when I tell them that my gas mileage is lower on my Spyder then what I get on my larger Saturn station wagon. I look so much cooler on the Spyder - so that is the preference in terms of transportation to work or hauling the kids around town.

[retired1]

I have yet to do the math, but I will fill up later today or tomorrow and I will let you know. But for example, i last filled up about 120km (75 mi) ago, and I am well below the half tank level on the analog gauge.

Now i have read that the digital gauge is more accurate (honestly i did not even look at it yet), and i also have read on here that i may not be filling the tank properly (nozzle inserted too far so not really filling it up). I am used to my old bike where i could easily see the fuel level in the tank, so i will correct my fueling procedure and calculate the mpg's and get back to y'all.

gin
Corey;
I use trip A in the mileage mode display to keep track of mpg between fill ups. This screen will
give you average mph and accumulated mileage for the fuel used. After I get the receipt for the fill up, I write that information on the receipt and then reset trip A to zero. Do that at every refill and you should have an accurate record for mpg.

[AY4B]

I am new to Spyder Ryding, but I am also seeing "poor" mileage to date as well (I am only on my third tank of fuel). I have always used K&N air filters in my previous bikes and cars, but i was wondering if you could go into a little more detail about how you "ran 2 cans of Sea Foam thru it". Did you just add it to the gas at fillup or did you put some thru the oil crankcase too (a method i read about from their site)?

I have been using premium fuel and I added some Star Tron (Start Brite) to my last tank of fuel based on what I read on here in a different post to try and counteract the effects of Ethanol, but i was wondering if you (or anyone else for that matter) could enlighten me as to how you are using this product.

Thanks in advance, Corey

sea foam will only help if you have an old engine with old gas.

[AY4B]

I just calculated my Mileage for the first time on my ST Limited. 27.4 with 1800 miles on it.

[AY4B]

I just calculated my Mileage for the first time on my ST Limited. 27.4 with 1800 miles on it.

That gives me a range of 181 miles. I entered that on my Garmin Gas app. If I do a reset on it every fillup, it will give me a low fuel warning with 25 miles to go.

[pitzerwm]

That is another thing that I changed. I now shift at 3500-4000, I know that is against all info, but to me it seems to work fine. If I drop below 3K, I downshift. I don't know if this helped with the MPG, but it seems to be working for me and others that I've chatted with.

[asp125]

We have a 2008 GS SM5. Consistently in the low 30's for gas mileage. Except for the time the exhaust "Y" gasket started to leak. Then, it dropped into the low 20's

[coz]

When you keep your rpm's up in the power band, the engine is not working as hard to maintain speed, hence, better gas mileage. J m h o . It took me a while to " get " this having come from the HD world, but it's a real thing.

[isthatahemi]

When you keep your rpm's up in the power band, the engine is not working as hard to maintain speed, hence, better gas mileage. J m h o . It took me a while to " get " this having come from the HD world, but it's a real thing.

Define not not working as hard! Less throttle opening?
There is a reason every new automatic transmissioned vehicle lugs as soon and often as possible. A heavier loaded engine running at low rpm with less throttle restriction is almost without exception more efficient. Higher rpm has more friction, more pumping losses, and generates more waste energy in the form of heat.

To sample what sort of efficiency you are achieving at a certain rpm, do a coast down test. It quickly becomes apparent that high rpms are a waste of fuel, engine life, and ear wax. Volumetric efficiency and fuel efficiency are being confused quite frequently on this forum. They are not one and the same.

[coz]

Is designed to run at higher rpm's, so the power band is higher up. Maybe 4 k - 7 k ? I forget the exact numbers. When I started keeping the rpm's up, the gas mileage improved noticeably. Many many other spyder owners have posted the same thing over the years. Personally, I don't worry about the gas mileage. It's just a fun toy to play with.
If your making more horsepower at a higher rpm, wouldn't that translate into less throttle opening to maintain the same speed?
The rt's are a whole different animal. They are bigger and heavier, more likely ridden two up, and loaded with stuff in all the trunks. High twenties is about normal.

[isthatahemi]

That said, it loafs along at 1400 rpm in 6th as soon as it can to get best mileage. The difference between running 6th vs 2nd gear (4500rpm same speed) at the same speed, mileage wise is almost 30%! And each gear in between is just noisier and less efficient than the last.
My Spyder pulls cleanly and vibration free from 3K, as low as 2500rpm with light throttle, and there is no way on earth that it will get better mileage spinning 5000rpm. I rented a SE5 and kept the revs around 5000-5500, as per the renter, the mileage was awful compared to my bike, and it is a pretty close comparison.

[Coreythebody]

Ok, so after putting on roughly 560Km (350 mi) this weekend, it seems like my mileage isn't that bad after using a can of seafoam. First fillup i used about 1/2 the can, second fillup about 2/3 of what was left and the remainder on fillup last night it seems like the product has done its job, and i have done a better job properly filling the tank. First fillup with Seafoam got me around 26mpg(US) riding single, and the second was closer to 33 mgp (US) riding two up! before these two fillups i had done, i would be under a half tank at 100km (60mi)... so i have to assume it was old gas that had sat for the winter.

Here's to hoping that as i gain experience the mileage keeps above 30 mpg!

Thanks to all who helped provide some advise, much appreciated.

[scadarick]

There is more going on with that mpg. Maybe the measuring system is off or your not the only one ryding... don't worry too much till you get a couple of thousand on the odometer. My RS till today can be as low as 25 and as high as 40 and I have over 25,000 miles...

I have figured that I get about the same mpg's on my 2012 RS as this post too. All depends on how it is ridden on that days ride for me. Traffic, traffic oh and traffic![emoji41]



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[SPYDERGUY1]

As mentioned before, did not buy my spyder for the fuel economy. get approx 400 km to the tank depending on the excitement factor of the ride. It is what it is, for me anyway. Been on numerous long rides and when the light comes on , time to look for fuel. Came close once to running out in Montana, but made it home. Hope you figure it out. Could always carry spare fuel as well.

[tjmonty32]

As a new Spyder owner I wanted to see how many miles I could actually get from a full tank of gas (2012 RT w/ 34k miles). I purchased a used Spyder last year with 30K miles on it. Put a gas can (1 gallon) in the right side storage area for when I ran out of fuel. Got on the highway and drove. About 140 miles were above 75 mph, the remaining were at 69 mph. At 155 miles the gas light came on. I ran out of gas at 201 miles. When I originally filled up I put in 5.1 gallons in the tank, guessing there was 1.5 gallons (92 octane) at that time would give me the 6.6 stated full tank size. This gave me 30.5 mpg.
This experiment taught me a few things:
1. What my fuel gauge actually looks when it is empty (well past the "E")
2. That I can get 200 miles to a tank, maybe more depending on speed and other conditions.
3. When the fuel light comes on I have 40 - 50 more miles until empty, again depending on speed and other conditions.
4. Although I can use 87 octane I am now keeping away from it due to the ethanol content, recently had a bad experience with bad gas and the ethanol only made it worse. Mileage went down to 25 mpg.
5. I try to use Shell, Mobile and those providers who use cleaning additives to their fuel mix and i don't go below 91 octane.

Hoping to improve and get better mileage as I learn and go forward.