2012 RT limited gas mileage issue

[MouthPiece]

I took my 2013 RT-S for a 200 mile ride to see my grandson play soccer today and finally got what I consider decent gas mileage. I got 30 mpg. Most of the ride was either on the Interstate OR on some long lonely back roads. Cindy was with me and I didn't go over 70. My previous best had been 27 mpg.

Chris

[Wheelgunner]

It's NOT a motorcycle. I was expecting better gas mileage when I first got mine, but I didn't consider all that front end wind resistance that you don't have on a regular bike. My average, since I bought mine in August,2010 (10K) is 29.108 mpg. That's mostly city driving, and regular grade gasoline.

[Gunkandpudge]

On trips,with the wife and all compartments filled, I get anywhere from 30-36 mpg. Will becoming to Spyderfest next month pulling a 622. Now I know I'll be in mountain territory till I leave Arkansas so I'm not expecting great gas mileage. Remember its a heavy machine,and three wheels vs two wheels will lose every-time.

[FWBCRUISER]

​I am averaging between 30 and 33. I only use high octane.

[gnirtsnod]

Reda makes a nice 1 gallon can that will fit in your saddlebag.

I just bought the Rotopax one gallon can. Built tough for four-wheeling and fits perfectly, sitting straight up, in the frunk bottom.

[Bob Ledford]

My average for day to day general purpose usage is 30 mpg. When take a short ride around the county I can get to 30 to 35 mpg. My best mileage was on a cool morning ride with a fellow Spyder Ryder, Jim Kemtow got 44 mpg

I normally run Hess 93 octane keeping the RPM in the 3,800 to 5,000 RPMs at age 72 your supposed to be able to control red light dragster attacks. But I love looking right and seeing the astonished looks coming out of the local teen age pickup truck cab when the old geezer on the weird trike puts them down!

[DoggyDaddy]

I'm getting an average of 28 mpg on my 2012 RT Limited with about 2,000 miles on the clock. I use nothing but Shell 91 in it. I expect the mileage to improve as I get closer to the 5,000 mile mark. I have found that shifting at 5,000 rpm seems to provide the best performance and mileage. Usually I try to keep the revs between 4,500 and 5,500 rpm. If they fall outside that range, I shift up or down accordingly. It took me awhile to get comfortable with the higher revs of Spyder but now it is second nature.

[Robertsepolen]

We are approaching 15k and have had same experience. The RPM range you stated was a definite improvement in mileage, as well as performance. Speeds above 60 mph really suck gas. Also, we switched to the digital gauge and consistently see 143-145 miles before fuel light comes on. At that point it takes about 4.5 gallons to fill the tank.
If traveling really unfamiliar and out of the way places, we will carry three of the small MSR fuel bottles just in case we find a "ghost" gas station that has gone out of business. The bottles are available at REI or Cabela's.

[chipshotin]

flying solo the best i averaged was 42...milage improves with age and tune ups....with the mrs on our last rally ride we averaged 39 on the open road...I take my spyder everyday to work and can go 125 to 135 miles per fill up...enjoy the ride

[jthornton]

I track my MPG using Fuelly and I really can't see how some of you claim 40 MPG on a Spyder when most people get ~28 MPG. I can see how from tank to tank you can get some very different results due to the small size of the tank and varying fill levels. I can even see differences depending on the level of the ground where you park when you fill up. I've become very anal at filling the tank to the same level each time just to reduce spikes in MPG. I use the odometer with Fuelly so there is no errors with using the trip odometer. Having said all that I wonder how accurate the odometer is when the temperature gauge is 10F higher than actual...

And you can see my average mileage since new in my sig...

JT

[budro]

We have a 2010 RT-S with 8500 miles on the odometer. We use the 93 Octane rated gasoline. Keeping the speed between 55-60 we will average between 32-34 mpgs. The best that we have had is 36 mpgs and our speed was 55 mph. When are speed is in the 70-75 mph range our mpgs drops to 25-27.
Reese

ditto to this post-----Budro

[Bob Ledford]

I'm new to the spyder owners group after riding HD and other brands since high school. I took a test drive a year ago and a couple more during the year and decided this would be a great touring bike that I could just relax and really enjoy the ride going cross country. Well I was given a offer on a new 2012 RT limited that I couldn't refuse.
On the way home with it I didn't have second thoughts but I was concerned because it was different from what I was used to. The more I rode it the more I like it, but I was not falling in love. I went for a ride the the other day and all of a sudden it all clicked, I found myself not having to think about driving it and started riding it. The light came on.
Its like flying a fixed wing airplane then flying a helicopter, your still up in the air but the technique is different.
All I can say is if you have any doubts just give it a chance, you won't regret it.
I really enjoy the RT and have no regrets, the only issue I have is the poor gas mileage. I like to go cross country on back roads and gas stations can be spread out.
This is kinda scary since this is why I really wanted this bike to begin with.
Any ideas on how to get better mileage? Can anything be done I filled up today again and I only got 20 mpg around town and around 25 mpg freeway at 65-70 mph.

My 2011 RTL did the same to me. I thought the same things you did almost to the letter. My dealer and I had a serious chat. The bottom line is it will get better. Saturday we, wife & I, along with another couple took a ride. I turned 44 MPG round trip 200 miles while running the cruise control at the posted speed limits of 65, 55, 45 MPH in 4/5 th gears. So I know it will do it. One. Other long ride w/o using cruise in turned a 42MPG. I have 4,700 miles and live in FL. Both rides were in the Central to East coastal regions. Around town it produces a pretty routine 25/30 MPG and I never get to use 5th gear always 1/2/3/4.

[swmp321]

I keep reading about some of you getting fair gas mileage. I haven't seen that as of yet. I have just under 800 miles on my 2013 RTS but just haven't seen your kind of mileage yet. Is there a break in period that I just have not reached yet? I do around town errands but then again I do quite a bit of highway. Since I am on Long Island I only use 4th gear due to the restrictive speed limits. If I get to 65 I will use 5th gear but that is not very often nor for to long.

Any advise?

Tom

[Robertsepolen]

If I remember right, it was about 5000 before I started seeing better mileage. Also, I find the digital gauge to be more accurate than the analog.


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