MPG'S

[cuznjohn]

ok everyone i did about 90 miles today and my gas gauge is reading 1/2 a tank to me this is poor millage, i had better millage on my six cylinder BMW k 1600. is it my driving ways or will it get better with age.

[Laila's Dad]

ok everyone i did about 90 miles today and my gas gauge is reading 1/2 a tank to me this is poor millage, i had better millage on my six cylinder BMW k 1600. is it my driving ways or will it get better with age.

The exerts will chime in soon(I am not a member of the expert club at all), but based on my experience if you got 90 miles out of half a tank meaning you may get another 85 to 90 from the remaining half then that is GREAT gas mileage considering that you have only about 5 gallons of gas.

[Dragonrider]

Check the actual fill volume vs miles driven - the gas gauge is notoriously poor…. I have always complained about the milage, given the consistent 52 mpg I got from my BMW K12. The response has been "who cares".

I have changed my exhaust & cat, which helped, eliminated ETOH gas, which helped, but still only average 31.5mpg. Keep in mind, that I don't think any two Spyders offer the same milage or performance.

[Chupaca]

the gauges are really all show. imo. Most have removed them and gone digital. Many gauges due to tank configureation move irratically. Drop fast in some segments slower in others. The best way to see mpg's is manually. Measure miles divided by gallons. Mileage does improve with time. That being said, 90 miles on half a tank is not that bad 30 mpg more or less. I average 33 mpg's...

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

ok everyone i did about 90 miles today and my gas gauge is reading 1/2 a tank to me this is poor millage, i had better millage on my six cylinder BMW k 1600. is it my driving ways or will it get better with age.

Every gas guage ever made ( only probably ) is a Joke ...it's strictly S.W.A.G. at best.......Fill your tank the same way as nearly as you can ...then set one of the trip meters to "0" ...then when you re-fill as stated before ....divide Total miles by number of Gal's ( use the 10ths) and this will give you an accurate measure of the last X amount of miles. My RSS averages 30 mpg, consistantly. I have been checking my MPG's for about 2000 miles now.....A tank or two or three or ten is meaningless........Mike

[BikerDoc]

ok everyone i did about 90 miles today and my gas gauge is reading 1/2 a tank to me this is poor millage, i had better millage on my six cylinder BMW k 1600. is it my driving ways or will it get better with age.

There must be a hundred threads on here that would answer your question without starting a new one to repeat it all again.. Doesn't anyone ever use the search function?

[boborgera]

ok everyone i did about 90 miles today and my gas gauge is reading 1/2 a tank to me this is poor millage, i had better millage on my six cylinder BMW k 1600. is it my driving ways or will it get better with age.

If that's the way you always check gas mileage on a vehicle, Well I don't think you really want an answer... P/s it's your gas checking ways.....

[cuznjohn]

by the last few remarks i really thought this was a site to ask questions and not get reviews on how to check millage or if i should look up previous treads i guess i need to be careful of what i ask or what i post

[Dan_Ashley]

by the last few remarks i really thought this was a site to ask questions and not get reviews on how to check millage or if i should look up previous treads i guess i need to be careful of what i ask or what i post

Don't feel picked on. We are all a little disappointed in both the gas milage and the gas gauge. As a result some people get a little snarkey. They don't mean it, they are just a little frustrated.

That being said, I wouldn't trade my Spyder for the higher MPG bike I used to ride. Milage may be less than wonderful. The whole bike is better than wonderful.

[cuznjohn]

i am a 62 yr old man and i don't feel i should be told that i should look up info b4 i post anything, if everyone did that here than there would be no posting. if i did something wrong or posted something that the site does not approve of than the powers that be can delete the post and contact me and say what i did wrong and not voice an opinion on what i posted or the fact i didn't research it first. today i am just a old cranky man and sorry but i do have a temper but at the same time i love the fact that people will help you here and i just took it wrong when someone posted about the same subject 3 times on the same day or about a back rest or a bikes birthday.

[fispyder]

I had my RTS since 2010, that being said at 1/2 tank of gas I'm around 100miles. The last 1/2 of tank I get about 50 miles. Been that way since I've own it. On average I get 33 mpg

[NancysToy]

It is what it is! 30 mpg if you hold your mouth right +/- 5 mpg. You can't push a barn door through the wind without burning gas...especially one that is a whole lot dirtier aerodynamically and a whole lot larger frontal area than your BMW...or even a small car.

[Illinois Boy]

I love the fact that people will help you here...

I just took it wrong when someone posted about the same subject 3 times on the same day or about a back rest or a bikes birthday.

You have a point.

[baldeagle55]

by the last few remarks i really thought this was a site to ask questions and not get reviews on how to check millage or if i should look up previous treads i guess i need to be careful of what i ask or what i post

the only one on this site is any help is Scotty Nancys toy

[ARtraveler]

Other than the couple wise guy's, it seemed to me that most wanted to be helpful in answering your question. It's obvious that you were not looking for a math solution, but the guage level is not a good way to check the consumption of gas. IMO--of course. Most average 30 mpg--like Scotty says.

[bruiser]

Have to agree with Scotty again. It is what it is. There are too many variables to say we should all get the exact same mileage. I get better mileage on my 2012 RTS than my wife does on her 2010 RTS. However, it's only a few miles variance. Most of us get about 30 mpg but I would say the average is more like 28. I also agree that if you want to do as accurate a check as possible, fill it the same way every time and use the trip meter.

I did just change my Spyder over from analog to digital. It is more accurate.

[GeoffCee]

the only one on this site is any help is Scotty Nancys toy

My Missus tells me I'm the most helpful person she knows. Maybe that's because she doesn't pester me with stoopid Spyder questions.

As for the stock fuel gauge, it's an absolute joke. Mine is consistent but consistently wrong. My Zumo 550 sat-nav has a fuel gauge based on miles traveled. I have it set to tell me to look for a fill up after I've done 150 miles since I last filled up. Works like a charm providing I remember to reset it each time I buy gas.

[willey]

yep,100 miles on first 1/2 tank,then the tank turns into an hour glass shape,the hole in the bottom gets bigger,40 miles later the reserve light comes on.I don`t mind the 28 to 32 mpg,I just would like a 10 gallon tank.All of my ridding buddies can go 250 between fill ups.Its just a PIA to have to stop after only 150 miles.but have I told you lately how much I love this beast? 8,500 trouble free and fun filled miles sence we bought the bike the first of June this year.

[OldCowboy]

As others have noted, the analog gas gauge is somewhat worthless. Also, as they've noted, the first half takes you about twice as far as the 2nd half. On mine, the needle bottoms out about the same time the low fuel light comes on. At that point I have about a gallon of useable fuel left. My mileage isn't the greatest because 95% of my ryding is done on winding, hilly, 2-lane Ozark roads.

[Bob Denman]

the only one on this site is any help is Scotty Nancys toy

But it'd be a boring place if he was the only one to ever have something to say!

[Phyxius]

On the highway I get much better mileage than I do tooling around "town". You can see my fuelly stats here:
https://www.fuelly.com/driver/phxyiusspyder/spyder-rts

I was getting 30-34 on the way to/from SpyderFest while I get 24-28 or so around town. I shift up around 5500 (higher if merging, lots of a traffic or if I feel like it) and I down shift when I hit 4300.

Your mileage will also vary by weight. More weight on the spyder = lower gas mileage. But, fuelly is nifty and lets you see the mileage reported by other users with similar/same vehicles for example, other RT-S's : https://www.fuelly.com/motorcycle/can-am/spyder%20rt-s

[rock]

we have a 2010 rts and mileage was terrible for a while , about 26 mpg's...we now have 27,000 miles on it and it is now getting 35-36 mpg's consistantly...it will get better give it a chance...you can hel pit along by putting a after market exhaust and a good air filter ( k&n works great)

[dshogman]

Wow, just started myself on Fuelly. Thought mine really sucked and then looked at all the RT-S and I'm right about there for the average. SO, no complaining at this time.

[Doktor]

ok everyone i did about 90 miles today and my gas gauge is reading 1/2 a tank to me this is poor millage, i had better millage on my six cylinder BMW k 1600. is it my driving ways or will it get better with age.

You might need to take a look at the front of your Spyder, in profile they aren't all that much different, but you are pushing a much bigger cycle through the wind, I had a GL1800 and could get about 40 mpg, when I moved to my sidecar with a 500 cc smaller displacement, I dropped to 30-32 on a long trip, and maybe 28-29 around town. Three wheels will nearly always present a less aerodynamic, thus reduced, mpg. Physics, and aerodynamics still are inviolable laws.


Doc

[Flash Gordon]

I got 49 miles to the gallon on my 2009 Harley Heritage, but if you ride a Harley Tri-Glide, you will drop to 30 some odd miles to gallon. I now have a 2013 RT-L and I average about 30 to 33 miles per gallon, which is about what you get with a traditional trike. We are not far from the mark when it comes to anything that is more than a two wheel bike. Get used to it. We did not buy these toys for their gas mileage. They are fun and we just need to accept the gas mileage, it is what it is, and I love it.