Thoughts and pointers from my trips this year - gas mileage

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

The topic of gas mileage hasn't been discussed much lately but I thought I'd post the following table showing my gas mileage on my 3 trips this past summer. Home, Parma, ID, to Eureka, CA for Spyders in the Redwoods, home to Salem, OR for a nephew's wedding, and my 6900 mile trip from home to Iowa, Illinois, Louisiana, and back.

First off, you can never trust the mileage you observe from 2 or 3 tankfuls to be truly representative of what you'll experience over the long haul. My numbers clearly show that.

I've broken my information down primarily into segments that represent various driving situations. Two lane roads, of course, have lower speed limits than do the Interstates. Speed matters. So what else is new? Towing a trailer matters. Again, so what else is new? Contrary to what one of the Spyder ryders at Lamont's BBQ said I would experience, removing the catalytic converter mattered not much at all. Compare my mileage from Rock Springs to Council Bluffs with that from Springfield to Denver.

The speeds are about how fast I remember I drove but are not certain. I didn't keep record of them. I used premium gas almost all the time but made no real effort to limit myself to ethanol or non-ethanol gas. Mostly I used ethanol gas.

The most striking thing is my mileage from Denver to Salt Lake. There's only about 900 feet net elevation difference between the two. A lot of that distance is uphill and downhill, going over Eisenhower and Vail summits. Apparently the gas saved going downhill is greater than the additional gas used going up hill.

Another interesting observation is my mileage in the South compared to the West. Makes me wonder if ambient humidity has an impact, the greater the humidity the lower the mileage. I have no idea why that would be, and it does seem strange, but what else would cause the difference? Temperature may be a factor but I doubt it. Temps varied mostly around 60° to 80° the whole time.

Start	Mid point	End	Highway type	Speed	Trailer	Miles	Gallons	MPG
Nampa, ID	Eureka, CA	Nampa, ID	2 lane	60	No	1750	63.43	27.6
Home	Salem, OR	Home	Mostly 2 lane	70	Yes	1257	51.58	24.4
Home		Montpelier, ID	Interstate	75	Yes	426	18.94	22.5
Montpelier, ID		Rock Springs, WY	2 lane	70	Yes	232	10.00	23.2
Rock Springs, WY		Council Bluffs, IA	Interstate	75	Yes	809	38.80	20.9
Council Bluffs, IA		Muscatine, IA	2 lane	60	Yes	400	16.98	23.6
		@ Muscatine	local driving	65	No	253	10.95	23.1
Muscatine, IA		Winona, MS	Interstate	80	Yes	709	33.87	20.9
Winona, MS		Brookhaven, MS	2 lane	65	Yes	173	8.74	19.8
Brookhaven, MS		Hammond, LA	Interstate	80	Yes	176	8.98	19.6
Hammond, LA	Houma, LA	Hammond, LA	Interstate, 2, & 4 lane	70	No	194	8.66	22.4
Hammond, LA		Springfield, MO	2 lane	65	Yes	732	32.28	22.7
After cat removal
Springfield, MO		Denver, CO	Interstate	80	Yes	806	38.94	20.7
Denver, CO		Salt Lake City, UT	Interstate	80	Yes	534	22.63	23.6
Salt Lake City, UT		Home	Interstate	85	Yes	370	17.61	21.0

[SpyderAnn01]

Man that is some lousy mileage, even for a 13. I think the worst I got on mine was 19 and that was on I70 in Western Colorado and Eastern Utah, with my trailer and a really strong wind going upwards of 80.

Makes me happy that I now have a 2014.

[spacetiger]

Thanks for posting the numbers. I have to agree with the other poster, those are scary low numbers.

Just curious:

1. Are the numbers with 2 up riding?
2. What was the estimated weight (with trailer you were carrying)?
3. Any suspension changes?
4. Where do you keep your windscreen (position wise) when you ride on the interstate?
5. Tire pressures?
6. any front end alignment?

Jerry

[Chupaca]

really low mileage. You sure about your calculations..?? When I cared I did it by the fill up but have not seen numbers this low. Now I ryde an RS but even those ryding with me on RT's do much better...may be worth a check up...

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

1. Are the numbers with 2 up riding?

Nope, just me @ 210 lbs.

2. What was the estimated weight (with trailer you were carrying)?

On the bike maybe 50 lbs. The trailer was somewhere around 420 lbs.

3. Any suspension changes?

All stock.

4. Where do you keep your windscreen (position wise) when you ride on the interstate?

Full up. I like the wind protection.

5. Tire pressures?

20 front, 28 rear.

6. any front end alignment?

Yep, last June. See my comment here: http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/s...e-and-tracking

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

really low mileage. You sure about your calculations..?? When I cared I did it by the fill up but have not seen numbers this low. Now I ryde an RS but even those ryding with me on RT's do much better...may be worth a check up...

I use a database program I put together in Handbase for Android to record the numbers when I fill up. I exported the data so I got the raw numbers I put into Handbase right into a spreadsheet. All the calcs for this table are done in the spreadsheet. I discarded all the calculated results that were in the Handbase file export. I double checked to make sure I had the right gallon totals associated with the correct odometer numbers.

If you look at the first mileage number that is for just me alone with maybe 60 lbs of gear, no trailer, and on highways with mostly 55 mph speed limits. That number is good at 27.6 mpg. The only comparable travel on the LA trip is from Hammond to Houma and back, and that is one of the lower numbers, hence my wonder about humidity. The Council Bluffs to Muscatine part is comparable to the Eureka trip except for pulling the trailer. Based on those two trip parts it looks like the trailer sucks up about 4 mpg. I guess one of the things I wanted to point out with this information is that gas mileage can vary a lot due to all kinds of reasons. One has to be careful about either bragging or crying about mileage.

In Muscatine I made a wind breaker nose piece for the trailer. I'm not sure it really helped all that much. Here's the setup on the trip. This was taken at the Mark Twain Overlook in Muscatine, IA, along the Mississippi River.

At Mark Twain overlook.jpg

[SpyderAnn01]

One thing that I know makes a big difference in my mileage is the wind. Next time you keep track maybe make a note of the wind speeds and directrion.

Also, how much did your nose job weigh? I wonder if the added weight negated any aerodynamic advantage.

[spacetiger]

Nope, just me @ 210 lbs.


On the bike maybe 50 lbs. The trailer was somewhere around 420 lbs.


All stock.


Full up. I like the wind protection.


20 front, 28 rear.


Yep, last June. See my comment here: http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/s...e-and-tracking

If you look at the side profile of the bike with the screen full up (or down), you will notice the windscreen is close to being upright. If you are running the stock suspension, the front springs will be too soft to hold you properly. I have a 2012 RTS and weigh 208. When the nose is down a bit and the windscreen is full (or down), the windscreen presents its self to the wind at a high Cd profile. If you run the windscreen slightly below halfway up, the windscreen has a lower Cd profile. Put better springs to hold you up properly (~$140) and you can keep the nose up properly. This will not make a huge difference, but everything helps.

Jerry

[Motorcycledave]

That millage is no surprise, my 1 ton dully is also bad but it gets 12 mpg
my Spyder never gets any better than 23 or 25 at best... I just have to
remember the Spyder has all the aerodynamics of a cinder block. and with
a high revving engine like it has you can not expect much more. I just enjoy it for
what it is and stop for gas more often than in my car.
I did find out the hard way, on a trip to Salt Lake City from Linden CA, you better have a gas can with
you if you expect to get to the next town in Nevada on Hwy. 80 going from Reno east
gas is not close and your tank is not big enough on my GS/ RS type
Ride Safe everyone
Dave

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

One thing that I know makes a big difference in my mileage is the wind. Next time you keep track maybe make a note of the wind speeds and directrion.

Also, how much did your nose job weigh? I wonder if the added weight negated any aerodynamic advantage.

I know there were times I had a fair amount of wind to contend with but I don't remember which direction and where.

The 'nose job', as you put it, is maybe 10 lbs. I made it out of pine sticks and luan thin plywood. I think it did help with stability if not mileage.

[IGETAROUND]

Great looking "nose job" modification. Just curious, what type trailer are you pulling, camper or storage/utility?? Nice looking rig you have

[Bob Denman]

Thanks for the report...
You keep excellent track of what you were doing, and it adds a lot of "meat", to this meal!

For the record: my fuel usage this Season...
5158.7 miles
130.687 gallons
39.5 mpg

I have run 93 octane for all except ONE fill-up (An experiment)
I always run with the windshield at the lowest possible position
I have the adjustable lower air deflectors, and they are normally set to the intermediate position to aid in aerodynamics...
My speeds: Depressingly low for most of you; I'll roll along to 53 or so on the two-lanes, and only bump it up to around 60 or 62 out on the interstates.

[billybovine]

It was nice meeting you at the BBQ.

Out of curiosity I checked my fuel mileage round trip for the BBQ.
2013 ST Limited, one up and no trailer.
Total miles 1,930.
Total fuel 61.211 US gallons
So that works out to 31.53 mpg average for the trip. That was worse than my normal 34 mpg that I usually get around home.

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Great looking "nose job" modification. Just curious, what type trailer are you pulling, camper or storage/utility?? Nice looking rig you have

The short answer, yes! For why I say that read this thread. http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/s...satile-trailer!

I turned the tool box parallel to the tongue when I put the nose piece on but I'm not sure I really had too.

[IGETAROUND]

Wow a great job!! Forgot your previous post; old timers disease, LOL!

Don't possess the skill sets necessary to accomplish what you have done.

Course if you were ever inclined to build another one this winter let me know I'd be in the market by spring to summer next year.

A joyful holiday to you with friends and family. All my best to you.

Al

[GunDoctor]

Curious question....does a windshield help in miles or is it purely a comfort thing for the Ryder? Thinking of terms of the F3. I test rode a few weeks back with no windshield and didn't notice a need. If it helps on gas then I may consider.

[Pennyrick]

Very thorough report.

I too am surprised at the results but other factors may influence the mileage more than humidity.

- the windscreen position. For this year's trips the mileage on my '12 RT was always about 2-3 mpg better than my wife's '12 RT. She almost always runs with her windscreen raised in the cooler part of the day while mile is always down. We recently found her steering angle was out of whack and that also may have impacted fuel economy.

- the RT 622 trailers we use seem to be better aerodynamically than the trailer you are pulling. The maximum load weight on the 622 is 150 pounds so it would seem you are pulling a lot more weight than the Can Am trailer can carry. We actually notice very little difference in mileage with or without our trailers. An 18-Wheeler driver once told me that is because the 'drag' at the rear of the Spyder is smoothed out by the aerodynamics of the trailer and that may actually help to increase gas mileage much the way the trailer on an 18 wheeler helps with mileage versus the cab traveling alone.

[Bob Denman]

These things are like "Big Barn Doors"...
Anything that you can do to help reduce aerodynamic drag; will pay off at the pump!
Windshield down, adjustable air deflectors set for minimal "Air-Deflectorizing" , perhaps even narrower tires up front would help... (Kumho makes a 155 section width tire that would work...)

[Magdave]

The other thing is the MPG going above 60mph will have a significant effect on MPG as your chart shows. Prevailing winds are usually west to east and that shows too. Also looks like CAT removal had a negative effect too.

[Bob Denman]

Dave,
I guess that I just noticed it...EXCELLENT avatar!

[AeroPilot]

The short answer, yes! For why I say that read this thread. http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/s...satile-trailer!

I turned the tool box parallel to the tongue when I put the nose piece on but I'm not sure I really had too.

I admire the riding you've done and the mods and adaptations. I like Bob have tended to slow down. I noticed the Smoky Bear mod and can attest that speed will cost you in fuel economy. (as well as in tickets as I recall, haha). Since I adjusted my schedule (retired) I tend to run at around 5 below the speed limit except when two wheelin in 6th gear on the Road King. Can't wait to try 6th on one of the 1330's from the drivers or passenger seat. currently enjoying my duties as service tech and navigator on the wifes '11 RT

[Dragonrider]

Wes - that's pretty much what I saw on my 2010, until I went wild and changed: shocks, wires, plugs, air filter, cat delete, Yosh R77, and non-ETOH fuel. Then I bumped up to the low 30s. I would only have had to put 200K on the clock to justify the cost!! My '10 used 1/2q of oil, every 1K miles - regardless of dino/synth choice. Additionally, I would rarely tow, rode two up a lot, had/have the tallest windshield that BRP makes (and my head is STILL in the wind), and it's always all the way up. Between myself, and the junk I always carry, my Spyders never see under 325#...

I only have about 1300 miles on my '14, so far, and NONE are steady highway miles, or much towing, still my average is 36 mpg - worst was my first tank at 21.4mpg, and best was 37.1 on a day trip at speed. I usually put an average of 3.9 gal in at 145 miles. So far, my '14 hasn't used a drop of oil.

Fuel economy on my '14 is on a par with my V-rods, 1500 GW, and Valkyries. My K12 BMW, gave a consistent 50+, and was the best two wheel touring bike I ever had (NOT for short inseams tho).

[ARtraveler]

Eighty umpteen gazillion things can and will affect mileage. Thanks for posting your information.

[JayBros]

I have 2800+ on my new '14 and have a cumulative average of 36.2 in a mixture of "inspired" and "civilized" riding.