32 MPG Avg on 2300 mi trip

ulflyer · Sep 18, 2011

Just got back yesterday, 17 Sep, from a seven day 2300 mile trip out thru KY, MO, AR, TN and home to NC. Kept track of gas usage and got 32 avg.
Roads traveled were about half secondary and half dual lane/interstate.
Crossed the big Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Never seen so much beautiful country, mountians, rivers and lakes. Our Blue Ridge area is nice too, but I especially loved that in many of the above areas, espeically in MO and AR you could see for miles with rolling hills and mountians in the far reaches.

Had never seen Branson or Eureka Springs. Both great spots to visit.

Lamonster · Sep 18, 2011

That's pretty good for an RT :thumbup:

effgjamis · Sep 18, 2011

ulflyer said:
Just got back yesterday, 17 Sep, from a seven day 2300 mile trip out thru KY, MO, AR, TN and home to NC. Kept track of gas usage and got 32 avg.
Roads traveled were about half secondary and half dual lane/interstate.
Crossed the big Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Never seen so much beautiful country, mountians, rivers and lakes. Our Blue Ridge area is nice too, but I especially loved that in many of the above areas, espeically in MO and AR you could see for miles with rolling hills and mountians in the far reaches.

Had never seen Branson or Eureka Springs. Both great spots to visit.

Average speed ????

dave01 · Sep 18, 2011

effgjamis said:
Average speed ????

Huligans......Always wondering about the speed:roflblack::roflblack::roflblack:

docdoru · Sep 18, 2011

dave01 said:
Huligans......Always wondering about the speed:roflblack::roflblack::roflblack:

dave01 · Sep 18, 2011

docdoru said:

Doc, I believe the turtle is still on his first engine though

nudle · Sep 18, 2011

:roflblack::roflblack::roflblack::roflblack:

Pandy · Sep 18, 2011

Speed

Speed is a valid inquiry, especially 2 up. With our unmodified RTS SE5 I have kept track of fuel consumption since day one. I find that cruising at an indicated 65 to 70 mph using the cruise control, I can depend on 29.5 mpg. No matter what grade of fuel, terrain, additive etc... On secondary roads with the tach seldom over 4600 rpm I see 32 to a high of 35.mpg.This if after now 13 k miles and all service performed by my dealer. There is a lot of air to shove out of the way with an RT, and we are two rather well fed people. Hulligans indeed, harrumph!

Patrick

CyncySpyder · Sep 18, 2011

There are always going to be compromises

As stated , the RT has a LARGE mass to move, the faster you wanna move it doc, the lower your average mpg's are gonna be, no way around it.

I for one am a bit happier, with just adjusting how & when I shift, Ive gone from averaging 24-26 to 28-34. Thats not bad (IMHO) without adding mods, but just adjusting ryding style. I'm now trying Star_Tron Fuel addidive to see if that makes any difference & will see what other "Mods" I can do or make to help better fuel economy:thumbup:

Its good to see other ryders getting close to or over 30 MPG's. IN MY OPINION, Under 30 is just a shame for a vehicle like this.

docdoru · Sep 18, 2011

CyncySpyder said:
As stated , the RT has a LARGE mass to move, the faster you wanna move it doc, the lower your average mpg's are gonna be, no way around it.

Never did complained about the RS's mpg, only about "AYAE"....

pps::roflblack::thumbup:

dave01 · Sep 18, 2011

docdoru said:
Never did complained about the RS's mpg, only about "AYAE"....pps::roflblack::thumbup:

I have never heard Doc talk about maint costs, fuel mileage or anything like that. His only concern was replacement costs. AYAE

johnnyg · Sep 18, 2011

Welcome back Doc. :joke:

sinkhole · Sep 18, 2011

I'm averaging 31.7 mpg over 14,000 miles, riding one up, and running 65+ for more than half of those miles.

Rockytime · Sep 18, 2011

ulflyer said:
Just got back yesterday, 17 Sep, from a seven day 2300 mile trip out thru KY, MO, AR, TN and home to NC. Kept track of gas usage and got 32 avg.
Roads traveled were about half secondary and half dual lane/interstate.
Crossed the big Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Never seen so much beautiful country, mountians, rivers and lakes. Our Blue Ridge area is nice too, but I especially loved that in many of the above areas, espeically in MO and AR you could see for miles with rolling hills and mountians in the far reaches.

Had never seen Branson or Eureka Springs. Both great spots to visit.

I returned yesterday from Branson, a round trip from Denver just over 1800 miles. My 2010 RT-S has just under 12000 miles and is dealer serviced. I traveled very few interstates and nearly all country and back roads. Speed on the country roads was 55 to 60 mph and 75 to 80 on the interstates. I averaged just a tad over 32 mpg. Quite often on the back roads it would be rare to use 5th gear do to hay wagons, farm trucks and just slower moving vehicles. I usually shift between 4 to 5 K.

BTW, you said you would be in Branson on Monday. Would you believe it, after 8 days of travel I did not see a single Spyder. Lots of other trikes tho. Trikes are getting more popular all the time.

exwinger · Sep 18, 2011

First long trip on the bike this weekend. Headed to the dragon and Cherhola parkway putting 1100 miles on her. Been getting around 30 - 31mpg doing highway speeds of 70 to75+ which surprises me because normal riding I get around 25+. The real surprise was riding thru the dragon and Cherhola I got 35 mpg ( two tanks ) Lower speeds but high rpms with a lot of wrist turning going on and up and downshifting between 2nd and 3rd and some short 4th gear spurts.

The sad part was the mileage I got going into Pigeon Forge. Turned out there was a humongous car shown going on and for 5.1 miles it took us 1 hour and 45 minutes .Nothing but move 5 feet and stop the whole time. There was absolutely no way to get off and find a spot open to park , every available space was taken by a hot rod of some kind on both sides of the street. Bike and riders were both getting very hot and the gas fumes from the bike were nauseating. I figure it was so hot it was evaporating the gas out. Finally made it to a station and let it set for about a half hour before popping the cap and adding fuel and made sure no one walked close with a smoke.Put fuel in and it took 5.2 gallons .................97 miles on the odometer .

Red light is worthless along with fuel gauge. I get to 150 miles and find fuel and usually takes around 5 gal more or less. Normal average speed driving I start looking for fuel at 125.

2011 RTSS

Wattsmyname · Sep 18, 2011

Fuel Mileage

I still can't figure out how a Honda Civic(or whatever small car) can get about 40 mpg on the highway yet a motorcycle with less HP, less frontal area, less rubber on the road gets less mileage...?

NancysToy · Sep 18, 2011

Wattsmyname said:
I still can't figure out how a Honda Civic(or whatever small car) can get about 40 mpg on the highway yet a motorcycle with less HP, less frontal area, less rubber on the road gets less mileage...?

It isn't the rubber on the road o0r the weight. It is wind resistance (aerodynamic drag). The Honda is just plain slipperier!

ulflyer · Sep 19, 2011

Rockytime, we got into Branson about 5 pm monday, went to see SX (six brothers that sang well but made lousy jokes) and left out the next morning about 9 pm or so for Eureka Springs. Like you, didn't see another Can Am anywhere.

Eff, you asked about avg speed. At ages 68, 78, & 82, we broke all speed limits at the rest stops trotting from the machines to go pee.

pps:

And where there wasn't any rest stops there were lots of woods. But dang, I didn't know there were Armadillos is Mo and Ar. :yikes:

REDSPY · Sep 19, 2011

1500 Mile Trip 14 entries 32.6 MPG Average 28.3 Low, 37.0 High

Here's my data from my iPhone Gas Cuddy app for a 1500+ mile trip.

We trailered Spyder and started and ended in Scranton, PA to meet up with buddy who rides a Harley and went to Newport, RI, Bar Harbor, ME, Gorham, NH (rode to the top of White MTN), Lake George, NY and back to Scranton.

Still need to top off tank to complete log for last 130 miles but currently in limp mode with a P1614 throttle body error code. This started at the top of White MTN (6233 Ft) and limped the entire trip down and cleard at the bottom. Tried several times yesterday to restart and it error would not clear. Will be off to dealer ans also need to get the parking brake spring replaced as cable came off front pully twice during the trip.

RedSpy
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