MPG break-in

[jthornton]

I kept reading how people were getting 40+ MPG on their goldwings... I was talking with one guy at a PGR mission, and he asked me what kind of mileage I get with my Spyder... I told him it was only about 30. Nothing like his GW... He laughed, and said he couldn't get over 24! So I don't know where these stellar numbers are coming from.....

The worst MPG I've ever had on my GL1800 is about 35 MPG and that takes some hard riding at very high speeds to get that low. Now if your buddy is driving a GL1500 that is a whole nuther story as they use carbs and would get an average of 10 MPG less than a GL1800.

http://www.fuelly.com/driver/jthornton/gl1800

IMHO if your getting 21 MPG on a Spyder something is broken. The worst I've ever had on the RT is 24 MPG pulling my trailer at 75-80 riding two up.

http://www.fuelly.com/driver/jthornton/spyder-rts

JT

 

[gypsy_100]

I kept reading how people were getting 40+ MPG on their goldwings... I was talking with one guy at a PGR mission, and he asked me what kind of mileage I get with my Spyder... I told him it was only about 30. Nothing like his GW... He laughed, and said he couldn't get over 24! So I don't know where these stellar numbers are coming from.....

The worst MPG I've ever had on my GL1800 is about 35 MPG and that takes some hard riding at very high speeds to get that low. Now if your buddy is driving a GL1500 that is a whole nuther story as they use carbs and would get an average of 10 MPG less than a GL1800.

Agree with JT on the 'Wings. I had 105,000 miles on a GL1800 and got a consistent 42 mpg -- one-up, two-up, fully loaded for month-long trip, whatever. Worst was about 36 with strong headwinds across WA state at high speeds, two tankfuls confirmed it was real but the winds were strong. Heading back a few weeks later the winds had kicked up again but I had the tailwind and got about 46 mpg over two tankfuls so the "real" average was right in the range.

Now a GL trike is something else -- they seem to get about the same as the RT from what people tell me; no personal experience on a GL trike.

As for the RT, take the average over several tankfuls. With the error in the pumps' calibration and the variation in how full you get it (front to back slope, left to right slope, when the pump shuts off) you can get misleading numbers from just one tank. For example on a typical 4-gallon fill, a difference of just 1/2 gallon makes a difference in mileage of almost 4 mpg if your true mileage was 30 mpg. On an 8,000 mile run from PA to Alaska I got 31.6 mpg but had individual readings as low as 28.8 and as high as 34.7. Just finished a 3200-mile run from PA over Lake Huron and full circle around Lake Superior and got virtually the same mileage and similar minimum and maximum individual numbers as on the Alaska run.

 

[jthornton]

All this talk about needing huge break in periods for the Rotax just got me wondering because no modern engine made today needs to be broken in. Goldwings are run at full throttle at the factory and get the same mileage from the first tank. I mean how long can it take...

If you go 1000 miles at an average speed of 60 switching back and forth between 4th and 5th gear your average RPM will be 4800. In a 1000 miles each piston will have traveled 35,732 feet and the engine will have turned over 80,000 times if it ain't broke in by then it never will. Or I'm completely full of crap and don't know it.

Can it be poor compression that causes some to have way lower MPG than others and the rings are so hard it takes them 10,000 miles to seal properly?

When the service manual says up to 25% leakage percentage for a cylinder is good and up to 40% leakage is ok... to me that is a lot of leakage. Even lawnmower engines have tighter standards that that, I know I built some machines to test them as they are assembled.

JT

 

[AZCowboy]

MPG

I have friends that say they get a avg of approx. 36 mpg on there Goldwing Trikes. Now my 2012 Spyder RT use to get 25-27 avg with both reg and high test. A Harley friend of mine said to keep it as much as I can at or above 5,000 rpm for the rotex engine. I did and the mileage went up to 28-30 mpg avg and the last tank got 34. :f_spider: RJ