MPG - widely varied on Trip from Twin Cities to North Shore - Minnesota

[Jim&Teresa]

Hello all, I can't believe the swing in MPG when riding yesterday. We did have a south breeze gusting to 30MPH - windy day. Riding north with two of us on the Spyder we were getting between 30 - 32 mpg -- good mpg for us! The bike has 6000+ miles on it so it should be broken in. I've read many threads stating rpm's need to be kept up in order to achieve better mpg and that's what I do now after my learning curve.

The trip back from the Duluth, MN area to home (about 180 miles) was mostly interstate running around 70 MPH (stayed in 4th gear). Well, we could pass just about everything but a gas station!! Last stop we put in 4.96 gallons with 101.5 miles on the trip odom. (that's 20.46 MPG - WOW...worst mileage ever). The wind was directly in our face the whole trip back. I did not think it would have affected our mpg so drastically.

Are you all seeing this kind of impact when riding hard into the wind??

It was a great ride and beautiful views - here's a couple of pics:

Thanks...

 

[CaptainSFC]

I was told by the dealer that after 7k miles you should start to see a bit of mpg increase. I also found that running high RPMs on the highway will drastically decrease MPG. I run 70 in 5th gear and get 30+. Mine has 6k.

Beautiful scenery. Nice looking bike!

 

[NancysToy]

The wind, the topography, the altitude, your speed, the fuel supply, and many other factors greatly affect mileage. What happened to you is not that unusual.

 

[ARtraveler]

Fifth gear would have been a little better for mileage on good ol I-35 if you were managing to make 70 mph. That plus the 30 mph headwinds I am guessing did not contribute to good mileage. Driven that road many times.

 

[Chupaca]

Really does..!!

there are a great deal of things that affect the mileage. These motors do not know mph. They only know rpm's air/fuel mixture, gear ratios and loads. I can get great mileage at 6,000 rpm's freeway. That is about 83 mph double up. I don't use 5th till I am over 72 mph. I have had as low as 25 and as high as 37 mpg. It did get better with age like fine wine. Now have over 11,000 wrinkle free miles..relax your doing fine. You are not ryding a mo-ped...:roflblack:

 

[willey]

mpg

I have taken several trips to Fla and back to Ohio on my two wheeler and found that some gas just doesn`t perform as well as others.It helps to find the brand that your bike likes the best and stick with that brand when you can.

 

[r1100rider]

Hello all, I can't believe the swing in MPG when riding yesterday. We did have a south breeze gusting to 30MPH - windy day. Riding north with two of us on the Spyder we were getting between 30 - 32 mpg -- good mpg for us! The bike has 6000+ miles on it so it should be broken in. I've read many threads stating rpm's need to be kept up in order to achieve better mpg and that's what I do now after my learning curve.

The trip back from the Duluth, MN area to home (about 180 miles) was mostly interstate running around 70 MPH (stayed in 4th gear). Well, we could pass just about everything but a gas station!! Last stop we put in 4.96 gallons with 101.5 miles on the trip odom. (that's 20.46 MPG - WOW...worst mileage ever). The wind was directly in our face the whole trip back. I did not think it would have affected our mpg so drastically.

Are you all seeing this kind of impact when riding hard into the wind?? nthe wind can make way more difference than you think one time in my van truck I was hauling freight and I made my first stop and loaded then headed down river (slightly down hill) in the Columbia gorge I couldn't pull high gear on the freeway I thought we'll that must have weighed more than I thought then in Portland I loaded more than twice as much as I already had and on the way back without headwind high gear up hill over twice the weight and I was backing out of it the wind can add more resistance than almost anything

It was a great ride and beautiful views - here's a couple of pics:

Thanks

 

[retirednick]

Yeah, two up ryding with high winds here in Alberta I have dropped down to about 22 miles per gal. Just the way it is. Have to enjoy what ever time I can get on the Spyder before that dreaded winter makes its way back.

 

[r1100rider]

the wind can make way more difference than you think one time in my van truck I was hauling freight and I made my first stop and loaded then headed down river (slightly down hill) in the Columbia gorge I couldn't pull high gear on the freeway I thought we'll that must have weighed more than I thought then in Portland I loaded more than twice as much as I already had and on the way back without headwind high gear up hill over twice the weight and I was backing out of it the wind can add more resistance than almost anything

 

[Elembytes]

Real gasoline vs. ethanol

When in Minnesota before, with a Honda Civic Hybrid- the car who normally only got 40 mpg was getting well over 50 mpg---

Found out that Marathon Oil (I believe) up there sells only REAL GASOLINE and not the Ethanol junk.

So, maybe that is what you had and didn't know it and then got some of this Ethanol and boom- like shooting self in the foot.

Just love ETHANOL- can you tell? Murder on BOAT ENGINES and lawnmowers too--will eat the carburator gaskets right up on a lawnmower---

 

[Grandpa Pete]

Going up and over "The Hill" in Duluth is a gas eater. I've done it solo and with the misses and I got between 17 and 24 mpg regardless if in 3rd or 4th. I also think the temperature change from cool to hot can also affect that tank of gas. After that, I rip about 75-82 mph on 35 south in 5th.

 

[Bob Ledford]

Florida flat lander

I have seen my mileage here on the East coast of Florida vary as much as 10 mpg running in a frontal wind and go up in a tail wind. Also had side winds make my Spyder swap lanes on the highway.

Reference gasoline quality I would have to also give the most MPG vote to Marathon also.

 

[Jim&Teresa]

Gas use

When in Minnesota before, with a Honda Civic Hybrid- the car who normally only got 40 mpg was getting well over 50 mpg---

Found out that Marathon Oil (I believe) up there sells only REAL GASOLINE and not the Ethanol junk.

So, maybe that is what you had and didn't know it and then got some of this Ethanol and boom- like shooting self in the foot.

Just love ETHANOL- can you tell? Murder on BOAT ENGINES and lawnmowers too--will eat the carburator gaskets right up on a lawnmower---

Thanks for your input. I stayed away from ethanol and only used premium gas....disappointed in the MPG -- always ran premium. Major headwind was the culprit. I stayed in 4th gear and ran up the RPM's maybe was another contributor. I just couldn't "pull the trigger" to go into 5th gear on I-35 at 70MPH with that strong headwind -- maybe 5th would have provided a couple of more mpg's.....