mpg

[spaz]

The air filter makes a difference in mpg?

Kind of, it lets the engine breath better. Doing the exhaust, slip on, high flow cat. (catalytic converter) or just getting rid of your cat. will help, unless you are in a state that does emissions testing than you don't want to get rid of the cat. I took my stock air filter out a week after I got my bike.

 

[edgyver]

My 11' has almost 3k miles now and the fuel consumption has been terrific. I don't baby it. But, I don't rev the crap out of it in general, either. Yesterday, I went on a 150 mile run. I averaged 60-65mph on mostly back roads just taking it easy. My girlfriend was following on her 09' GS500. So, I didn't want to make her feel rushed to keep up. Anyhow, We topped off the tanks when we got back and I averaged just a hair over 49mpg. I was happy when it previously got 45. So, I was shocked yesterday! I always fill it on the center stand and take it to the same level each time.
Misc. details: Texaco/Chevron premium gas. Stock fly screen, 36/42psi tire pressure. Scottoiler lubing the chain. 190# rider + gear. Small tail bag on the back. Temps in the mid-high 60's.

 

[Panther]

Fazer8 MPG statistics

Hey Everyone,

As soon as I purchased my Fazer8 ABS I took a note of my mileages per tank. I would always fill the tank right to the top, reset the A-Trip and measure how many miles until F-Trip kicks in. Here's my stats (numbers are in miles). Remember these figures are for the 2.99 gallons until F-Trip. I have achieved an additional 50 miles on reserve tank (very conservative riding). My record for full tank is about 220 miles!!! I've also stated the grade of fuel for each tank. Bear in mind for the first few tanks I was still running the bike in, with the lower grade engine oil.

Tank1:153 (99RON)
Tank2: 160 (95RON)
Tank3: 163 (99RON)
Tank4: 171.5 (99RON) - had oil change during this tank. Heavy rain.
Tank5: 160.5 (99RON)
Tank6: 153.3 (95RON)
Tank7: 147.1 (99RON) - now passed the 1000 mile run-in mark. Massive wind.
Tank8: 158.1 (97RON)
Tank9: 149.8 (99RON) - mainly city riding
Tank10: 158.5 (99RON) - wet 'n windy
Tank11: 161.2 (99RON)
Tank12: 150.5 (99RON) - freezing fog
Tank13: 151.8 (95RON) - heavy cargo bag
Tank14: 151.9 (95RON) - tyre pressure down by 3 PSI
Tank15: 146.8 (95RON) - urban riding
-----------------------
Total = 2,337 miles
Average MPG = 52.1

What impressed me about this MPG was that I did a lot of urban (start-stop) riding, tyre pressures were reduced for winter, air temperature was close to zero degrees (welcome to Scotland!), I was carrying cargo for commuting and had regular strong cross-winds ...

I am not a slow rider by any means. Even now the bike has done around 4,500 miles and my last tank, riding hard, took me to 148.3 F-Trip miles. This is still 49.6 MPG which is still incredibly impressive.

I have to make a couple of comments which may not be too popular. Being an engineer I understand the mechanics of motors and the physics of riding. Your achieved MPG has a lot to do with the way you ride, even when riding hard and fast. You should run your engine in properly and try not to exceed manufacturer's advised RPMs at each stage. Doing this will give you a bike capable of better speeds and better fuel economy. I have always brought the engine up to temperature before setting off, use the throttle smoothly, use the brake smoothly (usually just a single finger, two at most), kept tyre pressures optimum albeit lower in winter to assist with road grip, etc, etc.. Have to say again I'm not a slow rider. On a recent trip I kept a GSX-R750 at bay for a 40 mile stretch!!

Anyway, mightily impressed with the Fazer/FZ8 fuel economy and overall ergonomics and aesthetics. Main downer is overly soft suspension but I'm off to sure that soon.

Hope that helps!

 

[mikefz8]

I wish

@Panther...I wish I could say my MPG is anywhere close to yours I am at 2200'ish sea level-I bought my bike in August with temperatures soaring around 110-115d fahrenheit and winter months it basically never snows or gets icey with temperatures in the high 40's (obviously at night it is below freezing, but I dont ride then) Anyway I digress...My first 5/6 tanks of fuel I was getting 42-45mpg /tank I was around 180 traveled before the F-trip light would flash I would fill up with around 0.75 gallons left in the tank and then it steadily dropped to around 30-32mpg /tank F-trip light now starts at about 100 miles traveled and has been close to that for most of this winter--also I always put premium 91 octane in when fueling up.

I purchased the bike from the yamaha rep in my area--he bought it from yamaha when it first came out for his personal bike and he put the 800 break in miles that were on it. He changed all the necessary fluids and handed over the bike to me. Since then I have been riding all of last fall and all of this winter to this point and now have 4,663 miles currently on my bike.

So for about 900 miles give/take I was getting close to 40/45mpg and for the last 2963 miles I have been getting 30/32mpg. In my last oil change I switched to full synthetic also I store my bike in my garage and always let it get warm before I ride.

And lastly I dont ride with a death wish everywhere I have 3 small children and a beautiful wife at home so I am not overly agressive on the road--not to say that I don't love the thrill of the throttle twist and have scraped my pegs taking corners around 45mph from time to time.

 

[calscrazy]

my low fuel light comes on around 130. normally put 3 gallons in it. having said that i have some "spirited" rides leading abunch of ducs and got significantly less.








spirited- riding like the devil is chasing you

 

[Hoover]

@MikeFZ8. Save youself some cash and use 87 oct instead of 91. This bike is designed to run on pump 86 and up with 10% Ethanol. 91 is the least used fuel of all and therefore sits in the holding tanks longer than 87 or 93.

 

[mikefz8]

@MikeFZ8. Save youself some cash and use 87 oct instead of 91. This bike is designed to run on pump 86 and up with 10% Ethanol. 91 is the least used fuel of all and therefore sits in the holding tanks longer than 87 or 93.

Could this be one of the reasons that my mpg is going down Hoover?

 

[Hoover]

Firstly, pay no attention to our Euro members . The European gallon is bigger than the US
My mileage is all over the place.
I normally get about 110-120 miles before my fuel trip comes on.
On a road trip, I am filling at 130-140.
If I am just thrashing around town, and I do that a lot, I am down to less than a 100 miles on a tank.

I always fuel after the fuel trip shows 10 to 15 miles and seem to be close to a gallon or so left in the tank.

 

[Black Widow]

So poeple are tracking fuel economy on a motorbike. I never even think about it, i use more fuel in 1 day with my 1 ton pulling a 35 ft toyhauler ,than i do in 2 months driving my FZ8. I laughed pretty hard when i saw the thread.

 

[Speedo007]

I ride about 20000km a year. Thats roughly 1600$ worth of fuel a year and I can only ride 9 months out of the 12 because of winter, so that's near 200$ a month during motorcycle season just for gas...sure some vehicles will use fuel like there's no tomorrow, but I still think it's relevant with bikes when you ride a lot. And always surprised with the weight of bikes compared to cars, how they aren't more efficient. If a ford focus was 500lbs, chances are it would make 70mpg on the highway...

 

[Black Widow]

Ya ,my wifes Pontiac Vibe gets 40 mpg. These bikes should get 80 mpg, but oh well, i often use $800 a month in fuel with my 1 ton diesel. I just laugh when i fill up the FZ8 with pocket change. Never dawned on me to figure out the mileage, probably 45 mpg(canadian gallon).

 

[Panther]

So poeple are tracking fuel economy on a motorbike. I never even think about it, i use more fuel in 1 day with my 1 ton pulling a 35 ft toyhauler ,than i do in 2 months driving my FZ8. I laughed pretty hard when i saw the thread.

Well, all I can say is that here in the UK the price of fuel is much higher than in the US where most of you guys live (apologies Canada). To give you an idea, a liter here costs £1.40 which is $2.10 PER LITRE!!! This is $7.96 per US gallon!! I've just looked up a random US location, namely Fort Montgomery, Orange County, New York and see the price is $4.10. So you guys are paying HALF of what we are in the UK!!! I myself switched from car to bike, initially on a 125cc runabout, purely to save some cash.
Don't get me wrong I ride a bike mainly for the buzz like most other people but in this day and age of austerity I also have to watch my wallet.

My thanks to HighOctane and mikeFZ8 for taking the post seriously!

By the way, on Gallon sizes, can I clarify that (and this will be controversial) the Imperial Gallon as we have in the UK is 4.546 litres, whereas the US Liquid Gallon is 3.79 litres (this is not an official measurement, purely stipulated by the US - you guys always have to be different and make things up like you invented them in the first place!!)
So, on that note, much of your reported US MPG figures are not as bad as you make out. For example, 35 MPG in the US is 42 MPG in the UK.

Next point on Octane level. You guys can buy fuel in the US at an incredibly unrefined level like 86 RON. I wouldn't put this grade of fuel near any form of machinery let alone a lovely piece of engineering like the Yamaha. In the UK the minimum Octane generally is 95 and you can buy 99 at a local supermarket petrol station. All I can say, having done the "math" (s), is the higher the fuel grade the higher the return on MPG. If I fill a tank with 95 RON I spend less to fill up than 99 RON. However, it works out more economical with 99 RON when I convert the extra miles gained back into cash. Also, I get superior performance. A cheap grade fuel (like 86) is crap for your engine, gets you fewer MPG, and in my opinion is ultimately not worth it.

Anyway, I get average of 50 MPG from my Fazer8 (faired FZ8) and if you get on average 42 MPG in the US (based on US Gallon) then you're getting the same as me

 

[mikefz8]

@Panther...To put it in perspective I sold my wife on the "idea" of me getting a bike because it would be less than if I drove my truck back and forth to work everyday. I use to commute 50 miles round trip 5 times a week. Which turns out is a lot of fuel--basically in my truck I could travel back and forth to work on 1 full tank of gas and have to fill up on Friday every week after work. Truck holds just over 15 gallons of fuel so weekly it was costing me $56.40/week which is roughly 16.6/mpg (not very good IMO). Bike used to get 42-45/mpg and recently has started getting around 32mpg--so I'm a little concerned because I for one like to know when things are askew and a 10mpg drop in average is askew to me. Not that I am un-grateful for it being twice as efficient to commute at the 32mpg but it needs to be better--well like it was when I first purchased the bike. I am going to contact Yamaha and see if we can get it sorted out somehow.

And lastly don't lump all "Americans" in with the generalization as Black Widow who apparently "laughs" at the price of fuel. I hope you can read between those lines--many of us care a great deal!

 

[Hoover]

@ Panther. I'm with you pal. I'm a Brit living here and I am still paying less for a gallon of gas than I was when I left the UK 21 years ago.
I still get a chuckle when I hear people complaining about $3-4 a gallon.
Also, you are 100% on the sizes of the gallon.
The only thing I will question is your opinion on the octane rating.
Perhaps engines built for the US market are better designed to handle the lower octane. I have had many different bikes/cars of varying performace levels and have never had any problems or issues. My Imprezza was about the only thing I needed 93+. My Rover 3500 needed leaded but that's long gone now

 

[Deleted member 438]

My Gas Cubby app says I'm getting 36.2mpg, but that's with out factoring the -5% that the speedo is off.

 

[Black Widow]

laughs[/B]" at the price of fuel. I hope you can read between those lines--many of us care a great deal!

Why not laugh at the price, nothing you can do about it. I was laghing at the fact that riding a Bike can be easier on the pocket book, not when you spend $2000 on safety equipment and upgrades that are 10 times what you pay for an automobile. Here in Canada, fuel prices are much higher than down in the lower states(US) so you states boys have it the easiest by far.. Considering cars can get better fuel economy than our 500lb bikes, ya i laugh at that. Never bought my bike to save fuel, just to have fun and have a bad a$$ looking streetfighter. I love burning fuel, keeps my industry alive and well

 

[mikefz8]

Why not laugh at the price, nothing you can do about it. I was laghing at the fact that riding a Bike can be easier on the pocket book, not when you spend $2000 on safety equipment and upgrades that are 10 times what you pay for an automobile. Here in Canada, fuel prices are much higher than down in the lower states(US) so you states boys have it the easiest by far.. Considering cars can get better fuel economy than our 500lb bikes, ya i laugh at that. Never bought my bike to save fuel, just to have fun and have a bad a$$ looking streetfighter. I love burning fuel, keeps my industry alive and well

I said I purchased my bike when I convinced my wife it would be less money on fuel compared to my truck. I could have bought anything I wanted. I chose the fz8 because I wanted to enjoy the ride knowing full well it wasn't a scooter or some pos Harley paint shaker or a 250 gas sipper.

Something's I agree with you on. Like the 8 lookin bad-a$$ I drive mine all over the place because I enjoy the ride. So I'll tip my cap to that. Also has prices are currently and have been in the past ridiculous. It shouldn't be what it is IMO.@black widow are you in the oil business? Is this your industry? Anyway glad we both have awesome bikes!

 

[mikefz8]

My Gas Cubby app says I'm getting 36.2mpg, but that's with out factoring the -5% that the speedo is off.

What's the best way to fix the inaccurate speedo? I think mine is off too

 

[Scatt-Man]

*Gulp* I'm starting to think that maybe an FZ1n might have equal or better fuel economy with this talk of speedo crap. I DUNNO, MAN! FZ8 or FZ1!? *Doesn't want to kill self because of excessive POWAH!*

I don't even own a car license, so a little savings here or there on fuel is always appreciated. I don't really base my purchases off of it though...I think. Time to actually take note of my distance and see how thirsty my current ride is, which I'm thinking is ~30MPG. :3

 

[Black Widow]

I said I purchased my bike when I convinced my wife it would be less money on fuel compared to my truck. I could have bought anything I wanted. I chose the fz8 because I wanted to enjoy the ride knowing full well it wasn't a scooter or some pos Harley paint shaker or a 250 gas sipper.

Something's I agree with you on. Like the 8 lookin bad-a$$ I drive mine all over the place because I enjoy the ride. So I'll tip my cap to that. Also has prices are currently and have been in the past ridiculous. It shouldn't be what it is IMO.@black widow are you in the oil business? Is this your industry? Anyway glad we both have awesome bikes!

Yep, oil industry, diesel Tech. Never a dull moment