fuel mileage

[midnite rider]

I am puzzled.... I filled up today with 102 miles showing on trip meter and it only took 2.51 gallons. many people I have talked to say that at 128 miles you need to be insight of a gas station. If this is true then why at 102 miles do I still have 1/2 a talk left ???  I have a 98 standard that has been desmoged, Dynajet kits and cobra 6 into 6 pipes. Is there a slight chance I may be getting great mileage ???   Please Help !!!!!

[Hoser]

That's about normal, if driven at the speed limit,  I'm a bit surprised at that figure with cobras, they usually cost a little in mileage.  Sounds good!  Hoser

[Gear Jammer]

that's above avg for me 

[sandy]

If you keep the speeds under 60 for a whole tank, you can get 40+ MPG. Get on I 10 and head for P'cola some weekend. Then tell us what you got for MPGs. I'll bet it's lower than 35 MPG.

[midnite rider]

I am on the east coast of Florida so maybe this weekend I will hit  I-95 and run between 70/75 and see what I wind up with.

[Gilligan]

Riding 2-up on a stock 1999 Valkyrie Interstate for almost 89,000 miles, our old girl averaged exactly 37.79 miles per gallon.  This included riding in very high winds, temps ranging from 27 to 123, and elevations of negative 283 feet to plus 13,000 feet.  She never lost power.  What a great engineering feat!!!

[Momz]

During the last INZANE, I held the fuel mileage challenge.
We had three Valks get 44+ mpg. The two highest mpgs were both I/S's, with the winner being ridden two-up. We rode at a spirited pace, however we did not exceed 67 mph. But we were on twisty, hilly backroads, as well as Traverse City traffic conditions.

[sugerbear]

Riding 2-up on a stock 1999 Valkyrie Interstate for almost 89,000 miles, our old girl averaged exactly 37.79 miles per gallon.  This included riding in very high winds, temps ranging from 27 to 123, and elevations of negative 283 feet to plus 13,000 feet.  She never lost power.  What a great engineering feat!!!

yea, but, you two are posey sniffers. 

[Gilligan]

yea, but, you two are posey sniffers. 

Sugerbear, you are right on the money.  We definitely took in the world as we rode.  (It was always the journey, not the destination.)  We did, however, ride over 100 mph a couple of times, because I never could completely control the wrist disease.  As you might remember, my mother, at age 85, asked me to take her over 100 mph.  Of course, I couldn't deny my Mom's request.   

[salty1]

Mine consistently gets 40mpg if I keep my "wits" about me.    By the way my bike is set up very similar to yours. Ride on you got 200 miles in that tank, but then you better be at a fuel stop within five miles or else. 

[Willow]

... many people I have talked to say that at 128 miles you need to be insight of a gas station.

I wouldn't listen to what a lot of people say.  My Standard normally hits reserve at around 143 and will run out at around 186.

My wife's Standard with Cobra 6X6 pipes gets a little better mileage than does mine.

[Jabba]

My standard hits reserve between 115 and 135 and takes 4.2 gallons to fill from there.  Tends to be 126 though.

My IS goes to about 165 before reserve, and takes 5 gallons to fill up from there. 

Best ever is about 36 for me.

Jabba

[Ice]

It is an oddity that I have wondered about many times when I read the board, I usually have to switch to reserve between 150-160, and have gone as far as 175 miles sitting behind a camper on the BRP, but I am usually good until 150 and I am anything but gentle on the throttle, I ride a 2000 Std, with OEM windshield and bags....

[Michael K (Az.)]

My '97 Tourer w/2 bros 6X6, gets 29 - 33 miles per gallon. Longest to reserve was 133 miles coming back, 2 up from the Green Chili ride last year but of course, it's a Red & White and can hardly hold 'er in check!

[Fudd]

I make a lot of trips from near Baton Rouge to New Orleans running 80-85 mph.  The Valkyrie gets 29 mpg at that speed while my Saturn gets 30 mpg!  Who'd-o-thought I can take the car to save gas.

Now as for FUN FACTOR, well, that's another matter.

[Mike S.]

Huh! I regularly go 185 plus on my '99 IS before hitting reserve and the furthest I have ever dared to go was 238 on the tank, found I still might have had .2  gallon in there - that was far from the norm though - two up and on BRP like roads.

I usually get between 32 and 36 romping around on my own, and 38 plus when I am with my wife - go figure. Course, once we hit the interstate, all bets are off.

[Fudd]

Huh! I regularly go 185 plus on my '99 IS before hitting reserve and the furthest I have ever dared to go was 238 on the tank, found I still might have had .2  gallon in there - that was far from the norm though - two up and on BRP like roads.

I usually get between 32 and 36 romping around on my own, and 38 plus when I am with my wife - go figure. Course, once we hit the interstate, all bets are off.

Mike, I think that extra 2 gallons in your Interstate tank vs. Tourer tank accounts for the miles traveled difference.

[R J]

I didn't buy MGM for mileage.  So with that out of the way.

The lowest mileage he has given is 23 MPG and the highest was 41 MPG.

It all depends on how far you twist the throttle.

That lowest was coming across South Dakota with a trailer on playing with the Harley's after Sturgis in about 2000, and solo.   They would go sailing by me and kind of throw their head in the air.  They would usually slow down a little bit. Then I would toss MGM into 4th, catch them and as I passed, I'd wave big time and then pop him into 5th and run on down the road.   Last I'd see of them.   Then another one would try the same thing and the same results.

Best was coming across the BRP in 1999, again solo, no trailer.

In 242K+ miles, MGM has averaged 36.6 MPG, mostly solo, and a trailer 90% of the time.  He has been in all the lower 48 states twice and 1 trip to Alaska and back.   The states trips were all 2 up.    My punk kid at the time weighted about 70 to 90 #'s over the duration of these trips.  She wasn't very old the 1st time.  The 2nd time she was a Freshman in high school and we did all the lower 48 states in 1 trip........   I was retired then and we had a ball.    Wear our clothes till they were dirty, box them up and mail them home.   We would call mom, tell her what we needed and she'd mail them to a Post Office somewhere ahead of us and we'd stop replenish our clean clothes and head out again.   We put close to 18K mileage in that trip.   We were doing state capitals pictures.

He has had some head work done, ported and polished, Viking pipes, I/S springs in the carbs, and Mobil 1 motor oil all but about 6,000 miles.

[Gilligan]

 

[highcountry]

My '97 Tourer gets between 37-41 and have gotten 40 several times with my wife riding double.  Generally, we get higher mileage at this elevation in both vehicles and bikes.  BUT, my '98 Tourer which had Cobras and unknown jetting rarely got as high as 30.  I rarely ride on super slabs.

[Moonshot_1]

I am on the east coast of Florida so maybe this weekend I will hit  I-95 and run between 70/75 and see what I wind up with.

This might be the problem. You are not going fast enough to get the normal gas mileage typical for a Valkyrie. Hopefully this weekend you will have the problem fixed.
Extreme and lengthly bursts of ridiculous acceleration are also required.
Not only do you have to run 70/75 mph but must achieve those speeds from 0 mph in 6 seconds or less to get a true and accurate mileage figure. 

[scoobydoo]

Rode 2235.3 miles to Hotgluge & back to Indiana. Averaged 32 MPG on the trip, Average moving speed on the GPS was 68.7, ran around 75 to 78 mpr most the highway speeds. Hit reserve at a low of 97 miles and a high of 128 put in around 4.6 gallons.
Not quite sure why the difference when reserve was reached. Different grades of gas??

[PhredValk]

First 5000 mile trip Home. 31-32 MPG, but new to the bike and having fun. Last year 36-38MPG but not automatically passing anything that dared to be in front of me and two days in the rain, so behaving myself. Best was 42 from Mom's to Niagara Falls, taking it easy, 30ºC. 99 IS, mostly stock, larger than stock rear tire, slightly smaller front.
Fred.