Got a mileage question for you all......

[MAD6Gun]

  OK here is the deal. On the trip to Gettysburg me and my brother got very different fuel milage. both of our bikes are 97s with factory saddle bags and no windshields. He has a GeVi luggage box I had a bag on the back seat.   Both bikes have IS carbs springs. My bike has a 6 degree trigger wheel,polished intakes, Viking pipes and needles his does not. My bike has seemed to get better milage since I installed the Vikings. When I check it.
 Due to the trigger wheel I run premeum fuel. On one gas stop my bike got 44 his got 36. On the gas stops that we compaired our milage I was higher by 5 to 8 mpg. He is wondering if there is something wrong with his bike. He did tell me that his bike backfires on decel sometimes. So my question to you guys that have 97s. Is your milage close to what he got?  I would think the milage would drop a little with the Vikings and does the trigger wheel make that big of a difference?
 Thanks for any information.......................Mark...

[Ricky-D]

I do think the trigger wheel will definitely cause you to get better gas mileage.
The premium gas will also give you better gas mileage.
I don't think exhaust pipe configuration will have much beneficial effect, rather detrimental I expect.
If you were drafting then I would expect that to have some effect also.

[Steve K (IA)]

Mark, my Std is a "97, last time I checked, I think it was 27 mpg. ???  My wife rides that one most of the time and I don't know how full she gets it when she fills up when we stop for gas.  Evidently not as full as I fill it.  As far as pop on decel, I would check the header nuts.  That is usually a sign of an exhaust leak.

[Black Dog]

Mark,

So much depends on how fast you two were traveling...  I know you two are not new to Valks, and the both of you probably were very close on all aspects of the ride. 

With my '97 Standard, but with Champion bags, IS Trunk, and the Hoppe fairing, I get about 32/33 mpg, when doing 70-75 mph, like on a long trip.  Puttering around the back roads, 45-55 mph, and keeping RPM's below the dreaded 3000 RPM level, I can and do get 38-40 mpg.

All things being equal, I'd say your trigger wheel probably is the difference.

Black Dog

[humshark]

The premium gas will also give you better gas mileage.

Hey Ricky-D, I still got that Speedy Gonzales thing going on when i read your posts - and I have never disagreed with what you have said except for now. 

Premium Gas does not equate into more mileage just by using it.  The Octane rating is simply an indication of how "PING" retardant it is.  Since most high performance engines push the edge on timing and compression, higher octanes are required to alleviate pinging.

Cars now have "knock" sensors and are generally tied directly to spark timing.  Use regular fuel in a car marked to take Premium, and you get less performance if you step on it, and lower mileage because the engine adjust or retards the timing to keep "knock" from occurring.  ( I have one )

In a carburetor type setup - without a timing wheel or other advancement scheme in "play" like on a valk, running premium will typically have no effect or slightly lower your overall MPG,  IMHO.

[Patrick]

Even when riding together, both right hands will work differently.. The after market trigger should help and there are some that have insisted the 'cleaned up' intakes do improve their mileage.. Even though mine are done I couldn't make that claim for sure, but, I always seem to get 40+..

[R J]

Mark, my 97 (Tourer) gets 36 to 39 consistently.  If I get up over 3,500, it drops to the mid 20's.

I have a 6 degree wheel, IS springs, forged pistons, exhaust relieved and Vikings.

Only thing I don't have that you do is the polished intakes, and I never could figure out what good a big glob of gas would do for mileage, so I never polished mine.  I kind of like the little goblets of gas entering the combustion chamber.

I am running a stock windshield.....  And a CT............

Oh, I run ethanol also......  NO ping with it and no little aluminum balls on the ends of the plugs....

[fudgie]

Dang I wish I got that good! I average 32 mpg. I did get better, near 40's when I had my 6 deg trigger wheel in it. I took it out 2 yrs ago when I did the ETC mod. I hit resv this morning at 159 miles. We were doing 2 up and around 75-80 @ 3500 rpm's.

[98valk]

I do think the trigger wheel will definitely cause you to get better gas mileage.
The premium gas will also give you better gas mileage.
I don't think exhaust pipe configuration will have much beneficial effect, rather detrimental I expect.
If you were drafting then I would expect that to have some effect also.

TW - correct
premium better mpg - incorrect unless the engine needs it. aluminum heads, small piston area, low compression, premium not needed and most likely less mpg when using it.
Exhaust correctly designed for the application, better power and mpg, poor design then detrimental. Viking headers were designed correctly and I believe were built by http://ssheaders.com/

http://www.headerdesign.com/extras/design.asp
http://www.burnsstainless.com/TechArticles/Theory/theory.html
http://www.headersbyed.com/
http://www.kengineering.info/headers.html

[Madmike]

I do think the trigger wheel will definitely cause you to get better gas mileage.
The premium gas will also give you better gas mileage.
I don't think exhaust pipe configuration will have much beneficial effect, rather detrimental I expect.
If you were drafting then I would expect that to have some effect also.

TW - correct
premium better mpg - incorrect unless the engine needs it. aluminum heads, small piston area, low compression, premium not needed and most likely less mpg when using it.
Exhaust correctly designed for the application, better power and mpg, poor design then detrimental. Viking headers were designed correctly and I believe were built by http://ssheaders.com/

http://www.headerdesign.com/extras/design.asp
http://www.burnsstainless.com/TechArticles/Theory/theory.html
http://www.headersbyed.com/
http://www.kengineering.info/headers.html

Thanks for the links, excellent reading .........

[Cleaner Man]

just checked my '97, and am still getting 42-44 mpg.  i generally don't ride hard, and cruise at around 3k plus a little.  My '97 is a Red & White though!

[Ghillie]

must be the color, I'm on a 98 and I understand the carbs are different, but my blue and ivory gets 36-38 consistently and I run right at 3500 almost anytime i am on the highways outside of town, all stock <grins>

[ironman]

1999 tourer gets 20 mpg 2 up and trailer against wind. but have gotten in 40s 2 up. usally 28 to 32. i tend to rod my valk (always harley hunting). so i get lower mpg but a man has to have fun right. 

[Bagger John - #3785]

My '00 Tourer (Dynojet needles, I/S carb springs and I/S ICM) has gotten as high as 43MPG when ridden at 55MPH but averages 35-36. Blondie's '99 Tourer (CA model; I/S ICM and Cobra jet kit) consistently gets 42+ MPG.

My '00 I/S (#38 pilots and some other carb tuning work) consistently gets 30MPG if ridden @ 75MPG. It also has no trouble breaking the rear tire loose if the throttle is whacked - rather than rolled - open.

All of our bikes have stock exhaust and air cleaners.

[F-106]

I have logged every tank of gas since i got her back in 04. The bike has changed little  in terms of large add-ons that would effect mileage. It is mainly setup the same a a touer valk and i always run chveron 91 oct.  Before the I/S ICM i added i got 35-36 on my mileage runs {65mph @ 3300 RPM. } Since the ICM mod i got 38mpg on the same run at 65mph. I hear the ICM mod is the same as the trigger wheel install. So i would say the trigger wheel made the differance in your mileage .

[98valk]

All,
remember to add 2.857 odometer miles to every 100.  5.714 per 200 miles
65mph is actually 68mph
this is per motorcycle consumer news for a stock bike.

[John U.]

Or multiply whatever the odometer reading is by 1.02857

[PharmBoy]

If I understand what you are saying, there must be a vast difference in the odometer readings between the standard-tourer and the odometer readings of the interstate.  My interstate odometer reading is 4 mph faster than the GPS reading at 70-75 mph.  There is about a 3 mph difference at about 45 mph.  Most motorcycle odometers read faster than the motorcycle is actually traveling.  Any comments for clarification are appreciated...JTL

[mikehallbackhoe]

most motorcycle speedometers read fast, including the valkyrie.

[humshark]

most motorcycle speedometers read fast, including the valkyrie

  <--- This is true!

Which is why i don't understand this -

Or multiply whatever the odometer reading is by 1.02857

or this -

remember to add 2.857 odometer miles to every 100.  5.714 per 200 miles, 65mph is actually 68mph

Shouldn't those equations go the other way - since we are actually showing an "indicated" higher number of miles on our bikes than what they actually have.

Wouldn't it work more like this -  If we ride at an indicated 75mph but are actually going 71mph per GPS, then doesn't it work out that in an hour we have logged 75 miles on the odometer and really only traveled 71?
Now take that out across 10, 100 and 1000 times and we now begin to see that at 750 indicated on the bike we have only traveled 710.  At 7500 and 75000 we are really only traveling 7100 and 71000 miles respectively. 

If I multiply my odometer reading with anything greater than 1, then i will be increasing the mileage number and on most motorcycles, don't we want to actually decrease the mileage to determine the true miles the bike has rolled?

[Valker]

The speedometer and odometer are totally separate functions. Just because the speedometer is off (either way) does not mean the odometer is off. There are several different ways to check this. A measured distance (signs say "Mileage Check Section") is just one. If you want a VERY accurate way to check yours, just buy a cheap ($20) bicycle computer setup. You have to measure your front tire to the nearest mm and set them. Also, remember that as the front tire wears or when you change them, the odometer will also change. The advantage of a bicycle speedometer is that you can reprogram them as needed.

[humshark]

Not sure i totally agree with this  -

The speedometer and odometer are totally separate functions.

 
Yes - and - No  They are directly related.  60 MPH indicated on the bike will usually produce 1 mile on an odometer.

While I have not checked this for a major trip precisely - like this past weekend ( 1400 miles ) to see exactly where they are - I DO KNOW that the indicated miles on my odometer are higher than the indicated actually traveled miles on my GPS.

Most GPS's have a "trip" function and I have many times in the past checked 100 to 200 intervals, and they have always appeared to be in sync with the speedo, meaning that the odometer on the bike shows more miles traveled than the 100 on the GPS.  I'll check it again this week.  Wish I'd have done that this weekend where we were doing 100 mile stints at 82mph GPS. 

This isn't a big deal to me, I just like to know.

[Willow]

At an indicated 75 mph my speedometer reads a bit high and my odometer reads low.

Specifically, I only record 9.7 miles on the odometer for ten miles traveled.  The speedometer reads 75 at an actual speed of about 72.5.

[Bob E.]

And not all Valk speedometers are the same.  On the B/G ride, I set my cruise at 72mph per my GPS.  My Valk speedo was reading around 78mph.  But Dino's Valk speedo was reading closer to 85mph.  So mine was about 5-6mph fast, while his was closer to 10-12mph fast.

[98 T]

Willow,

I would concur with you on the odometer.. I have checked mine using GPS and  mile markers and I'm also around 9.7 miles shown for 10 miles ridden.  That puts my odometer at about 3% short. 

Meanwhile, my speedometer shows 65 MPH and my GPS will show about 61-62 or about 2.5 % optimistic.  It gets worse at higher speeds.  When my speedometer shows 80 MPH I'm  GPS will show about 73-74.

Now when I track my mileage at each gas stop, I add 3% for odometer error.   Works for me. 

[fudgie]

Willow,

I would concur with you on the odometer.. I have checked mine using GPS and  mile markers and I'm also around 9.7 miles shown for 10 miles ridden.  That puts my odometer at about 3% short. 

Meanwhile, my speedometer shows 65 MPH and my GPS will show about 61-62 or about 2.5 % optimistic.  It gets worse at higher speeds.  When my speedometer shows 80 MPH I'm  GPS will show about 73-74.

Now when I track my mileage at each gas stop, I add 3% for odometer error.   Works for me. 

Hey you got me thinking the other day. I changed out my kickstand spring bolt with a better one. I usually bottom out on occasion at camp grounds/ rallies and was getting a little nervous about snapping it off like you did. I made it alot lower then the frame. Also got rid of the sensor.

[mikehallbackhoe]

first of all to determine if your odometer is correct, find a mile marker along the highway, and compare it to the actual odometer reading, or using your gps, check the accuracy of your odometer. your speedometer being wrong, doesn't automaticly make your odometer wrong.

[98 T]

Hey you got me thinking the other day. I changed out my kickstand spring bolt with a better one. I usually bottom out on occasion at camp grounds/ rallies and was getting a little nervous about snapping it off like you did. I made it alot lower then the frame. Also got rid of the sensor.
[/quote]

Hey Fudgie,

What other options are there for that bolt?  I replaced with one Chrome gave me plus I found at a Honda Dealer a simple collard bolt with the same thread that would work in a pinch.  Maybe a shorter one would not hang down so low?

Oh yeah, thanks again for picking up that shirt.

98T

[humshark]

your speedometer being wrong, doesn't automaticly make your odometer wrong.

- I should know that - I guess that I assumed the two would have the same error.  I'll check against my GPS's. 

So far -
05' FJR - 10.000 on odometer  /  9.825 on GPS  - While riding as best as i could hold the needle on 60MPH for the bike I was getting about 58.3MPH from the GPS.

I'll grab the readings from the VALK I/S today at noon.