Couple of Newbie questions: Fuel related

[Tx Bohemian]

I see in the owners manual the fuel capacity is 5.28 gals and the reserve is 1.14 gals.

Does this mean the tank is 6.42 gals or is it 5.28 gals total?

and

What kinda mpg is common for these bikes?

Being a new owner I'm not sure what my bike gets as far as mpg.

The wife does some "Mystery shopping" and we are going to travel about 35-40 miles this w/e to do two shops to where we have to buy $5 worth of gas in both places, which is going to be about 4gals.  I'm trying to figure out how I can have enough space for 4 gals but not run out before I get there. (which I'm sure these bikes are not the easiest things to push)


Now if I have to take an extended, round-about route to get there to burn off some gas would not be a bad thing as it is supposed to be a great w/e for riding as far as the weather is concerned! (we may just do this anyway)

[Chrisj CMA]

Well...lets see:

First 5.3 is total fuel for the standard and tourer.  On the "ON" position it will "run out" a gallon early.....then you should get 30+ miles to find fuel (ideally)

If you are not careful when placing the fuel valve on "ON" and the little ball thing in there doesnt "snap" in good you may be "ON RES" the whole time, so be careful.

35 is average mpg.  You can get it down under 30 by having too much fun with the throttle, or squeeze out close to 40mpg by driving like an old granny (appologies to any old granny valk riders) 

Hope that helps

[Puffs Daddy]

Well...lets see:

First 5.3 is total fuel for the standard and tourer.  On the "ON" position it will "run out" a gallon early.....then you should get 30+ miles to find fuel (ideally)

If you are not careful when placing the fuel valve on "ON" and the little ball thing in there doesnt "snap" in good you may be "ON RES" the whole time, so be careful.

35 is average mpg.  You can get it down under 30 by having too much fun with the throttle, or squeeze out close to 40mpg by driving like an old granny (appologies to any old granny valk riders)  

Hope that helps

I have a theory about those who claim their bikes "average 35 mpg."

(1) They live in Kansas or Iowa or somewhere else where a hill is routinely referred to as a mountain.

(2) They live in Canada, Australia, or somewhere else where "imperial" is an accepted measurement of a "gallon."

(3) They never stop and seldom accelerate.

In mixed highway and city traffic my 2002 Standard consistently gets 29-31 mpg. That's with a barn door Hondaline windshield, ethanol infected fuel, and a light throttle hand. I can increase that significantly by traveling only on an interstate highway at 60 mph, but doing so increases the risk that I'll be run down by "grannies" traveling in the right lane.

My routine is as follows.

(1) I reset the trip meter and fuel petcock each time I fuel.

(2) At 125 miles, or so, I begin considering where to get fuel. If the trip meter hits 140 without a loss of power, I reach down to make sure I didn't forget to reset the petcock.

(3) When I go on reserve, I move the little cover over my filler door to the right to remind myself that I'm on reserve. (This is especially useful if I have switched to reserve just before getting home and don't ride again until the Alzheimer's kicks in.)

(4) Each time I fill up I consider the wisdom of replacing the damn tank with one from an Interstate.

[5_19]

Puff Daddy I 2nd that! My 2001 fast Blue and Silver is the same Standard MO.
Want to one more thing , not all fuel is created equal either. When I am in town I know where I am going to get my gas. ~TJ

[Chrisj CMA]

Well, sorry to hear of such low mileage.  These bikes werent really created to break any mpg records though.  Where you ride, how you ride, type of fuel, payload  ,set up of bike.  It all matters.  I live in Florida where it IS rather flat.  However, I seldom get to run more than five miles or so without having to contend with traffic or a light.  I ride 50/50 two up or solo and it doesnt seem to make much difference.  I do accelerate, I sometimes have too much fun and pay for it at the pump, but unless Im pushing it the whole tank 35mpg is not uncommon.  I was getting as high as 37 before they put that dang blasted alkyhawl in the gas, but thats a different argument.  Yesterday I filled up at 146miles and it took 4.2gals so that was 34.76 mpg but after running 75-80 on the freeway coming back from Daytona I put 4.4 in at 137miles so that was only 31.1 at high speed.  This is very normal and has been on my 97 standard for almost 8 years with cobra pipes and a K&N air filter as the set up....stock carbs and jets, stock trigger wheel and computer plus standard barn door windshield for me as well

[Tx Bohemian]

Thanks fellas

The bike I bought has the 6-6 exhaust and the previous owner said the carbs were re-jetted to match plus he had the timing gears "adjusted" so I'm not sure if I'll even get 30.  This should be a good test.  I'll try to take off with 2 gals, that should get us there.  I'll probably fill up at the last station and then once we get home to check the mileage so I'll know for sure.

How much bigger is an Interstate tank?

[Ricky-D]

Thanks fellas

The bike I bought has the 6-6 exhaust and the previous owner said the carbs were re-jetted to match plus he had the timing gears "adjusted" so I'm not sure if I'll even get 30.  This should be a good test.  I'll try to take off with 2 gals, that should get us there.  I'll probably fill up at the last station and then once we get home to check the mileage so I'll know for sure.

How much bigger is an Interstate tank?

I wonder what that means. You ought to get back and find out more about that specific thing.

***

[MP]

IS tank is 1.6 gallons larger, 6.9 total.
MP

[Black Dog]

(3) When I go on reserve, I move the little cover over my filler door to the right to remind myself that I'm on reserve. (This is especially useful if I have switched to reserve just before getting home and don't ride again until the Alzheimer's kicks in.)

PD,

That's a great idea...  I've swiched to reserve, just before getting home, and have forgotten about it.  Sometime the next day, 'Panic Mode' sets in, as I search for a gas station, having forgotten about the flip to reserve the night before.

Thanks for a cool tip 

Black Dog

[Tx Bohemian]

Thanks fellas

The bike I bought has the 6-6 exhaust and the previous owner said the carbs were re-jetted to match plus he had the timing gears "adjusted" so I'm not sure if I'll even get 30.  This should be a good test.  I'll try to take off with 2 gals, that should get us there.  I'll probably fill up at the last station and then once we get home to check the mileage so I'll know for sure.

How much bigger is an Interstate tank?

I wonder what that means. You ought to get back and find out more about that specific thing.

***

Just talked to the previous owner and he says when he was at a bike rally in Daytona some guy there was doing this.  It's called indexting the timing gears. (I remember this from my old hotrod days) He didn't know exactly what the guy did (it's been a few years) but he said he took the front cover off, used a breaker bar to loosen the belt, and changed a gear.  I take it the crank gear which changed the opening/closing of the valves just a bit.  He said it made a big difference on low-end torque.

Anybody else hear of/have this done?

If I decide to go back to stock I take it all I have to do is get a stock gear and put it back, hopefully.

[Willow]

I have a theory about those who claim their bikes "average 35 mpg."

(1) They live in Kansas or Iowa or somewhere else where a hill is routinely referred to as a mountain.

(2) They live in Canada, Australia, or somewhere else where "imperial" is an accepted measurement of a "gallon."

(3) They never stop and seldom accelerate.

In mixed highway and city traffic my 2002 Standard consistently gets 29-31 mpg. That's with a barn door Hondaline windshield, ethanol infected fuel, and a light throttle hand. I can increase that significantly by traveling only on an interstate highway at 60 mph, but doing so increases the risk that I'll be run down by "grannies" traveling in the right lane.

My routine is as follows.

(1) I reset the trip meter and fuel petcock each time I fuel.

(2) At 125 miles, or so, I begin considering where to get fuel. If the trip meter hits 140 without a loss of power, I reach down to make sure I didn't forget to reset the petcock.

(3) When I go on reserve, I move the little cover over my filler door to the right to remind myself that I'm on reserve. (This is especially useful if I have switched to reserve just before getting home and don't ride again until the Alzheimer's kicks in.)

(4) Each time I fill up I consider the wisdom of replacing the damn tank with one from an Interstate.

lol!     I have a theory about people who can't get 35 mpg from their Valkyries.

(1)  Their machines are poorly tuned or otherwise not performing well.

(2)  They really don't ride enough to be in touch with their bikes.

(3)  When they try to make excuses for why they get such poor mileage, they usually have their heads about 24 inches up their asses.   

P.S  I live in Kansas, but the best mileage I've gotten was in the mountains (that would be Rocky and or Appalachians).  I can normally run a bit over eighty indicated all day long and get somewhere in the vicinity of 33 mpg.  I probably don't stop nearly as much as the posers do.

I agree that 35 for an average, considering the wide range of Valkyries, is a bit of a presumptuous.     

[Valker]

That 'timing thing' is called a trigger wheel and advances the timing 6 degrees.

[Chrisj CMA]

OK, I agree "as an average for ALL Valkyries" is too high because there are many with issues preventing them from performing as designed.  SOOOOOOOO to clarify and scientifically hone my previous statement to EXACTLY what I should have said if I knew a microscope was going to be applied.. ...here goes:

For a stock Valkyrie, properly maintained and tuned will on average get CLOSE ( previosly averaged) to 35mpg if reasonable speeds and acceleration rates are maintained during the test ride.  Any of the following circumstances can affect actual mileage which BTW can change bike to bike so your results may varry:

-Changed exhaust and mixture is not right
-Carrying too much payload (cargo or rider(s) )
-Racing style accelerating, launches
-High speeds (over 65mph) for extended periods during the test
-vacuum problems anywhere on the engine
-low tire pressure

To clarrify........my definition of stock is all about the engine:
-no blower
-no trigger wheel
-standard carbs
-stock ICM
-no after market pipes unless care is taken to make sure the proper fuel mixture is maintained


OK, now....given all the above (which to me is reasonable) you should get from low 30's to high 30's for mpg depending on the ride and somewhere near 35 for an average is not unreasonable IMHO




LOL tough crowd!  

[Spirited-6]

 98 Tourer, 22,000 miles, stock,stock,stock. I will adv. 36-37 MPG. Have gotten a high of 41 MPG, a low of 33 MPG. 50 % is two up, total weight, about 300#, back road running with very little Interstate speeds. Last years CBR I got around 35 MPG for trip.  

[Black Dog]

'97 Standard, with lots of add ons...  Hoppie Fairing, Champion Bags, I/S Tour Trunk.  Desmogged, with Glass Pack exhaust, other than that, the engine is stock.

Over the years, now at 70K miles, I've had a low of 24 mpg (screaming home from IZ II, hitting speeds in the high 80's to low 90's), and an easy to attain 42 mpg, while keeping the speeds between 40 - 55 mph (on a ride home from Michigan's UP, using nothing but back roads).  On average, I get about 34 - 36 mpg (well what do you know, a 35 mpg average  ).

The main determining factor in mpg, is the action of your right hand/wrist.  Smooth movement, keeping rpm's under the magical 3000 mark, will net you higher mpg, on a regular basis.  Twist the wick hard, and often, you can almost hear the carbs sounding like a toilet flushing, as they gulp down the fuel.

Black Dog

[Jack B]

I have 2 Valk's My 98 Tourer I brought new it now has 93,000 miles on it. All stock 30-32 MPG ALWAYS no matter how I drive. My other bike is a 99 I/S (31,000 mi) I brought last year it has cobra pipes on it and no truck (super valk) 35 -39 MPG. I drive them the same maybe a little harder on the I/S because of the pipes.
Riding with other Valk's my Tourer usally takes more gas than the other Valk's and we are all riding the same. Some Valk's just like gas more than other Valk's. Yes my Tourer gets tuned up ever 2 years the I/S has new plugs no tune up. They both run GREAT!!