Gas mileage

[BigBear]

I have an 08 RSV. In June, I was getting an average of 44 MPG ().

 

In July, I changed the plugs to NGK Iridium, replaced the air filters with K&N, and replaced the fuel filter with a Purolator (??) recommended on this board.

 

Since then, my gas mileage has dropped of dramatically (avg of 38 mpg, one-up, highway driving @ 55).

 

Last month, in an effort to understand my loss of gas mileage, I pulled the plug caps (which all measured @ 9.6k ohms), and changed the plugs back to the stock NGKs, and synched the carbs.

 

Over the last month, my gas mileage has dropped to approx 34 MPG...this represents a 10 MPG drop over the last 5 months...

 

Today, I cleaned and charged the air filters...I'm not overly optimistic at this point.

 

Any help or suggestions would be reatly appreciated...I'm running out of ideas!

[frogmaster]

Bear,

 

Looks like the only thing left is go back to stock air filters and see if that helps?

 

2 remaining possibilities are change in your riding style? Or a change in Fuel additives that Big Brother does for us folks who live in 4 Seasons Regions (like now 15% ethanol)?

 

Did you SYNCH after swapping spark plugs???

 

Let me know... I too have RSV-2008.

[BigBear]

Yep...synch'd carbs after changing plugs.

 

Other than crummy gas mileage, the bike "seems" to run just fine.

 

I'm gonna give these K&Ns a couple of weeks to see what my gas mileage does...if it doesn't get better, I'm going to put the OEM filters back in.

 

And if that doesn;t work...the only thing left the change is the fuel filter (back to OEM).

 

And if THAT doesn't work.....

[TEW47]

I lost nine mpg when I tried K&N. Put stock filters back on and the mpgs went back up to where it was before.

 

tew47

[cecdoo]

Have an 06 with the Iridiums, didnt affect my mpg at all, I get 42-45 2-up, it does seem to fire up easier. Dont think its the plugs. Craig

[slickster]

Heard of several situations where the mpg drops after installing k and n filters....some are over-oiled that then acts like dirty filters....

[Condor]

Is your choke completely off?? Just a thought....

[BuddyRich]

I have never gotten 44. I always run in the mid to low 30's on a good day. And its been like that since it was new. Plugs show just the right color too so it must be my right wrist is the problem.

[silent67]

Just use the oem stuff. They work well enough and a lot of that high performance stuff is a waste of money. JMTC

[frogmaster]

Yep...synch'd carbs after changing plugs.

 

Other than crummy gas mileage, the bike "seems" to run just fine.

 

I'm gonna give these K&Ns a couple of weeks to see what my gas mileage does...if it doesn't get better, I'm going to put the OEM filters back in.

 

And if that doesn;t work...the only thing left the change is the fuel filter (back to OEM).

 

And if THAT doesn't work.....

 

Bear,

 

Sorry to see yet another $K&N$ victim:headache:. Don't wait a few weeks and change "Air Filters" now. Earlier you said "Fuel" Filter... not sure if that was a typo. Also the NGK Iridiums "equivalents" should not be the problem.

 

Keep us posted and Goodluck.

[BigBear]

When I installed the K&Ns originally, I was told they already came precharged...so all I did was install them.

 

Well... I cleaned then recharged the K&N filters on Sunday. When I recharged the filter (hahaha...I meant spraying the special lubricant), I used a pretty light coat...just enough to turn the filter a light shade of red.

 

What I noticed right away, while riding, is that the exhaust fumes smell is almost completely gone! So my first question would be..."Why would limited air flow through the air filter cause exhaust fumes in the cockpit"?

 

As stated earlier, I' gonna give the K&Ns a couple of weeks to see if the gas mileage improves. That's about how long it's gonna take to get the OEM filters ordered in delivered!

 

Thanks for all of your inputs and suggestions.

 

Anyone want to buy a set of K&N filters for their RSV? I'll even throw in a gently-used filter cleaning & recharging kit!

[Venturous Randy]

I have talked to several repair shops on lawnmowers and I have been told that the biggest problem they are seeing are ethanol related problems on seals, gaskets and rubber parts that worked fine for many years with gasoline.

RandyA

[Rick Haywood]

Mine went from around 46 mpg to 39/40 all of a sudden and for no reason that I can determine. I didn't change anything and as far as I can tell the bike runs fine

[SilvrT]

So many are "diligent" gas mileage monitors and start "panicking" when it drops or they aren't getting "what the other guys is".

 

I drive mine till it needs filling up and as long as it's running smooth, I don't mess with it. Granted, it's nice to know how much farther you can go on the remaining gas but I rarely let my gas gauge get below 1/4 ... even in my cage. Been that way since my "ran out of gas" excuse stopped working

 

Having said that, I did do a gas mileage check last Sept when we went on holidays ... just for curiosity ... think I averaged around 38-40 and that was 2-up pulling a trailer ... I was very surprised, was expecting a lot less.

[Bobby G]

I have stock plugs and K&N air filters, and I consistently get 43 to 46 mpg in generally all conditions, except on long highway runs at high speed. I never get the low fuel warning before 180 miles, and usually not before I've gone 200 miles. (The mpg's drop to 40 when we're riding 2 up.) Not sure why you experienced such a dramatic drop with the changes you made, but would suggest you ditch the high performance stuff and stick with stock parts.