Fuel Mileage

[Linemech]

Was wondering if anyone had noticed a drop in gas mileage after putting a lower/wider windshield on thier Venture. Just got back from a trip and mileage dropped from normal around 40/42 to down around 33/34. Same driving style. Just curious before I start checking other things (not that I'm not going to check everything else anyways, lol).

 

Thanks,

Sam

[Rick Haywood]

Was wondering if anyone had noticed a drop in gas mileage after putting a lower/wider windshield on thier Venture. Just got back from a trip and mileage dropped from normal around 40/42 to down around 33/34. Same driving style. Just curious before I start checking other things (not that I'm not going to check everything else anyways, lol).

 

Thanks,

Sam

 

I have the shorter and wider windsheild and still get about 40 mpg most the time. Mine is 13 inches tall and 4 inches wider than stack. I get about 32 on the interstat running around 70 mph pulling my trailer

[RandyR]

I suspect your problem is something else. I went from stock windshield to a Showchrome short-wide and didn't see any change in mileage on my recent trip to Cody. still get 40+mpg at 65mph

[okiestar]

We do our best to pay a little more and fill up at "no ethanol" gas stations. Not always possible.

I wonder if the ethanol is really regulated that closely. Would make sense the more alcohol in the unleaded fuel, the worse your mileage will be.

Could be you see lowered mileage due to the quality of fuels.

[allwx]

Some trips you just get headwinds all the way. Even a mild headwind can cause a big drop in mileage on these monsters.

[Carbon_One]

We do our best to pay a little more and fill up at "no ethanol" gas stations. Not always possible.

I wonder if the ethanol is really regulated that closely. Would make sense the more alcohol in the unleaded fuel, the worse your mileage will be.

Could be you see lowered mileage due to the quality of fuels.

On the way home I put some ethanol 86 in the car by mistake thinking it was the regular 87 grade. My gas milage went down 5 mpg. Couldn't believe it when my gauge says sorry buddy time to fill up again. Next tank made sure it was 87 regular and my gas comsumpion was back to normal.

I do believe that with the new requirements of added ethanol mpg as a rule will be lower then without it added. Michigan like many other states now requires the blended gas.

Larry

[flb_78]

I went from an XL clearview to a shorty shield and gained a little fuel mileage.

[bryan52577]

We do our best to pay a little more and fill up at "no ethanol" gas stations. Not always possible.

I wonder if the ethanol is really regulated that closely. Would make sense the more alcohol in the unleaded fuel, the worse your mileage will be.

Could be you see lowered mileage due to the quality of fuels.

 

I get 3 to 4 mpg BETTER with the cheapest "regular" 87 octain gas, than I did when I was using the 10% ethanol blend. So "regular" is all I put in now (if I have a choice).

Also get about 2 mpg better when I get gas out of state.

 

Bryan

[Trader]

We have no chioce....EVERYBODY has 10% ethenol.

 

 

or at least I'm pretty sure everybody has it....I haven't found any without ethenol for a long time!

Do they still have octane boosters?

 

Would it be worth while or would that just provide more power and not more MPH

[myminpins]

We have no chioce....EVERYBODY has 10% ethenol.

 

It's not here yet (thank goodness) but it's coming.

 

Supposedly you can find non-ethanol pumps in most places (a couple at least) for boats and such if you look really hard.

[Reed]

Hear is one more thing to think about! When you fill with gas does the pump have only 1 hose coming out of it for all 3 gas tipes??? If so what did the last guy there get? Gas with eth.. OK so the pump, hose, & filter will hold about 1 gal. of gas. You fill up. 2 gal. of gas your getting 1 gal of each type so that will = 2 gal. of S%&t Gas.

 

Am I correct on all this Exept the spelling? LoL.

 

P.S. Fill up after a HD. Rider. Thay always buy the top shelf stuff! So you will get 1 gal of premo & the rest reg.

[darthandy]

We have no chioce....EVERYBODY has 10% ethenol.

 

 

or at least I'm pretty sure everybody has it....I haven't found any without ethenol for a long time!

Do they still have octane boosters?

 

Would it be worth while or would that just provide more power and not more MPH

 

Octane boosters are useful if you have such a high compression ratio that you get "detonation" (Pinging) on acceleration, especially if you lug it a bit. If your bike is running OK without higher test gas (Higher octane) than adding an octane booster will have no effect on mileage or horsepower...it will, however, lighten your wallet nicely. A lot of people put higher octane gas in their vehicles than is required thinking it will increase power...it won't. Test after test over the past 50 or so years has shown that using higher octane fuel when it isn't required, has no beneficial effect on motors.

 

Having said that, if your engine has a marginal tolerance for detonation, using gas with ethanol could allow detonation, but then you should hear it so you would know. If it isn't "sounding off" then higher octane shouldn't be required. One of the problems with ethanol is that it doesn't produce as much power as straight gasoline, so the greater the amount of ethanol in the gas, the less power you will have and therefore the harder you will twist the throttle...that means poorer mileage...but it's not the missing octane that's the problem. It's the lack of power produced with ethanol. The only real cure is to "take out" the ethanol and replace it with real gas...which we can't actually do.

 

Andy

[Road Hawg]

Higher octane (premium) is not better fuel. It just burns slower.

If you have a slow speed engine (like a Harley) you will see an improvement in mileage and power

(and we all know they need all the help they can get):rotf:

 

If you are running a high speed engine (like a venture) you don't want to slow down the burn.

Burning high octane fuel can actually hurt your performance and mileage.

 

Also, because of the volume of regular fuel sold compared to premium,

you know you're getting fresher fuel with the cheaper stuff too! :cool10:

 

You can use the money you save for more safety chrome.

 

Jim

[Bobby G]

I get 3 to 4 mpg BETTER with the cheapest "regular" 87 octain gas, than I did when I was using the 10% ethanol blend. So "regular" is all I put in now (if I have a choice).

 

Also get about 2 mpg better when I get gas out of state.

 

Bryan

 

I have also noticed a significant drop in my mpg's of late, and it has to be ethanol related. I used to consistently get 42 - 45 mpg, and now am down to 37 - 40 mpg. I have always used mid-grade gas - 80% of the time it is Shell gas due to the discounts tied to Kroger - but I am now moving to 87 octane and no ethanol whenever possible. We have a ton of QT stations here that have no-ethanol options, so that's where I'm moving my business to.

[Seaking]

Was wondering if anyone had noticed a drop in gas mileage after putting a lower/wider windshield on thier Venture. Just got back from a trip and mileage dropped from normal around 40/42 to down around 33/34. Same driving style. Just curious before I start checking other things (not that I'm not going to check everything else anyways, lol). Thanks, Sam

 

hi Sam, the size of your windscreen CAN affect your gas mileage enough to notice. I have several windscreens for my bike and can EASILY tell you that the Tall Wide Clearview installed is harder on the mileage than the shorty windshield installed..

 

Why? Simply a lot to do with aerodynamics. On a very windy day, you'll notice with our bikes that you get much better mileage going downwind than traveling head on into a stiff wind. The large fairings on the bike catch so much wind, its like riding with a parachute dragging behind you. Add a larger windscreen and you add to this. Same is to be said about going faster.. I couldn't figure out how the heck people were getting 45 - 50 MPG on their bikes while I was lucky to get 32-38 mpg at best! But then realized after chatting with some of them that your actual riding speed has a lot to do with it.. I tend to travel in the 70 to 80 mph zone (true speed) compared to their 50-55 mph speeds.. So I to conserve fuel and get farther down the road, I slow it down a lot and get super mileage.. but that's boring

 

You stated you installed a 'shorter but wider' windshield on the bike and suffered significant mileage drop? Is this consistent or just noticed it on that one trip? Winds, speeds, hills etc can affect your fuel consumption on this bike a lot..

 

It could be purely coincidental that something else is wrong with your bike that suddenly sparked up just after you installed the new windshield..

 

best of luck!

[CaptainJoe]

bryan52577 "So "regular" is all I put in now (if I have a choice)."

 

 

 

If you search this site there is a list of no ethanol gas stations by state...

 

or

 

You could go to the local airport.... wil be expensive though...