Mileage

[stanG]

I just completed a 600 mile jaunt around the northern lower peninsula of Michigan on my 83 first gen and was pleasantly surprised by the mileage. 51.25 average on the whole 600!!! This is the best I've had since installing new diaphragms and Skydoc's needle shim kit earlier this year. Anybody else getting this kind of mileage?

[Squidley]

Thats good mileage, I have heard of a select few getting that kind of mileage. Venturous and Skid have done it on their 1st gens, but not too many others that I have heard of. Out of the 5 1st gens I have owned, my best mileage was 42, but I average 39 on all my other Ventures, which has been 9 of them.

 

It's all in how you can stay out of the throttle...I can't do that very well

[Yammer Dan]

Thats good mileage, I have heard of a select few getting that kind of mileage. Venturous and Skid have done it on their 1st gens, but not too many others that I have heard of. Out of the 5 1st gens I have owned, my best mileage was 42, but I average 39 on all my other Ventures, which has been 9 of them.

 

 

It's all in how you can stay out of the throttle...I can't do that very well

 

 

Skid's old bike don't do that well now.....

[Mel]

50+ MPG is very good. You must have been driving at moderate speeds. Probably a lot of secondary roads? I'm curious about where all you visited. I lived in Prudenville (Houghton Lake) from '04 to '08. After 24 years in southern California, the winters were just too much, so I moved. While I was there we had "Thunder on the Lake" each August, a meet, bike show, and poker run tour sponsored by Hackers Yamaha/Honda of Houghton Lake.

 

I traded my '84 VR to Hackers for a '04 V Star 650. Thought I wanted something smaller, have since gone to '07 RSV, now to '07 Gold Wing.

 

If you get into Houghton Lake be sure to go to breakfast at Shaker's Restaurant on Houghton Lake Drive. Ask for the pineapple upside down pancakes. Last time I was there they still were not on the menu, you had to ask for 'em. Umm-m-m good!

[Trader]

Question.....

lots of folks here say you get better mileage if you keep the RPM 3500 and up.

 

How do you generally run to get the mileage you do?

[Mike G in SC]

I got nothing to brag on but something interesting.

 

Yesterday I lent a friend my 2006 RSTD, I rode my 2009 RSV.

We ran from my side of Columbia, SC to the Blue Ridge Parkway below Asheville and back.

On the tank that included the Parkway and about 40 miles of interstate, we both used exactly 4 gallons. So, getting same mileage under slow and fast rides.

 

Also noticed that when we got home, the RSV said 434 miles and the RSTD said 434.5.

 

Pretty similar!

 

Two weeks ago on a longer trip in the mountains, my RSTD said 1063 miles to another friend's Valkyrie with more like 1010. Pretty sure we set a "trip 2" reset together at start.

(And yes, like most, if my ODO says 80 I am probably doing about 73-74 on both bikes.)

 

Mike G in SC

[Venturous Randy]

Mileage is directly related to how much you open the throttle, I believe, more than RPM. If you are running in 5th and without changing the throttle and downshift to 4th, and the bike speeds up, I believe at that point you would get better mileage in 4th. Conversely, if you are running in 4th and shift to 5th and have to give it less throttle to maintain the same speed, then 5th would be better.

I recently took a ride going from 1,600 to over 6,000 feet and back down on several occasions two-up and got a little over 45 mpg. About a 1/4 of the ride was at about 65 mph. I may have gotten better, but most was on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and I tended to lug the bike a bit, running in 5th, when 4th would have been better pulling up the mountain.

I have actually tried to pay attention to try to get better mileage by short shifting, not lugging, but just running easy and seemed to get a little worse. I have gotten as good as 49 mpg, but never reached the 50 mpg point. I tend to ride a bit spirited, but unless you are running WOT a lot, it does not seem to hurt much.

I also put in new diaphragms and did the needle mod. I did it by going to Lowe's and getting washers and playing around to see what worked best. On my first try, I must have went too far as the bike had a little hesitation and was not as responsive. I went a little thinner on the washers and nailed it. If I remember correctly, I removed the little protrusion on the nylon washer and used about .093 thick washers, but I am not positive. I think the protrusion is supposed to center the needle better, but I am not sure. I also have less fuel smell at idle. It also does not have seem like it hurt power at all.

RandyA

[stanG]

Well we weren't real hard on the throttle as we were back roading it and there was a good deal of traffic, however, I do like to open it up to get to road speed. I think you would agree that it's real hard NOT to crack the throttle on these bikes! Around home average driving I get about 45-47, doesn't matter if I am alone or riding two up. Average rpms at road speed is about 3700.

[spitfire9]

Best I've gotten was 48.5 on a tank. 85vr with 42,xxx at the time, new tires and I have no idea what if anything has ever been done to the carbs. I blame seafoam.