What gas mileage do you get ?

[greg_in_london]

I was going to try a poll, but can't see how, so I'll just ask the question.

What do you get to the gallon from your venture in normal riding (whatever that is ?)

I'm asking because when I asked this before, comments seemed to be divided between those who regularly managed 45-50 to the gallon or even more and assumed anyone who got less drove like a nutter, and those who returned 30-35 to the gallon and could not get more no matter how they rode.

I have felt for a long time that there must be two specifications of carburettor, or something that can be set two ways or that can fail, that means some people get good mpg while others don't. I've made up a little table to help people understand international posts - UK/imperial mpg vs USA mpg vs metric litres/100Km.

 

mpg (uk)	mpg (us)	l/100km
20	17	14.1
25	22	11.3
30	26	9.4
35	30	8.0
40	35	7.0
45	39	6.3
50	43	5.6
55	48	5.1

 

I get about 30mpg (UK) with a sidecar, pulling a trailer, on a run; but I only used to get about 33-35mpg solo.

I've checked the float height, balanced the carbs, changed the plugs (currently iridium) and put on an easy flowing air filter.

 

For me this is the crunch point for its use as a tourer - I'd so like an improvement before our long tour this Summer - both because of the cost of petrol and the limited tank range.

[buddy]

ON my 83 Beast I get around 35-37mpg one or two up does not matter with this bike,I might get better MPG if I were to remove the V-Max final drive unit but I like the feel and how it pulls the trailer in the hills and Mountains.

 

buddy

[Midrsv]

On my '07 with 4000 miles I get 32-34 mpg with normal around the town and highway riding. If I am riding back roads at less than 60 mph I can push it up to the high 30's. Seems that my '04 did a little better.

 

DT

[BJB]

With my 89 I get 39 Canadian miles per gallon. However, I think there is room for improvement because it seems to miss a lot off one particular cylinder when idling. I am not aware of it at highway speeds....but assume it is there. Have changed plugs, wires, and removed the diaphram on that carb but see no problems. Am thinking of exchanging the two rear coils to see if problem shifts to a different cylinder. I guess it could be TCI (going to have to find out how to check it) or take the carbs off and get them cleaned etc.

[Guest Bigin]

On my 89 have gotten as much as 44 mpg when riding in large group or 2up leisurely with wife, on the local steep and twisty roads, almost never on highway.

 

Seldom see more than 40 when riding alone, and enjoying the twisty roads and that v4 power.

 

Lately since new Avons, and Progressives springs up front, am really enjoying the performance with last 2 tanks around 35 mpg riding solo.

 

The old saying " if you want to play, you got to pay" applies here.

 

Also here is an owners report from 1989 Cycle Magazine poll of owners of all years for mileage:

 

1983-42.0

1984-46.9

1985-40.4

1986-40.7

1987-46.0

1988-41.0

1989-41.2

1990-42.5

1991-41.5

1992-42.9

1993-42.5

 

The total average is 42.6 for all models, and as much as 16% of owners for some years responded, while as little as 1% responded for one model year (1993).

[greg_in_london]

Well for me 40mpg would be a considerable improvement, although some used to claim 50mpg+ (UK or US). From the answers so far that's not so common, although a variation from 30-45mpg is still a big difference (all figures for reasonable riding - I can push that 30mpg way down into the twenties when chasing a ferry or some other deadline).

 

Has anyone done anything to their bikes that has made a big change to fuel cnsumption ? It might be a search for the holy grail, but if there is a secret (or collection of secrets) to good economy it could be worth the search.

[Wrongway]

On my '90, I got as low as 28, which occurred the first day I had it, blasting down the highway home . I was sure I had made a mistake! :mo money:I went about 300 miles at probably 85mph for most of the ride home. I did get as high as 41 when flower sniffin'. My routine mpg though was about 35-37 in daily use. For my '04 I usually get 38-40 in regular use and have seen 44/45 or so. Got as low as 30 when flying the highways to Colorado last year across the dead spaces of Nebraska and Kansas, but we were going at a fairly good clip then too.

[Condor]

On the '83 I got 50mpg while riding Venture West III in Susanville, but when I rode to Ft Collins I managed 38-39mpg. BTW I used Shell gas over the Susanville weekend, and what ever I ran into going to and from FC. Never changed a thing except the oil??? However.... now that I think about it a bit I packed everything in the saddles and trunk for VWIII, and looked like the 'Grapes of Wrath' to and from FC. Musta been aero-dynamics.

[greg_in_london]

At the risk of sounding slow - after all it was me that posted the conversion chart - I presume that you are both talking the smaller american gallons AllenH and Bigin - that would equate to 50-55mpg in UK gallons. That's 75% more miles per tank than some of us are getting. Obviously as a tourer it's a bit limiting if you need to start worrying about petrol every 80-90 miles - apart from the sidecar, have you any clues what might be different about your Venture.

[Mind you - that's a silly question - I need to post which carbs etc I have on mine - anyone have ponters on which bits of the spec I should look up ?]

 

Oh yes, don't forget that our petrol is about £1.07 (just over $2) per litre which I think is a bit pricier than in the US.

[wild hair 39]

venture-----34 to 38,once in awhile maybe 42,doing the co mountines,4 gear cruse on

 

voyager-----35 to 50,now it realy depends on the speed,co mount,up to 54

 

working on 93 carbs,i tryed them,got 45,with bad diaph,and won't idal wouthout chockon,they are opened up for ckeaning right now,can't let the carbs gen the way oriding,old carbs are back on now

[ahoutzer]

My '06 usually gets 40 to 45 mpg U.S., but has gone as low as 38.7 (once only -- the only time under 40) and as high as 48.9 (once only). Summer temperatures help, and either city or superslab riding decreases efficiency. Most of my riding is on back roads around 55mph.

[FROG MAN]

I get 46 riding with SKID and 28 riding with Yammer Dan.:whistling::confused24::stirthepot:

[Guest Bigin]

Another thing that is seldom mentioned when discussing mileage issues is the speedometer error on these bikes.

 

There have been posts on the First gen being optimistic by a significant amount, as I recall a rule of thumb was 5-7 mph at 60 mph, at least thats what I have been using.

 

I have gone through those speed monitoring machines that post your speed as you pass by and confirms my rule of thumb consistently.

 

But I have spoken to owners with gps who say their speedometer is accurate, so it may depend on the bike.

 

Someone else may have the accurate number on this, which of course would lower the mpg calcs, but would also lower the miles traveled on the bike and lessen the frequency for oil changes and so on, so it is kind of a double edged sword.

 

Now that I typed all this found the thread explaining;

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=14231&highlight=speedometer+error

[greg_in_london]

Hi Bigin,

 

I've seen a couple of those comments, but I think the issue is a bit of a Red Herring. My speedometer tallies with the posted mileage on road signs and the original tests said that the speedo read 60mph at 58mph - a small difference.

 

If Frog Man is getting between 28 and 46 in US - that's 33-53 mpg in UK money, his worst is equal to my best (ie trying 55-60mph cruising on A-roads at steady speed). A speedomay be out by 5% or even 10%, but we are talking claimed mileage variations of 75%.

 

When you say 44mpg, is that US or imperial, as that's just over 50mpg in my money - that's 60% more miles for a (much cheaper) gallon. If I have a range of 120 miles and start looking for juice 30-40 miles before it's dry, I get 80-90 miles before I have to start looking, it sounds like you can go double the distance before looking.

 

Can we find a solution and make it a sticky ?

[calperin]

This has been asked so many times, and for me is each time a great bad taste on my mouth....

 

In my VR 84 I got between 42 & 44 mpg (US).

 

On my RS 96 I cannot get any better than 34 to 36 mpg. Newer engine only 6900 miles.

 

Who said the newer the better???

 

:sick::sick::sick:

[Guest Bigin]

Greg,

 

I am referrring to US gals.

 

As far as looking for fuel, the farthest I have gone before fueling is 144 miles and as I recall I had about 2/3 gallon left in tank.

 

Dont recall the mileage on that tank though or how hard I was riding.

 

I usually start looking at around 100 miles, unless I am in familiar territory and know where the fuel is.

 

I dont use the reserve function as it requires pliers to turn it, so dont have that extra warning if I forget to get fuel, it would just run out.

 

Never have run the tank out but from what I estimate when the last bar on the indicator goes away I have about 30-40 miles left.

 

As far as my bike goes I dont know if it is stock jetting, as it has the Jardines and came that way.

 

The exhaust canister is gutted of the heat shielding inside, some think this helps backpressure.

 

I keep it tuned and in top condition almost obsessively, do the work myself.

 

It is a very heavy First gen with a ton of Ventureline Chrome on it. Too much I think.

 

Serously if it doesnt have a 100 pounds of extra weight on it I would be surprised

 

It is much heavier than the 91 I used to have, obvious just in rolling it on and off the center stand and up off the sidestand, it is a handful compared to the 91 at slow speeds, so I dont go slow much, hehe.

 

I also am heavy at 290 pounds, so that is a hinderance to mileage for sure.

 

Dont know what else to offer you.

 

Hope this helps

[greg_in_london]

That's part of the point I'm making Calperin - lots of other people are saying that they are getting good mileage on later bikes too. I've been trying to figure out exactly what it is that makes a difference.

 

Maybe the same 'fix' would boost your mpg too - although the semi-custom styled bikes don't look as aerodynamic so there may be a small penalty.

 

Bigin - nearly missed your post - it came in whiel I was reading Calperin's. It's some help - confirms that weight doesn't make much odds when you're rolling. I had been wondering if a low back end would mean the final drive running at a sub-optimal angle that would cause a lot of gear drag, but presumably that's not it.

I'm presuming that gutted Jardines are less restrictive, which suggests that they're not tooo sensitive to carburation (bit of a leap of faith, there), so I'm wondering if it might be one of the add-ons. Either the vacuum advance/retard or the inlet boost bottles.

 

I'm guessing that a leaky boost bottle would lead to a weak mixture and less power, while I think mine is a little rich and has plenty of power.

I think I should investigate the vacuum advance retard. I'm guessing I should look for a thread on that as well as look at the manual.

 

Anyone have any other suggestions before I get stuck on a single track ?

 

One other thing I don't know about - VRs have a pilot air mixture screw AND a pilot fuel screw - is there any guidance which should be set first ???

[CrazyHorse]

My 1st Gen speedo is inaccurate 6-7 off lower speeds as much as 11 mph off at higher speeds with a GPS as a standard. Using GPS my mpg is about 37-38 mpg @ 70-75 mph (GPS) which is 80-85mph indicated on Yamaha speedo. Now if I relied on the standard speedo at higher speeds say I thought I was doing 55 mph but the error on the speedo I was actually doing 45mph maybe I could get 45 mpg cause I was going so slow thinking I was going faster.

[Guest Bigin]

Never played with the inside of the carbs though no one has mentioned state of tune.

 

Are your carbs synced and adjusted properly?

 

Also riding style is a factor.

 

I tend to use the low rpm range through the gears unless accelerating hard, I dont lug the engine hard but will only use above 3500 + rpm for accelerating from a stop, hills, highway or when needed.

 

Just a thought.

[Wrongway]

Greg,

 

I too was referring to US gallons. Also, my 1st gen speedo was spot on with the GPS. 2nd gen is 10% off from about 30-115 (indicated riding from Denver to Colorado Springs) Really officer, I was just keeping up with traffic on I-25! I kept the carbs in sync and I repaired my 1st gen diaphragms after about a year of owning it. Didn't do a thing for the mileage but sure helped the WHEEEEE factor! I don't know a darn thing about carbs though so I don't know if there was anything else going on with them. I was always frustrated hearing of the 45-50 US mpg that others got. During a group ride, I usually took the most fuel of everybody. Had to start looking for a gas station at 100 miles and usually by 140 I was running on fumes. Love the bigger tank of the 2nd gen (which delivered 42 US mpg today!)

[greg_in_london]

Hi JimBob,

 

I'm as sure as I can be that my speedo is accurate, but if it were exaggerating the mileage, I would be believing that I was doing better mpg than I am, surely. If I ride steadily I get 30mpg (that's 25mpg US) and used to get up to 35 mpg solo (thats about 29mpg US). If I up the speed it drops - I don'tknow how much 'cause I can't afford it.... :mo money:If you're getting 37-38 mpg (US) and think you could get 45mpg, that 45-55mpg (UK) then you're getting 50% more than me. Why ?

 

Bigin - I checked the float on my carbs in the Autumn. I can't say they're spot on, but they're much closer than they were. I checked the heights externally, figured out how much to adjust one to get a float height and set the others the same. The manual says that you have to check with the engine running and I'm going to do that again this week.

 

The carbs are fairly well balanced. I use either a Morgan tuner with the stainless steel rods or a mercury gauge - should be no problem. New air filter, clean oil every couple of thousand miles, newish plugs, pumped up tyres. So far as I know a good spark - the old plugs all look okay if maybe just slightly rich.

And in any case - there seem to be plenty of riders who get the same mpg and cannot get any more just by restraint - what is different about the bikes of those who get more ?

 

AllenH - it's frustrating isn't it - ruins what could be a much better bike, even if at your worst you're still getting better than me. How do we get rid of that thirsty little gremlin who's inside the tank slurping it up ?

[ctraylor]

I have found that my 86 VR mileage varies with the temperature. If the temp is around 45 to 50 degrees F I get about 33-35 mpg. In July when the temp soars to 95 degrees F I get 42-43 mpg. The hotter it gets the better mileage I get.

[CrazyHorse]

Yes tempreture has alot to do with it. In the cold its worse warmer better. The best I ve ever got riding is 42 steady 60 mph.

[CrazyHorse]

Hi JimBob,

 

I'm as sure as I can be that my speedo is accurate, but if it were exaggerating the mileage, I would be believing that I was doing better mpg than I am, surely. If I ride steadily I get 30mpg (that's 25mpg US) and used to get up to 35 mpg solo (thats about 29mpg US). If I up the speed it drops - I don'tknow how much 'cause I can't afford it.... :mo money:If you're getting 37-38 mpg (US) and think you could get 45mpg, that 45-55mpg (UK) then you're getting 50% more than me. Why ?

 

?

 

Speed and how hard you accelerate also have something to do with mileage If I twist hard and open the bike up I might get about 32 mpg. I have never gotten better then 42 mpg and I think that was once, but I usually run at 70+mph so that may affect it.

[MikeM8560]

what is the actual capacity of a 1st gen tank?

I get 150 miles before filling and then generally take 3.14 gallons. and the law fuel light isnt on yet.