What gas mileage do you get ?

[greg_in_london]

Thanks esaffley.

 

I got the bike back together last night. I hadn't expected to - reconnecting those throttle cables has always been a difficult fiddly bit I don't look forward to - especially without extremely good light, but with one of those LED head torches it was fine.

 

I don't want to say how it's going yet as I seem to get a 'honeymoon' period after each change. Suffice to say that bench synching left them way off, but a quick balance improved matters, although one carb was still reluctant to run cleanly (possibly because it had been petrol-logged for a while).

 

Either way, we're off for the weekend now and won't be near a TV, computer etc until Sunday, so I'll post how the Venture went then. After that I'll start putting together a log of different mileages/fuel consumptions and try and find a way for people to add to it, starting with mine nd Esaffley's figures.

[CrazyHorse]

I guess I'm looking mainly at the 1st gen bikes (know little about 2nd gen).

One thing i haven't seen addressed... or just missed it...

 

Has anyone with a good mileage bike measured the control voltage going from the boost sensor to the TCI (@ 1,000 rpm idle) and then compare that to some of the lower mileage bikes? If the timing is off due to an error from the boost sensor, couldn't that hold a major change in mileage bike to bike?

 

And why the heck can't we find a Mazda or Toyota replecement for that stupidly expensive part?

as

I've been thinking bout this too. My bike typlically gets 38 I'm rebuilding it currently I'll see if I can get a measurement.

[Squeeze]

Greg,

 

i've was playing the Excel Sheets today, so i made my own Conversion Table. The Results are different than what you posted in the initial Posting. I used the actual Conversion Numbers down to two Digits.

 

I may be unconvenient, but if you compare, lets take Apples to Apples.

 

Here's my Result in the Attachment.

[monwa]

My '86 with 37XXX miles gets 40mpg all the time.

[greg_in_london]

Hi Monwa, have you got the engine number so we can check which models we're comparing ?

 

We're getting what specs we can from manuals/microfiches so just the year of registration may not tell us that.

 

Hi Squeeze - happy to use your figures - I think the differences are mostly in rounding as I started from UK mpg, but I probably use 3.8l and 4.5l for the gallons. Either way - how does Monwa get 40(US)/48(UK) mpg all the time ??? Is there a list of model numbers somewhere else on the site so I don't have to go through all the microfiches I can find ? and correlate models to years as well.

 

Well we've just got back from our camping weekend, but I only filled up once while we were out and about. I had to put in 12.55l after 76 miles. That's 27-28 mpg (UK), 10.25l/100km or 23 mpg (US).

 

To be fair, though, there was a lot of traffic and there was a bit of faffing with some hills and the bike was pulling a lot of weight - luggage in the sidecar and in the trailer - and I forgot that the choke was on for a little while. The bike is ready for more petrol, so when I fill it I'll see how much it used when I was able to drive more smoothly.

 

Annoyingly enough, the float needles and jets arrived in the post after we left and were waiting when we got back.

 

I'll start putting the table together. Would people find it easier if it an Excel spreadsheet or if I paste a table into the forum ?

Edited June 1, 2008 by greg_in_london

[greg_in_london]

	code:	year:	very low:	low:	medium:	good:	very good:	excellent:
			28-35mpg (UK)	33-40mpg (UK)	37-45mpg (UK)	42-50mpg (UK)	>48mpg (UK)
			23-29 mpg (US)	27-33mpg (US)	31-38mpg (US)	35-42 mpg(US)	>40mpg (US)
			>9.4l / 100km:	10.2-8.1l / 100km	8.6-7.1l / 100km	7.6-6.3l / 100km:	6.7-5.6l / 100km
XVZ12TK	26H00*	1983 -					Oldgold	CYCLE mag
XVZTDK Has CLASS	31M00*DA	1983-
XVZ12L V Royal	41R00*EA	1983-
XVZ12DL 41V00*EA	41V00*EA	1983-		greg_in_london
XVZ12KC2	47R00*DA	1984 ?-
XVZ12DKC2	47T00*DA	1984 ?-
XVZ12DN	59J ??	1985
XVZ13		1986-7
XVZ13DS	1NL00*GA	1986-7					esaffley
XVS13DSC	1UN00*GA
XVZ13DTC: California eec	1UN00*HA	1986-7					Gearhead
XVZ13DU	1NLEO*JA	1988-89
XVZ13DUC	1UNCO*JA	"
XVZ13U	2LWEO*JA	"
XVZ13UC	2LXCO*JA	"
XVZ13DA	1NLEO*LA	1990-93
XVZ13DAC	1UNCO*LA	“				Jimbob5
XVZ13DA (Canada)	1UMNO*LA	“			BJB
XVZ13 Germany	3JT	1993:			Squeeze

Well this is a start on a table. The model code is in bold. I suspect that there are a few more model numbers that I need to find, so if anyone has others in manuals etc and can say which years they are for then that will help.

As to the headings for ranges of fuel economy, I'm sure that everyone else would have chosen different ranges and that are perforce slightly randomly chosen. From seeing people's posts, most people would rather give a range that they get ~ when I go fast I get this when I get slow I get that. The idea of the range is for people to choose a 'best fit' description, which is why there is some overlap.

I haven't got an easy way of collecting the data, other than people posting or PMing the data and I enter it.

 

Comments ???

Edited June 21, 2008 by greg_in_london

[Squeeze]

My Bike even isn't on your Sheet. My Venture is a 3JT or in in Germany also called 3JT.

 

I reiterate my former Statements.

 

A Lot depends on Maintenance and Adjustments of the Carbs and the Usage of your right wrist.

 

The only hard Facts you can compare is when ridding together.

 

I ever thought my Max uses too much Fuel, but when riding together with a Buddie, my Max uses only 0.5 Liters more than the his Max. That's nothing when seeing my big fat Body with all the Weight and Windstopper Qualities, compared too his small Chest and normal Weight.

 

I recently made the Carbs richer by one Turn on the Idle MIcture Screws and my Mileage was getting better than before. Maybe you're too much on the lean Side ?

[greg_in_london]

Squeeze - yes for a scientific 'fair test' we'd need to have everyone riding together at the same speed, but that's not going to happen. Even then, in the same situation, different people have more or less mechanical sympathy. The differences people report are quite marked - it could be that these bikes are hyper sensitive to maintenance, but no-one has reported that they bought a poorly maintained VR that did 25-30mpg and then tweaked it and got 55mpg.

 

In the technical updates it mentions a mixture screw replacement - I don't know if that had an effect. The aim of this thread (from my point of view) is to identify exactly what does make a difference and the different carburettor specifications just might be a clue. I really don't know - this is a fishing expedition to see if anything interesting crops up.

 

The figures that you report could be under either 'medium' or 'good' under the scales I suggested. I've put you in the 'medium' column because that seemed to be what you got most often. If that's no good, maybe I need to look at the values again.

[greg_in_london]

Hmmm - one more entry in the table (and each one has been a 'new' model to add to the list). We need a few more posts/PMs if this table of information is going to tell us anything,

[Oldgold]

Just reread the Cycle Magazine test of the Venture from 1983, they got an average of 42.6. Their high was 47.4 sedate highway cruising, 44-45.3 cruising 65-70, 2 up and a low of 36.7 riding against high winds on mountain roads. My 83 probably was close to these numbers when new as near as I can remember, but at 78,000 it's probably down 2 mpg from all these numbers. It does illustrate what different conditions can do to fuel mileage and of course it's hard to get an exact mileage check unless you're able to go back to the same pump and fill to exactly the same level.

[greg_in_london]

Hi Oldgold - was the Cycle test specific about which model they were testing and can you let me know your model so I can add it to the list ?

 

The differences between different riders are so big that exactly which petrol pump was used don't really matter - we want to know if any of the particular models tend to better mpg than others as the manual states that there were variations in the jetting.

[dragerman]

If you go by the onboard odometer on the second generation it’s out by 8 percent. According to my GPS I average approximate 7 l/100 km or 40mpg.

[greg_in_london]

Fine Dragerman, BUT WHICH MODEL DO YOU HAVE ???

 

Yamaha made several models some years - and some were carbureted differently, even without allowing for preparations for different markets. If you don't know the model, tell me the engine number and I'll try and check (though how, I don't know)

[Oldgold]

Hi Greg, the article was for XVZ1200 TK, it was on this site at one time. I got my 83 TK when it had about 8000 miles on it and it more or less did what the article mentioned, I've got 78,000 on it now and have gone through most of the well documented issues, the worst mileage I've ever had was when i synched carbs with a leaking diaphragm, this threw everything off and resulted in a large drop in mileage, once the diaphragm was repaired and carbs resynched mileage went back to normal.

[greg_in_london]

Thanks Oldgold, I've changed the cut off for 'excellent' mpg (was 50mpg UK) as both you and the Cycle mag were around there, si I've put you down as 'very good' mpg and CYCLE as 'excellent'.

 

So far there aren't enough results to show anything other than the scatter.

[BJB]

Greg,

I have a 1989 VR. Engine vin 1UM-C06189. New plugs, wires, carb sync. Best highway 41 mpg, normal highway @ 110 kmh 37 mpg , and worst at +120 kph was 31 mpg. This is in Canada, Canadian gallons using 4.54L/gallon conversion. Hope this helps.

[greg_in_london]

Thanks BJB, Oldgold and Jimbob5 for the posts - I've added you in. At the moment the table is on the previous page.

 

What do people think I should do as this thread continues - periodically add the updated list to the thread (would that be spammy ?) or let people jump back to page 11 to find the table ??

[TopV]

I get between 42 to 45 riding two up most times.

[Indyventure]

my 89 VR w/43K miles gets close to 40 mpg during everyday driving. nice for a bike of this size.

[BJB]

Greg,

I think you should periodically update the table to the thread...or if someone puts it in a library or such then it should be updated there. Hope all this info helps you find your gremlin.

[Pappa Bear]

Just got back from My Ohio to St Louis trip, 1100+ miles on my 89 VR. And on the highway, riding single, bags loaded, 75 mph average, I checked at every fillup I got between 45-49mpg US. Seemed like the mileage was better in the mornings when it was cooler outside.

[greg_in_london]

Hi Pappabear, Indyventure and TopV,

 

Do you know which model you have ? or if you don't, can you tell me the chassis/engine number ? There were at least four different models in 1989 (and maybe more) and we're trying to find if certain models had better fuel consumption than others.

 

Between the three of you there is 20% variation in economy and other people have more variation than that - if you can tell me the model we can see if certain carburettor configurations or market specs lead to different results.

 

Thanks

[BJB]

Greg,

Just looked at your spreadsheet. I guess I never said, but my venture was an 89. According to the owners manual it is a model XVZ13DW.

[Rodburner]

48mpg at 65mph 1up

36mpg at 80+mph 2 up

[greg_in_london]

XVZ13DW DW??? that's another model - I wondered when you said 1UM*C01689 but hoped it would be the same. At this rate it seems that every one of us has a completely individual model...

 

I'll change your entry when I've got a couple more to add because whenever I make a change the script adds lts of spaces that I then have to edit out, so I'm going to try and wait until I have two or three to add at a time.