My 83 Venture / Fuel Mileage

[larrydr]

We are paying $9.89 per gallon of gasoline ...I went out for 103 mile run last night at 65 miles per hour and no high speed throttle events with a full tank and when I got home it was empty / dry .. I have had a couple of professional mechanics check over this 83 to try to improve the mileage and so far not improvement .. One of the guys has worked for Yamaha for 30 years and knows the 83 Venture well  ......My 83 is going to be a parts bike after June 17th and I will looking for a different ride ..

[cimmer]

Did the professionals do anything to the bike?

Rick F

[larrydr]

They aligned the carbs , which  did not change anything ..Compression test was good , ignition test was good .. I found that the ethanol blended fuel caused a fuel mileage problem on my car and truck as well  

[Marcarl]

Before thinking too far, re-fill the tank and check the mileage that way. Fuel gauges are not to be trusted.

[cimmer]

23 hours ago, larrydr said:

They aligned the carbs , which  did not change anything ..Compression test was good , ignition test was good .. I found that the ethanol blended fuel caused a fuel mileage problem on my car and truck as well  

My 89 VR gets between 35 and 40 depending on my wrist action. I usually run  seafoam in the tank anytime I know it will sit for a while and always store the bike with a full tank of gas and some seafoam.  You might try running some seafoam thru the tanks and carbs on your next fill up and see if that makes a difference or not.

I would take it by aligning the carbs they synced them together.  How is the acceleration on the bike? Could be some issues in the carbs with the diaphragms as they can develop pin holes in them that can affect mileage and performance.

Just some things to think about.

Rick F.

[cowpuc]

On 6/8/2022 at 6:30 PM, larrydr said:

We are paying $9.89 per gallon of gasoline ...I went out for 103 mile run last night at 65 miles per hour and no high speed throttle events with a full tank and when I got home it was empty / dry .. I have had a couple of professional mechanics check over this 83 to try to improve the mileage and so far not improvement .. One of the guys has worked for Yamaha for 30 years and knows the 83 Venture well  ......My 83 is going to be a parts bike after June 17th and I will looking for a different ride ..

 

On 6/8/2022 at 10:52 PM, larrydr said:

They aligned the carbs , which  did not change anything ..Compression test was good , ignition test was good .. I found that the ethanol blended fuel caused a fuel mileage problem on my car and truck as well  

Hi @larrydr,,, brother I read your post here and it sucked me right in lol. If it were mine doing what you are describing here is what I would do. 1st thing I would do is spit check the headers on cold start up and make sure its hitting on all 4. That being good I would make sure the airbox lid area was clear and not altered from OEM and the air filter was stock OEM and clean. All good there I would check the pipes for blockage,, no mice nest/acorns. All good there I would center stand it, hook a clear hose up to the carb drains one at a time, open the drains one at a time and check the fuel level in the carb bowls to make sure my float(s) were set to proper height. If all looked good at that point I would leave it center standed, grab the breaks and hit hard and spin the wheels to make sure I had no brakes dragging. Check air pressures front and back. All good there I would now pull the carb slides and look VERY closely at the carb slide diaphrams for pin holes, make sure to check under the lip where the diaphrams contact the carb body. All good there is where I would have found myself on a few occasions and here that is. The emulsion tubes the main jets screw into on these side mounted carbs LOVE to oblong so the Metering Rod hanging from the bottom of the slide cant meter properly. Back in my early days of spinning wrenches as a kid at the local Honda shop I used to finish tune new little Honda CT's before they went on the sales floor. That mainly consisted of setting that metering rod to proper height so the bikes would run crisply off bottom end, those little bikes were kinda finicky for proper air/fuel mixture. Those bikes and 95.689 % of the bikes I worked on thru the years had a small "E" clip on the needle to adjust with, our MK1's, I learned early on DO NOT HAVE THAT (I have heard that some of them did,, Canadian bikes maybe - @skydoc_17 may know?). One of my MK1's got so bad that 30 mpg would have been a good day! I tinkered with it by removing the ramp on the needles and by shimming it DOWN with nylon washers from ACE Hardware I was able to get my +42 mpg back,, this would be leaning it out on the bottom. As I recall I ended up dropping the needles 65 thou,, .065. Somewhere back in VR history is a post (with pics I believe) about the whole matter.. I get a chance I will do some digging if you would like. I am almost sure Skydock use to (probably still does, maybe,,, lets see what Earl says if he is still around) offer an actual "kit" for doing what I am talking about. Seriously brother,, THIS is worth a shot before you ditch your scoot!! ALL THE BEST! Puc

[skydoc_17]

Well, how could I not get involved in THIS thread with the recommendation of COWPUC!! As a matter of fact, in the Member Vendor's section of the Forum, I offer a kit that addresses this very issue! Here is the link:

 

Thank you Pucster for the props, and if anyone has any questions about the Needle Shim Mod, or any of my other kits, please feel free to PM me. I am always up for a good chat about these wonderful machines!

Earl

[cowpuc]

2 hours ago, skydoc_17 said:

Well, how could I not get involved in THIS thread with the recommendation of COWPUC!! As a matter of fact, in the Member Vendor's section of the Forum, I offer a kit that addresses this very issue! Here is the link:

 

Thank you Pucster for the props, and if anyone has any questions about the Needle Shim Mod, or any of my other kits, please feel free to PM me. I am always up for a good chat about these wonderful machines!

Earl

You bet Earl, your welcome on the props!! @larrydr, little by little its all coming back to me.. PM this Earl guy,, he may be a lop eared varmint but he knows his stuff!! 

[larrydr]

28 minutes ago, cowpuc said:

You bet Earl, your welcome on the props!! @larrydr, little by little its all coming back to me.. PM this Earl guy,, he may be a lop eared varmint but he knows his stuff!! 

I pulled the slides out today and set the needle out to the next clip groove  ...Went for a half hour run and I pull the plugs tomorrow ... 2 gallons of gasoline == $20.00

[larrydr]

3 hours ago, cowpuc said:

 

Hi @larrydr,,, brother I read your post here and it sucked me right in lol. If it were mine doing what you are describing here is what I would do. 1st thing I would do is spit check the headers on cold start up and make sure its hitting on all 4. That being good I would make sure the airbox lid area was clear and not altered from OEM and the air filter was stock OEM and clean. All good there I would check the pipes for blockage,, no mice nest/acorns. All good there I would center stand it, hook a clear hose up to the carb drains one at a time, open the drains one at a time and check the fuel level in the carb bowls to make sure my float(s) were set to proper height. If all looked good at that point I would leave it center standed, grab the breaks and hit hard and spin the wheels to make sure I had no brakes dragging. Check air pressures front and back. All good there I would now pull the carb slides and look VERY closely at the carb slide diaphrams for pin holes, make sure to check under the lip where the diaphrams contact the carb body. All good there is where I would have found myself on a few occasions and here that is. The emulsion tubes the main jets screw into on these side mounted carbs LOVE to oblong so the Metering Rod hanging from the bottom of the slide cant meter properly. Back in my early days of spinning wrenches as a kid at the local Honda shop I used to finish tune new little Honda CT's before they went on the sales floor. That mainly consisted of setting that metering rod to proper height so the bikes would run crisply off bottom end, those little bikes were kinda finicky for proper air/fuel mixture. Those bikes and 95.689 % of the bikes I worked on thru the years had a small "E" clip on the needle to adjust with, our MK1's, I learned early on DO NOT HAVE THAT (I have heard that some of them did,, Canadian bikes maybe - @skydoc_17 may know?). One of my MK1's got so bad that 30 mpg would have been a good day! I tinkered with it by removing the ramp on the needles and by shimming it DOWN with nylon washers from ACE Hardware I was able to get my +42 mpg back,, this would be leaning it out on the bottom. As I recall I ended up dropping the needles 65 thou,, .065. Somewhere back in VR history is a post (with pics I believe) about the whole matter.. I get a chance I will do some digging if you would like. I am almost sure Skydock use to (probably still does, maybe,,, lets see what Earl says if he is still around) offer an actual "kit" for doing what I am talking about. Seriously brother,, THIS is worth a shot before you ditch your scoot!! ALL THE BEST! Puc

Thanks will do  , the exhaust was all black and I know it blowing the fuel out the mufflers ...I want to remove the mufflers and clean them out . I do know this unit was set up to pull a camper trailer to the east coast .. My 2007 Impala 3.5 litre does 35 to 40 mile per gallon out on the highway

[cowpuc]

20 hours ago, larrydr said:

Thanks will do  , the exhaust was all black and I know it blowing the fuel out the mufflers ...I want to remove the mufflers and clean them out . I do know this unit was set up to pull a camper trailer to the east coast .. My 2007 Impala 3.5 litre does 35 to 40 mile per gallon out on the highway

You betcha,, you are more than welcome @larrydr, glad to help and hope it works out for you! Stick with it,, you'll get it! I hear ya on the cage (car) thing,, some of this stuff - as you mention - gets amazing MPG even compared to the scoot!! Our Hyundai Ioniq gets 60 all day long on the highway and, set the cruise at 16 mph in the mountains so your using battery (its a HYBRID) going up and recharging going down while your sitting back talking to your best friend enjoying the scenery out on the west coast and we have seen in the +70 mpg with it. Even triple digits across the deserts with the cruise locked and listening to Willie while Tip is snoozing it'll knock down 50 mpg. All WAYYYY beyond the capabilites of even a modern day touring scoot. Thing is though, there aint NOTHING like being on two wheels while ya can, just aint the same.  Yeah,, dont give up on your bike yet Larry, sounds to me like its totally doable to get back up above 40 mpg and get ya back out on the open road enjoying life on your bike!

[Pasta Burner]

First long haul ride today since replacing the slides, diaphragms, and installing @skydoc_17 shim kit.  12.5 hrs, one amazing (food wise, local Jacknife ranch Wy. Beef burger!  Never had anything like it before. ) lunch, three states, 420 miles, 38MPG.  Home, Showered and ready for a cocktail.

[skydoc_17]

Hey Tom,

I was wondering what your average speed was on your trip. For me, if I ran much above 65mph, the gas mileage started to fall off pretty quick. The other reason for lower mileage would be running through mountain twisties in a reduced gear. Also riding 2up with a bunch of "To Go Boxes"  full of all that wonderful food you were eating will lower the mileage some! LOL!!

Sounds like a great Tom!

Earl

[cowpuc]

9 hours ago, skydoc_17 said:

Hey Tom,

I was wondering what your average speed was on your trip. For me, if I ran much above 65mph, the gas mileage started to fall off pretty quick. The other reason for lower mileage would be running through mountain twisties in a reduced gear. Also riding 2up with a bunch of "To Go Boxes"  full of all that wonderful food you were eating will lower the mileage some! LOL!!

Sounds like a great Tom!

Earl

Well put Earl.. An interesting side note here. I LOVED running the empty spaces out west on my MK1's in triple digits. One sniff of that wonderful desert air and all my MK1's would be begging me to give them some rein and let em buck, which I liked to oblige. After the kids grew up and moved on to lives of their own so they were no longer riding with me and Tip started owning the back seat she immediately noticed this phenoma and after an afternoon of 115 across that vast openess said "I am really not comfortable with these high speeds" to which I said "well if your not enjoying this I am not enjoying this" then I said "so,, pick a speed limit you are comfy with and thats where we will ride".. Remarkably. Tip picked 100 mph as her roll of comfort lol. So from that day forward, unless she was leaned back on Tweeks rear trunk and sleeping  , Tweeks got governed at 100. As @skydoc_17 mentions, maintaining those speeds always showed reduction in economy. We dropped from +40 mpg to below 30 mpg, usually around 28 mpg.. Now touring in Trooper (who seems to have aquired the same taste for remote desert  region high speed travel), our Hybrid car, our highway mpg of +60 also drops significantly when moseying along at 100 mph. It drops to 51 mpg in that same senario so it seems Earl, your thoughts on the matter apply equally in the science of miles per gallon analyzing.. 

[Pasta Burner]

@skydoc_17 @cowpuc I’m working on getting you that info…not too long into the ride I remembered to turn in the tracks mode on my new Garmin.  Now getting that data to transfer to another devise and make sense is another learning curve.  I will say 90+ % of the ride was backroad mountain vista but still 4th and 5th gear. 
Interesting thought though today on slow speed vs high…on the ground that makes sense but in the air I’m thinking slow speed is burning waaaaayyyy more fuel.  From my Bases air show today.

 

 

[cowpuc]

39 minutes ago, Pasta Burner said:

@skydoc_17 @cowpuc I’m working on getting you that info…not too long into the ride I remembered to turn in the tracks mode on my new Garmin.  Now getting that data to transfer to another devise and make sense is another learning curve.  I will say 90+ % of the ride was backroad mountain vista but still 4th and 5th gear. 
Interesting thought though today on slow speed vs high…on the ground that makes sense but in the air I’m thinking slow speed is burning waaaaayyyy more fuel.  From my Bases air show today.

IMG_0812.MOV 109.91 MB · 0 downloads  

 

WOWZY WOW WOW WOW @Pasta Burner,, that was awesome, THANKS for the vid!! What fighter jet was that? Unbelievable to see the pilot slow walk that puppy across the sky like that,, just BEAUTIFUL!! By the way, THANK YOU for your service!! P.S. - oh heck yeah,, I can DEFINITELY see where going slow would DRINK the fuel under those dynamics!! 

 

Edited June 27, 2022 by cowpuc

[Pasta Burner]

First let me clarify I work full time on an AFB and support a number of other bases,  but I am just a contractor supporting the real warfighters, so the praise belongs to them.  That @cowpuc is an F-35A being piloted by Major Wolfe.

https://www.388fw.acc.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Article/2098569/major-kristin-beo-wolfe/

[Pasta Burner]

Ok @cowpuc @skydoc_17 I’m really getting frustrated not knowing how to navigate this new GPS.  It isn’t letting me see the data like it’s displayed BEFORE you save it, once it’s saved it converts to a .GPX file that I can’t figure out how to open.  I think I need to get on my laptop rather than my phone.  Anyway eventually I found a screen that kinda sorta shows the data I want to see, but can’t export it so I took a pic.  I’m thinking “Total average speed” includes stopped time at red lights and whatnot. 

[cowpuc]

2 hours ago, Pasta Burner said:

Ok @cowpuc @skydoc_17 I’m really getting frustrated not knowing how to navigate this new GPS.  It isn’t letting me see the data like it’s displayed BEFORE you save it, once it’s saved it converts to a .GPX file that I can’t figure out how to open.  I think I need to get on my laptop rather than my phone.  Anyway eventually I found a screen that kinda sorta shows the data I want to see, but can’t export it so I took a pic.  I’m thinking “Total average speed” includes stopped time at red lights and whatnot. 

Not a clue.. Never really had much use for one, in my world of travel I never used one and considered GPS to stand for Go Park Somewhere, Tips Tweeksis and I are just out CTFW lol.  I have borrowed one on a couple of occasions just for kicks to check speeds and such and do know they are VERY accurate though @Pasta Burner. Once you get it figured out I bet you will really enjoy it.. Puc

[RDawson]

I still use my phone when I need GPS. Even in the vehicles I use it thru Apple Play instead of onboard navigation.