Mileage on a full tank?

Hi all
After a couple of months of hassle free and enjoyable commuting on my swing I am getting pretty consistent mileage out of a tank of fuel. I’m getting 140 miles before the fuel bar starts to flash. Just wandering what everyone else is getting, and also how many miles is left in it before it stops when it starts flashing? Looking forward to reading your comments. My riding is in mixed traffic and I do like to open it up a bit on clear roads.

As I hate walking----strange territory I fuel every 100 miles----known territory at most 150 miles with SilverWing and pretty much with any bike/scooter. I pay little or no attention to fuel gauge, but use odometer. Last time I ran out of gas=almost 40 years ago in Japan, Hokaido,but was lucky at top of big hill, coasted to gas station.

The best I've gotten has been 214 miles on a full tank. That was roughly 85% high speed (steady throttle hand) Interstate highway miles with the remainder on smooth back roads with light traffic.

Actually I’ve gotten 200+ miles on two different occasions.

Typically though, around town I usually refill at 150-160 miles @ ~3.5 US gal. YMMV

I'm most likely looking for gas at 150 miles. Average 52-58 miles per gallon. 3.4-5 main tank before it's flashing. 55 X 3.4 =187 miles plus .8 gallons reserve. 20-25 more and your close to walking.

Traffic wind and throttle can change things. Sometimes get 60 mpg at first fill and 54 on return trip.

Hallo Boys! Eat your heart out.....it looks like mileage is also determined by the weight of the rider! I have had 2 Swings over the last 8 years (around 100 000 miles) and on both had a distance of 180 miles before the fuel light starts to flash. Then I can safely do another 20 miles before I fill up. I even managed another 45 miles once - making a total of 225 miles on a tank. I'm a petite 50 kgs.

I've filled up at 170 and 180 miles without the fuel light flashing, and that's included times when I've covered motorway miles and had Mrs M along on the rear seat.

Now that I've downsized to a Forza 300, I'm able to scroll through the instrument displays and get my current fuel consumption, average fuel consumption, remaining tank range, and change it from gallons to litres. I also have a range of 200 plus miles, and that's from a smaller 11.5 litre tank.

My fuel bar usually starts flashing just before 180 miles. Most I ever did was 222 miles and the fuel bar indicated empty! But I was getting 58 MPG so actually I had a bit more. Closer to empty than I want to see again... That was on US 395 in Northern California and stations were few.

On average daily puttputting along I get about 330 km. before the light starts flashing. On the other hand if I crank it, I can only get about 200 km or so. It becomes very thirsty very fast. I've learned to restrain my enthusiasm for speed and take back roads.

Jay.

Looks like some good numbers but these days I look at in the more smiles per tank rather than miles Waiting for a decent day to get some smiles in but our Canadian friends seem to want to share their arctic air for a longer time this year.

[quote=Mighty Mouse [Snip] mileage is also determined by the weight of the rider? I have had 2 Swings [ride] a distance of 180 miles before the fuel light starts to flash. Then I can safely do another 20 miles before I fill up. I even managed another 45 miles once - making a total of 225 miles on a tank. I'm a petite 50 kgs.][/quote]





 Harrumph... 50 kg indeed! Ya can't fool me, young lady. 


Everyone knows that gravity is weaker and things & people weigh less at the equator. And also because the equator is the vast waistband of the planet then no matter where you ride it's always downhill.

145 miles from commuting 50% on Mway 50%  A roads , generally limit Mway speeds to 60-65. Bike has a top box and me wearing full gear and I'm now down to 12 -13 stone.

Would have hoped to get more mpg from the swing but its a heavy lump , 60MPG + would be nice but think its doing around 50 MPG atm.

Have changed the silencer but other then that its stock!

Thing to remember , Imperial gallon is not the same as a USA gallon. I once ran my fist Silverwing to empty and got 220mls out of it. I usually recon on thirty miles once last fuel bar starts flashing.

Great feedback guys, you really are a happy and friendly bunch

I've pondered over this for a long time. For me, the fuel tank is so small, I don't bother counting. If the bike is running fine then just take into account all the variables and fill up before the gauge starts flashing.

Got scared in France one time with a pillion and full load, and a flashing fuel gauge. I vowed not to risk it again.

You can get a bit over concerned about fuel lights flashing on maxi scooters I can think of a few times over the years in Germany when it's happened on unfamiliar autobahns, and I've came off at the next exit to look for fuel. Then I've put on an extra 10 to 20 miles looking unsuccessfully for somewhere to fill up, and as the miles clocked up getting ever more worried about running dry.

Then when to my great relief I've eventually found a petrol/gas station and filled up, the pump shows I still had 5 litres or so left in the tank and I worried for nothing. Then I retrace my route back to the autobahn and find if I'd stayed on it there was a fuel stop within a few miles.

Of course as I get older, my mileage on a full bladder is more important. 

I know what you mean with the mileage and bladder Meldrew. If I know where I am and how far towns are in between where I am and where I'm going I might let the gauge get to 1/4 before filling. If I'm unfamiliar with the road and what towns are along my route I'll fill up at 1/2 tank. Then empty the bladder, grab a cup of coffee or a pop/soda, have a smoke and be on my way. I'm OLD and LAZY and hate walking any distance. Riding is funner.

When we go on a trip (each riding our own bikes) we start looking for gas at 150 miles. If we haven't gotten gas by 180 miles we start getting worried. At 200 miles it gets to the danger point.

We have the Givi screens on our bikes with the wind wings on the side. They were the tall screens but I cut them down so we can see over the top and they're about the same height as the stock one. The wind wings cut down on the turbulence in the rider position, but I think burn a little more gas. With our new bikes 50 mpg seems to be about the norm on a trip (we always take 2-lane roads (never ride the Slab). Our 2002's used to do a bit better, 52-53 mpg on a trip. But we also have Bestem top boxes on our new ones that our 2002's didn't have, and don't know how they add (or subtract) to the overall wind drag either.

I decided to add onto this thread instead of starting a new one as this topic has been widely discussed.  I'm planning to take several longer tours (over 8,000 km./5,000 mi.) over the next couple of riding seasons and wanted to know, with more certainty, what kind of gas mileage and maximum tank range I might expect on my fairly new-to-me 2009 SWing.

Since this 2009 scoot is fairly new to me I wanted to establish a fuel performance baseline. One clear trend I observed was the fuel mileage got better the more I rode the scoot this season. Prior to my ownership, it was ridden sporadically (or I assume so given the low 4900 km. on it when I bought it in Aug 2020).

For my study, I tracked my mileage, by 1/8 of a tank (corresponding to the fuel bar indicator), for the past 18 tanks of fuel and below are the average of the data collected.  The remaining km. in tank number comes from calculating how much fuel I put in when I filled up then making an arithmetic adjustment based on my average fuel consumption per kilometer up until that point for the tank maximum capacity of 16 liters.

The roads I travelled were overwhelmingly flat roads consisting of roughly 5% superhighway, 65% secondary - two lane highway (up to 100 kph indicated ) and 30% city riding.

The mileage is converted to American mpg's ... not Imperial mpg's which of course would convert to different numbers based on the larger Imp. gallon.  

Fuel Level / Kilometers Travelled (mi.) / Kilometers remaining (mi.)

Full Tank / 0 km. (0 mi.)  travelled  / 377 km. (235 mi.) Max. range of tank
7/8 Tank / 92 km. (57 mi.)  travelled  / 281 km. (175 mi.) remaining in tank
6/8 Tank / 118 km. (73 mi.)  travelled  / 243 km. (151 mi.) remaining in tank
5/8 Tank / 149 km. (93 mi.)  travelled  / 212 km. (132 mi.) remaining in tank

4/8 Tank / 181 km. (112 mi.)  travelled  / 181 km. (112 mi.) remaining in tank
3/8 Tank / 212 km. (132 mi.)  travelled  / 149 km. (93 mi.) remaining in tank
2/8 Tank / 242 km. (150 mi.)  travelled  / 118 km. (73 mi.) remaining in tank
1/8 Flash / 281 km. (176 mi.)  travelled  / 92 km. (57 mi.) remaining in tank until bone dry

I did a little rounding (by one or two kilometrers here and there) to smooth out the per 1/8 consumption numbers but what you see is pretty close to the averages I recorded during my study.  I was able to draw a number of conclusions from my little data collection experiment.

1) Not each 1/8 bar of the fuel tank represents an equal amount of fuel consumed.  The first and last eighth I made almost double the mileage of any of the other 1/8 tank increments.
2) My maximum tank range averaged 377 km. over 18 tankfuls.  This ranged from a worst tankful of 341 km to a best of 404 kilometers.
3) I achieved just over 400 kms. per tank 3 times over my 18 tank study.
4) My overall mileage improved the more I rode my scooter this season.
5) I achieved a 4.23L/100 km. consumption average (55 U.S. mpg) over my study
6) My 2009 SWing used for this study made about 10% better fuel mileage than my previous 2005 SWing which I only tracked for the final 6 tanks of my ownership.  I was surprised and pleased with the 2009's better results.

Now I ride with confidence knowing that when the final 1/8 bar flashes, I have about 90 km (55 mpg) of fuel/distance remaining and I can safely ride for about another 50 kms. before filling up if I have to.  

I realize that draining the fuel tank to near empty so often runs the risk of picking up crud from the bottom but I was pretty diligent about monitoring this and the bottom of my tank appeared to be pretty clean throughout my study as it is now.  

I hope my study and data helps others. Your mileage may differ! lol

sonuvabug wrote:

Full Tank / 0 km. (0 mi.)  travelled  / 377 km. (235 mi.) Max. range of tank

While I think they can go 235 miles, that would really be pushing it. On one trip from Alaska, on the stretch from Fort Nelson, BC out of the rockies to Edmunton, Alberta we got to Grande Prairie one night about 7:00PM and the whole town was locked up tighter than a drum. We needed gas, we were at 160 miles from the last fillup.

285 miles to Edmunton. The next town that might have a gas station open in that part of the country at that time of night was Valleyview, which was 68 miles. There was NOTHING in Grande Prairie - no place to stay or camp, no place to get gas - do we wait it out until morning and try to stay warm (it was cold there - only in the high 40's F) or chance it and try to make it to Valleyview and hope there was something open.

We decided to chance it and try to make it to Valleyview. Didn't make it. My bike ran out about 4 miles short, my wife's bike was still running. This is out in the middle of NOWHERE. There is nobody on the road that time of night, if you do find a town it's closed at 5:00PM and you're lucky to even see anybody in the town.

She left me behind and went on to try to make it to Valleyview. Her bike ran out two blocks short of the Esso station in Valleyview, which happened to open until 11:00PM. She walked to the gas station and bought a 2 gallon gas can and filled it up, went back and dumped it in her bike. Then rode to the gas station and filled up and brought me 2 gallons in her new can.

We had intended to make it Edmunton that night but we stayed at the Western Valley Inn for $110 instead. And it was drizzling rain by that time. We were froze. Those hot showers felt pretty good. But our bikes didn't make 235 miles - why? In the mountains they got the 85 octane gas because of the altitude. Our bikes didn't get their normal 55 mpg that they usually get on two-lane roads at lower altitudes, they only got 53 because of the low-octane mountain gas and conditions. My wife's bike got a just a little bit better mileage than mine because she's 60 lbs lighter than I am. If it wasn't for her than night, I would've had a long walk.

Don't forget uphill vs downhill. For example I used to get 64mpg driving to work and 48mpg coming back (diesel car, 25 miles cross country, about 1000ft height differential).

I've done 170 plus miles a few times on the Silver Wing before filling up. Then I looked to stopping I know I can go 200 miles on the Forza and probably further if I pushed it. But while riding 200 miles without stopping itself isn't a problem stamina or comfort wise , I do look forward to stopping for the occasional toilet break/coffe stop, hot meal or whatever. So if it's somewhere where I can fill up at the same time, it covers all the bases

If I really wanted to extend the Forza's range, I'd fill up the 5 litre fuel can I have which would give me almost 300 miles. I also can scroll up info about fuel consumption,  tank range, and remaining fuel on the move. Alternatively my sat nav or phone can show me where the nearest fuel stop is.

We also think distances in miles or kilometres, not the hours it takes to ride there.

Always fill up at 150 miles as its always started flashing around then.

I've just read that motorists are current panic buying fuel in York and elsewhere round the country because of the shortage of tanker drivers. Some BP and Texaco stations are closed, as are a lot of supermarket petrol stations. So tough **** if you're out running low somewhere hoping to fill up in the next town.

Only single digit numbers of BP stations are closed. The press and media again are causing panic buying. Like they did with Covid.

Yes there is some supply issues but there's enough to go around.

In any case most areas of the UK have fuel stations everywhere except maybe in parts of Wales and Scotland.

I'm sick of this scaremongering the media and social media perpetuates.

Just to add only 83 (1%) of the UK petrol stations are affected.

It's interesting then that Mrs M who's currently down your neck of the wood in Essex tells me she drove past long queues of cars waiting to fill up in Braintree, and in Saffron Walden the Sainsbury's there had shorter queues but signs saying no diesel.

My Forza has about half a tank after a ride out to the Black Sheep Brewery and Visitor Centre in Masham on Wednesday. I was last there on the Silver Wing with Mrs M a few weeks before the Tour de France passed through in North Yorkshire in. 2014. The Steak & Riggwelter Pie in the Bar and Bistro is still as excellent as it was back then.

Talking of pies, I see you've started your Pie & Mash Run again, I also read recently that Skipton Pie & Mash in the Yorkshire Dales had been closed for a while, sad but our Forza group do the occasional Brunch and Cocktails on a Sunday morning in Leeds.

I'm out later on my regular push bike ride so I'll see if either the Texaco or BP stations in my local area have long lines of cars waiting to fill up.

Well the number affected will go up now that the media has stoked up the lemmings who are panic buying.

I never got to try the fabled Skipton pie and mash, shame that any place goes out of business. I think our tastes and expectations are different when it comes to Pie and Mash.

I've got a reasonable amount of diesel in both of our cars and the Wing has enough for now.

If not, I'll be off to the pub or drinking my home brew so the world hasn't ended yet.

Well, at least Halfords had a good stock of petrol cans for sale today. I had to buy one because my car doesn't have enough petrol in it to get to a petrol station so I'll have to use the can before I go to fill-up.

However, as I don't do 'queueing', I'll wait till all the lunatics have gone back to their asylums before I go to fill my new petrol can up. The can fits nicely into the top box on the SW.

I'm not a fan of censorship but I reckon if the media hadn't got involved, no one would ever have known that there was a problem. There's plenty to go round.

Good thing I filled up the SW yesterday though, just by chance.

I've just bought some Liqui Moly Fuel Stabiliser too. Anyway to quote that old Northern phrase 'the nights are fair drawin' in, so I'm off out now on me push bike and I'll see first hand if motorists are panic buying fuel on their way home from work at the two petrol stations I ride past.

Panic buying? Eastbourne has been brought to gridlock in a lot of places. If I hadn't been on the SW this afternoon (to buy my petrol can!) I wouldn't be home yet

Good morning Britain and BBC caused this mess

If this mess isn't cleared up soon maybe I'll find out exactly how many miles I get from my full tank on the SW?

Chillax. More hype just to panic some. I feel it's just a game to drive up prices as though you in Europe don't pay enough already. Someone is making HUGE profits and it's not the working-retired class.
Still the Covid problem continues all just part of that. The world evolves into what I don't know.
Ride On.

I passed long queues of cars at both petrol stations in my area early yesterday evening. Basically it's the same panic buying mentality that stripped our supermarkets bare of toilet rolls before our first COVID-19 lockdown last Spring.

Why Joe Public felt the need back then to hoard dozens of rolls of toilet paper I've no idea. It wasn't as if one of the symptoms of Covid was sitting on the can while you emptied like an old radiator.  

Meldrew wrote:

I passed long queues of cars at both petrol stations in my area early yesterday evening. Basically it's the same panic buying mentality that stripped our supermarkets bare of toilet rolls before our first COVID-19 lockdown last Spring.

Why Joe Public felt the need back then to hoard dozens of rolls of toilet paper I've no idea. It wasn't as if one of the symptoms of Covid was sitting on the can while you emptied like an old radiator.  

Amen, no long lines here yet but one word on the TV and it will be hand sanitizer and toilet paper time all over again. I'm having less and less faith in what they tell and show us.

I guess I wasted my money on buying a petrol can....the petrol stations are not allowing anybody to fill up cans.

I understand why but my car really is showing zero miles on the indicator.

I can see why, but some trades need to fill cans.

Managed to fill the wing up for next weekends trip/rideout. Car has over 300 miles and our second car has 110. It'll calm down over the week as there is only so much fuel one can buy.

The batteries on the NIU are fully-charged.

Smug ev owners!

Mike you smug ****

I spent a few minutes yesterday, experimenting with panniers and bags to go on the back seat in order that I can ride HAL to Tesco for my weekly shop.
It should be fine if I omit the wine; I have plenty in my cellar.
I'm doing my bit to reduce the queues at the petrol stations.

I've repeatedly had problems carrying beer under the seat of the Silver Bus. Beware of twist off caps touching the sides of the underseat compartment while you ride - it can screw them off.

smellybeard wrote:

I've repeatedly had problems carrying beer under the seat of the Silver Bus. Beware of twist off caps touching the sides of the underseat compartment while you ride - it can screw them off.

That's alcohol abuse for sure. Good thing there is a drain in there. Buy cans and avoid this problem.
Plus you can save the World by recycling them and feel better and make some extra beer funds in the process.

We just did a 3000km tour on the silverwing 400 from denmark to germany and back again, we rode some highway with about 120km/h but we mostly did B roads with about 70-100km/h and the average consumption was 24 kilometers pr. Liter.
Im very surprised it did so well with two people and fully packed with luggage, I've read online the gas consumption was bad on silverwings. Thats maybe the 600 thats refered to. And when my petrol bar starts flashing I have 4 liters left in the tank.
I think that with only the rider and no luggage my silverwing easy gets +25km pr. liter petrol.

I typically fill up every 160 miles. Always have around 0.6 gal (2.5L) left in the tank when re-fueling.

My Silver Wing usually can go 180 to 200 miles easy on a fillup. This on a trip, of course. The most I ever saw was 220 miles and the gauge basically said empty. But on filling it, found it averaged 62 MPG and could have made 250 miles on that tank. This is NOT the norm and on the freeway at 70+ it won't do nearly this good.

150-160 miles for me.

5;liter /. 100 km ..... Depending on how hard I drive it ... Did 4.5 liters/ 100km once this summer cruising at 100km

Some of you guys are getting really good mileage! At 150 - 160 miles I'm looking hard for a gas station!

GHM-PM wrote:

My Silver Wing usually can go 180 to 200 miles easy on a fillup. This on a trip, of course. The most I ever saw was 220 miles and the gauge basically said empty. But on filling it, found it averaged 62 MPG and could have made 250 miles on that tank. This is NOT the norm and on the freeway at 70+ it won't do nearly this good.

250 miles per tank (~403 km.) is about the maximum I've ever achieved on a tankful of fuel and I've only achieved this 4 times now.