Trying to squeeze out 200 miles from a tank

I use my Swing as a cruiser and travel interstates for long distances. I'd like to be able to get 200 miles out of a tank of gas but so far I am only getting around 175 safely. When I fuel up it takes about 3.8 gal and I know that is calling it close. I cruise at around 70 mostly. I guess my question is can I use a gas additive or something to get it up to 200 safely? I'm an iron butt and so I don't really mind 200 miles without stopping and sometimes it seems a hassle.

What I mean about "safely" is having about .3 or so gal reserve in case I can't find a gas station right away. I know that rarely happens but it has.

x

You only options are to rig an auxiliary fuel tank, or drive slower.
Kurt

No such luck, bud. If you're an IBA guy, I'm assuming you mean 70mph by GPS as opposed to indicated (which on my bike means 66mph). Sustained 70mph for me means about 42-43mpg and I would have to start looking for gas around 150miles. The Swing just gobbles up gas once you go over 5000rpm.

That's why I got a Tourtank - with a 3.5 gallon, I was able to go from Philly through DC (meaning speed limits of 55mph for way too many a mile) to just outside of Richmond and only started looking for gas at 290 miles.

Just use the stock windshield and it will do

Don't worry about additives, windshield, or crouching down. Make sure you pack a good pair of walking shoes. :lol!:

Hammy wrote:

No such luck, bud. If you're an IBA guy, I'm assuming you mean 70mph by GPS as opposed to indicated (which on my bike means 66mph). Sustained 70mph for me means about 42-43mpg and I would have to start looking for gas around 150miles. The Swing just gobbles up gas once you go over 5000rpm.

That's why I got a Tourtank - with a 3.5 gallon, I was able to go from Philly through DC (meaning speed limits of 55mph for way too many a mile) to just outside of Richmond and only started looking for gas at 290 miles.

I'm a little confused, granted it don't take much but I think I have a 4.2 gal tank. Yours is only 3.5?

Please don't assume all motorcycles speedometers are off. At 70 mph my GPS and indicated speeds are exactly the same. Well sometimes it takes the GPS a second or two to catch up, what I mean is if I'm going 60 and slow to 58 it will take a sec or two for the GPS to go down to 58 but it always does. I'm on my second motorcycle/scooter and my first was off by about 10% but when I bought my 2010 Swing I was shocked at first and could have been ticketed for speeding cause I assumed the 10% error. Then I checked it with 4 GPS systems as well as several other means and it's always acturate. Recently I got into a small race with a guy on a Victory and while his was reading 100 mine was 88. Go figure?

tankyuong wrote:

Just use the stock windshield and it will do

I do have a slightly oversized windshield with flaring to keep my hands protected but I still manage to get around 170 or so. But at 170 I'm starting to pray I can get to the next station.

compguy wrote:

I'm a little confused, granted it don't take much but I think I have a 4.2 gal tank. Yours is only 3.5?

Please don't assume all motorcycles speedometers are off. At 70 mph my GPS and indicated speeds are exactly the same. Well sometimes it takes the GPS a second or two to catch up, what I mean is if I'm going 60 and slow to 58 it will take a sec or two for the GPS to go down to 58 but it always does. I'm on my second motorcycle/scooter and my first was off by about 10% but when I bought my 2010 Swing I was shocked at first and could have been ticketed for speeding cause I assumed the 10% error. Then I checked it with 4 GPS systems as well as several other means and it's always acturate. Recently I got into a small race with a guy on a Victory and while his was reading 100 mine was 88. Go figure?

No, I had a 3.5 gallon auxiliary tank in addition to my 4.2 gallon stock tank. My Swing is accurate until about 50mph and then after that it is 5% off. My first bike, a Genuine Buddy 150, was almost 10-15% off!

Anyway, if I'm going about 60 and below for the whole tank, I can get 200 miles. Interstate speeds? If you don't wanna stop and get 200 miles, you're gonna have to plumb in an auxiliary, and I'd say you need at least a 2.5 gallon.

Maybe it is because my bike is still new, but I have been averaging about 55 mpg so far and that has allowed me to put more than 200 miles on a tank of gas twice. When I refueled I put a splash over 3.6 gallons. I should also mention that I did not stay below 5,000 rpm either. In fact some of my riding on both of those tanks was at triple digit speeds.

On my Burgman 400, the gas tank opening is on the hump in front of the seat. After filling it into the neck opening, I can rock it to get rid of the trapped air and fill it more about 4 times before being really full. That gives me another couple tenths of a gallon.

I don't know where your gas tank opening is, but perhaps you can do something similar?

Chris

I'm going to try and squeeze 200 miles from a tank, just to see if I can do it. I think it's achievable too, I've had 170+ on the trip meter with one full bar before reserve on the fuel gauge. I'll carry some spare fuel in case I start to run out. My Silver Wing is a 2010 model which is probably less thirsty than the earlier models, and I'm not removing the top half of the Airflow windshield either. One long evenings ride after losing the top shield a few weeks ago was more than enough for me.