Miles Per Gallon

Hi,

Riding between 65-70 MPH on a an interstate or similar style long distance ride, what kind of gas numbers are you guys pulling with your S-Wings?

I only get about 48 MPG freeway, maybe I don't do the speed limit???



Bob

Going about 70 indicated (65 actual) I get about 46-48 mpg but in the winter it is about 44-46 mpg. I have a Givi shield and had an XL Clearview shield so that is probably about avg, for most SWings. When taking nice easy rides on 2 lane road, only doing about 45-50 actual I get about 50-52 mpg.

With the S'wing as stock, Average around 45mpg, maybe 48-49 on a long run with minimal town work.

After various modifications, average now about 45-49, and low to mid fifties on a long run.

Taking it easy on a long run, best so far 58.5

I think the power commander and dyno tuning /engine mapping is the best explanation for the improvement

Mines only getting around 42 to 46, and that's with my husband going back and fourth to work mainly. Haven't really checked it on a longer run.

When i ride by myself i go about 5 to 10 miles over the speed limit about 70-75 MPH and accelerate hard i get about 47 MPG. When i ride with my
friends with smaller engines we go about 60 MPH and i get about 51 MPG.
Paul

I have noticed that the SWing doesn't seem to like heavy acceleration or speed over 80mph for gas mileage. Also the large windshields don't help much either. My very best mileage ever was 54 mpg and that was doing the nice slower, 45 mph speeds, in the scenic routes of California. But once I decide to start going fast in the twisties it only gets maybe 40mpg. But then I'm really working it though. I do plan to get a power commander to my mileage up in the 50's though.

Great data Dale!

The times I have checked, I usually get about 52 mpg, with a high of 58 and low of 49. Most of my riding is under 60mph (indicated).

I did a ride to Lake Tahoe just this past summer and I gassed up near the border of NV State line and I made it all the way home to Vallejo, 158 miles and I filled it w/2.6 gal that's ave. of 60 mpg. I took Hwy 50 then 80 back.

I'm anxious to see what mileage I get with my new bike. The Helix I had a was usually over 70 mpg. The service guys said I may get in the 60's since they know I am a pretty conservative rider. Time will tell...

I'm averaging 47.27 mpg over the past 3000 miles, since I bought the scoot last August. Been pretty well laid up for a few weeks now due to snow, ice and mud.

Highest mpg has been 55.5 on a nice mixed day ride, total of maybe 200 miles, interstate and two lane roads, including some pretty easy going mountain twisties.

Lowest has been 35.7 on an all interstate higher speed ride of 400 miles round trip, including some pretty good winds.

Out of a total of 23 tanks full, I've had 6 tanks that have yielded 50mpg or better; one at the low of 35.7; and the rest have been between 41.8 and 49.36.

I can't help but wonder sometimes whether there are other factors effecting the math. Like, different gas pump calibrations, or having a bit more or a bit less gas in the tank after filling, etc. I find a spread of about 20mpg between high and low to be pretty big, and therefore a little questionable. But maybe not. What say you?

Matthew,

If you are going fast and hard the 35 mpg figure sounds about right. But that is going fast and hard too, w.o.t. and all. Your mileage sounds like mine and most others. I wish I could 60 mpg in any type of riding and sometimes I think it is people in certain parts of the country getting that. Probably due to their type of blend of fuel. Calif is so strict that the gas mileage isn't the best out here.

Oh yea, I forgot about the gas mix. I think it's pretty common here in NM to be getting the 10% ethanol gas just about everywhere now for regular grade gas, which is what I use. I guess that might bring down the mpg some.

Do you think it's advisable to use a higher grade of gas? My understanding is that the bike is designed to use regular.

Hi guys,

I finally had a chance to get my swing out for a long run to see what kind of MPG numbers I could get. I was a little dissapointed. I averaged a low of 43 MPG and a high of 48.5 MPG on a 3 day ride. I was expecting mid 40's at the least to maybe low 50's. I was riding two up (327 combined rider weight), with two givi saddle bags, and stock windshield. Speeds varied from 35-70 indicated. It was a mix of curvy mountain roads in East TN and Western N.C. I would say 70% of my time was spent in the curves and 30% on straight 4 lane. Tire Pressures were spec and I was pretty easy on the throttle for the most part. Temps varied from 45 degrees to 68 degrees. I decided to take out the plugs and they are lightly black but not caked in carbon. This would indicate to me that the bike is running somewhat rich. What suggestions do you have to diagnose the cause of the rich condition?

i've been avg 50-52 with 2up doing speeds from 40-75 and i get about the same by myself also.

Hi Jim,

That sounds like some great mileage for 2 up riding. The best I ever got was 53 MPG with just my carcuss on it. To get that mileage I had to keep it below 70 MPH.

I really love this scooter... it's just so much fun to ride. It's a good life.

DennisB :D

I only get in the low 50's (mpg) if I stay on the slower 2 lane roads doing about 45-55 mph. If I'm on the interstate doing 75 indicated I'm only at about 45 mpg or so. I do have the J. Costa though and I have been thinking of putting on my stock variator to see what it is like, performance wise and mpg wise, since I haven't had it on in over 1 1/2 years. I have forgotten what the stock SWing is like, but i do remember it still being fast and quick.

Before I put on the J Costa I usually averaged right at or just over 50 mpg. Mostly solo riding at speeds of 45 to 70 mph with some pretty hilly sections. Since I put on the J Costa it seems like I usually get around 47 to 48 mpg under the same driving conditions. My lowest mpg was 44 during some very cold weather in January and I was also using the high oxygenated fuel (10% ethanol). I have a tall Givi wind screen, a top case and I am 6"5 and 240, so I am a pretty large load - plus, keep in mind that I live at an elevation over 5,800 feet above sea level.

Note: I had originally been using regular fuel to save a little money and after about 3,000 miles I noticed a bit of a drop in power. I asked my mechanic about it and he told me that I should always use premium fuel. I am now over 5,300 miles and it seems to be running very well, although it seems to just a a little bit rich. Given what I have heard about the Power Commander, I am seriously
considering putting one on my bike to see if I can bump my MPG back
over 50.

It is an interesting thing that mechanics recommend -- I've had some that swear you need the highest octane available and other that claim anything better than Pmex bottom grade is good enough.

I've lived up here all my life, had to put up with the 10% ethanol ever since it was mandated and have had excellent luck, both power wise and mileage wise with the RON recommended in the owner's manual, be it big BMW's, Toyota cars and trucks and now the Swing. I use the mid-grade in everything I own now, had to use premium in the BMW's.

I tend to get around 48 mpg on the Swing.

the best mileage i have gotten on the
swing was 58 mpg doing a constant
60mph. I rode onA90 from houston
to san anotonio non stop2.5 hours
and turned around when i was 20
miles shy of downtown san anonio.
So s.a. is about 185 mles from here
and i used one way just about
2.5 gallons of fuel.
Usaully i get anywhere from 44 on
up to 50 and i follow the
speedlimts.
Ghost rider Greg

I have not checked mine real close but, I usally fill up right at 100 miles and usally takes right at 3 gal.
I figure high 30's low 40's for milage. I have an 02, Givi sheild, bestem topbox, and cortec soft saddlebags I weigh 200#.
My comute is 16 miles 2 lane county rodes run between 65 and 70 indicated,and 10 miles on interstate run between 75 and 85 indicated.

Danny

Oh geez lol brain fart time again.
I have the clearview screen and
the E52 topcase on at times. Not all
the time using the topcase so i
take it off. I can not complain
about my mileage at all. This is
the only road wheels that i have and
it saves mney instead of having a
a car or small truck.
Ghost Rider Greg

The other day I noted that my fuel consumption had suddenly dropped into the low 30s.... I thought oh no, something has gone wrong, the power commander or the drive belt or clutch or something..... I checked the power commander and all was OK, and was about to take the drive belt cover off to have a look, when I remembered that I'd recently put that "Ride On" gunky stuff in the tyres, and then had used the S'wing (powering an electric compressor via the ciggarette lighter socket) to pump up the tyres on all the pushbikes in the garage, four bikes, and my Mrs electric bike.....

Anyway, I filled up with petrol and went out for a good spin... Still around 50mpg... so alls well in my universe again.....!

As to poor consumption, I think the S'wing is very responsive in that manner as to how you ride it... It is all too tempting to whack open the throttle too much, and too often..... I think this is the real killer, especially around town. If you accelerate gently revving no more than 5,000 rpm and let the speed build up then slowly accelerate to your cruising speed, then I notice a big improvement in my economy. (Note that max power is around the 5,000 to 5,500 rpm mark.) To be honest riding like this in town gets you from A to B just as quick as when you really go for it. When you get to the next set of traffic lights, just filter to the front of the queue... Why bother rushing and wasting fuel in town traffic? Plus you feel much calmer and its safer filtering past slow or staionary cars, and it feels sooo good

However, other than gentler riding, the single biggest improvement I have noticed was from having the power commander fitted and then dyno tuning..... Much better.....

steve0 wrote:

Hi bernardo,

dyno tuning whats that involve,and is it expencive

regards steve

Hi Steve,

I don't want to teach you to suck eggs here, so bear with me if I tell you any stuff you already know... Also I'm just an enthusiast with a big scooter and an old carburettor bike... best info you will get is from someone who is into race tuning. (I don't race..)

"Dyno Tuning" Is performed by a Dynamometer, basically a rolling road onto which your bike is strapped, and exhaustively "ridden" through the enture rev range whilst a computer analyzes the exhaust gases. Using a computer linked to your engine management chip, the air fuel mixture is then tweaked to generate the best optimum setting at regular rpm intervals, (not sure exactly what but say every 200rpm or so). This information is recorded as a computer "map" which is applied to your engine management chip that controls your fuel injection. This is done permanently by means of a little black box called a "power commander" which is wired in to run in tandem with your existing engine management chip as described above..... In this way your bike is then maintained in a permanent state of good tune, which should have the effect on increasing power output, and torque whilst also improving fuel economy. Average about 10% improvement for a road bike. It also makes the engine run smoother. It's an American system, made by Dynojet but is widely available in the UK, and has a solid reputation for reliability. Although there are several other competitors, and indeed various bike manufacturers have thier own variants, the dyno power commander has the reputation as being one of the best and makes them for a huge range of bikes.

It does mean that your bike needs to have fuel injection, although there are also jetting kits for bikes with old fashioned carbs.

To make the most of it, most folk tend to fit a free flowing, and thus less restrictive exhaust. These exhausts also usually do not have a catalytic converter as this does sap some of the performance. Note that in UK anyway, at the moment there is no legal requirement to have a CAT on bikes, so the first thing a petrol head will do when he gets his bike is have it removed. As it is usually located in the exhaust silencer, simply changing the silencer usually does the job.

The power commander unit is about £200 to £250. Even fitting one without having the bike individually tuned will make a difference, as you can get generic "engine maps" for each specific bike model as stock, and for some bikes you can also get generic maps for alterations such as a standard type free flowing exhaust. However to get the bike properly tuned is a two to three hour job, so your cost there is simply labour.

On the later power commander units you can make your own coarse adjustments by buttons on the unit itself, and fine adjustments by connecting the power commander via a usb plug to a PC. (the software comes with the power commander unit) However unless you really know what you are doing, making these adjustments without the rolling road and gas analysers is probably a waste of time. On a final note though, you can create multiple maps, one for economy, one for cruising one for high speed, one for best torque etc, but again this is a bit academic unless you using it for a race track. I've seen a bike that had three power commander maps that the rider could choose from via a simple handlebar switch, one map for low down, one mid range, one high speed. he simply flicked the switch dependant upon which part of the race track he was at.

Having typed all that, I've just remembered I've already posted a dyno thread here which also details how much the S'wing improved in power and torque....

https://www.silverwing600.com/silver-wing-accessories-modifications-f5/dynojet-power-commander-iii-usb-t143.htm


However I think there is some additional useful info in this email so I'll put a copy of this email there..... That way in a years time it'll be easier to find for others who might be interested!

Bernardo

Many thanks for your detailed reply, very helpful :D

thanks again

Steve.

Hi Steve,

Glad to help....! If you have a good nose around here there are a load of other different threads that may be of interest..

Happy Riding :D

Thanks from me as well , i was wondering about this also

HI YA Smurph, are you the same smurph as of the maxi muppets

Yep that's me Steve , Give us a shout next time you are going up to High Beach

Just over 55 mpg while comuting to DC last year. That was riding single. I need to check while riding double which is what we do most of the time.

Smurph wrote:

Yep that's me Steve , Give us a shout next time you are going up to High Beach

Sure will, and today I have just won a silverwing workshop manual off e-bay :D so if you need to know anything I should be able to help out.

steve0 wrote:

Smurph wrote:

Yep that's me Steve , Give us a shout next time you are going up to High Beach

Sure will, and today I have just won a silverwing workshop manual off e-bay :D so if you need to know anything I should be able to help out.

Have looked up "High Beach" on the map, and it's within striking range for me also.... I suppose I'd better check, is it High Beech, or Beach? It would be kinda sad if I went to the wrong place. Another sad thing is that I don't get that much time at weekends to go out too far as the Mrs feels abandoned with the children sigh....! I suppose I could bring one of them with me...... Anyway my best ride times are usually during the week... What's there anyway?

Cheers Steve! That sounds good..... There also maybe a few others who are interested and near enough to join in. Will have to check out my diary and pencil in some potential dates....

great..........look forward to it.!

Just curious - What are fuel prices in England currently? We have been enjoying reasonable prices for about the last 6 months in USA. In the Chicago area we had gas as low as $1.70 per gallon around Novemeber, and we are currently paying around $2.15 per gallon.

Uk prices went up by 2 pence per litre today, extra tax...

Cost now for premium about £0.95 per litre so that's £4.275 per Gallon, $6.17 though thats an imperial gallon or 4.5 litres....... (using an exchange rate of £1 to $1.44)

I understand that a US Gallon is 3.78 litres so the cost for a US gallon is £3.59 or $5.18

It seems kinda odd and unfair

Have to pay road tax too, though I think I paid about £65 for my scoot....

dickie wrote:

Just over 55 mpg while comuting to DC last year. That was riding single. I need to check while riding double which is what we do most of the time.

You can get 85 miles per gallon on your Silver Wing riding around your town late at night but you have to accelerate really slow and you can not exceed 25 miles per hour.

I'd doubt if 85 mpg were possible, although I could be wrong. There are too many variables and I've not tried Pete's approach. I do believe that if you rode extremely conservative and made a great effort to not let the RPM's go above 4K you'd get really good mileage. Most probably in the mid to upper 60's.

Too many variables to consider. This is just a partial list:
Road Surface
Tire Pressures
Tire Composition
Gross Vehicle Weight (includes people)
Weather (air temp / humidity)
Wind Resistance
Elevation
Terrain
Engine Speed
Rolling Speed
Age of Drive Belt
Modifications to Bike
etc...

You can get over 85 miles per gallon on your Silver Wing but all kinds of things have to come together before you do. It has to be at night at sea level and aboslutely no traffic on the road. Of course gross vehicle weight (number of riders) is a factor If you start really really slow and never go over 25 mph then you can achieve 85 miles per gallon-that means driving around for 2 hours on one gallon. On a Silver Wing as speed up your gas milage falls exponentially.

jdeereanton wrote:

I'd doubt if 85 mpg were possible, although I could be wrong. There are too many variables and I've not tried Pete's approach. I do believe that if you rode extremely conservative and made a great effort to not let the RPM's go above 4K you'd get really good mileage. Most probably in the mid to upper 60's.

Too many variables to consider. This is just a partial list:
Road Surface
Tire Pressures
Tire Composition
Gross Vehicle Weight (includes people)
Weather (air temp / humidity)
Wind Resistance
Elevation
Terrain
Engine Speed
Rolling Speed
Age of Drive Belt
Modifications to Bike
etc...

You missed out resisting the urge to not say "screw this..." and twist the throttle wide open out of sheer boredom and frustration!

steve0 wrote:

great..........look forward to it.!

Sounds good a UK Silverwing Meet

Hi Smurph and Bernardo,

If and when you would like to meet up, say @ High beech or if you know of somewere better, shouldnt be to hard in the next few weeks,
please give us a shout, and we can have our first uk :union jack: Silverwing meet,

I have ordered today, a pair of NGK Iridram spark plugs :Not Worthy: so when they arrive, and I have stuck them in, I will report back if they have made any improvements in my scoot

I've only put gas in twice on my new bike and got 56 a gallon. I'm hoping for more than that once I get rolling.

[quote="Smurph"]

steve0 wrote:

great..........look forward to it.!

Sounds good a UK Silverwing Meet [ at /quote]

My old neck of the woods , used 2 live at Enfield Lock, but now reside in Pembrokeshire West Wales, last 6 years, don't miss the smoke at all.

We have many rides planned at www.maxi-touring.co.uk

I just finished my first tank. I ran it all the way down to the final "bar" plus about 20 miles, and then I over-filled it to the point of spilling about a half pint all over the running boards.

53 mpg U.S.!

Those of you who live in the wide-open western U.S. will appreciate that I did not dawdle, either. And I'm pretty high on the Bubba scale as well.

Hi guys,

It's been several months since I began this thread and I've been working like a madman to discover the source of my poor fuel mileage. I have made significant progress but would like to get better still so I will keep working at it. I hope some may find this helpful My first run on the interstate in March yielded me a whopping 34 miles to the gallon running at speeds of 70 MPH. While I wasn't expecting Helix numbers by a long shot, I figured that i'd be in the mid 40's at least to maybe upper 40's so needless to say, I was extremely dissapointed. My S'wing is an 03' which I purchased in late winter with 5000 miles on the odomoter. I averaged about 48 MPG with mixed riding.

1. Checked Air Pressure: Air pressures were down about 5-8 lbs. This improved my fuel mileage by about 2 MPG.

2. Replaced stock plugs with NGK iridium. No improvement in mileage noted.

3. Purchased Power Commander. (Note: I was really expecting reasonable improvement with this device based on Bernardo's results but have not noted any. In all fairness, I haven't had it custom tuned for my bike and am using the base map but even so... I thought it would have yielded some improvement so this was a little dissapointing.

4. Replaced Stock Air filter with K&N. Huge.......... IMPROVEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!. 5 Miles to the gallon!!!!!!!!!!!!! I could not believe how dirty the stock air filter was. I have never in my life seen such nastiness clogging up an air filter. The reason I didn't check it sooner was the difficulty in accessing it. Ironically enough, it wasn't that bad and only took about 15 minutes to gain access and would have taken only 10 if not for Honda's 20 million screws securing the air filter.


NEXT STEPS!

In any case, the bike is doing much better now! Seeing Jeff R's results using the Dr. Pulley sliders as well as others have convinced my to order a set from Scootertrap so I'll report on those as soon as I have them installed.

I am also changing the oil from Amsoil 10-40 to Amsoil 10-30.

I am installing Amsoil synthetic Gear lube in the rear as well

My goal is to get the bike to run in the mid to upper 40's on the interstate and low to mid 50's for mixed riding.

More updates to come!

ronjr009 wrote:

3. Purchased Power Commander. (Note: I was really expecting reasonable improvement with this device based on Bernardo's results but have not noted any. In all fairness, I haven't had it custom tuned for my bike and am using the base map but even so... I thought it would have yielded some improvement so this was a little dissapointing.

What Power Commander map are you using ... I found significant difference with a different map.