How many Miles to the Tank?

[Dive1082]

I guess it all depends on your riding style, weight etc but I travel from London to Leeds regularly (232 miles door to door) on a full tank.  However, on the return trip, I seem to use slightly more.... And it is downhill! lol

[Lonewolf]

Aljaxon, is it at all possible that you think you are getting 30mpg because your fuel setting is in the American mode rather than the UK mode.


If this doesn't make any sense to you, you can check which setting you are in by going through the options on the bikes dash display. Mine by default was set to US settings even when I bought it second hand giving the impression my fuel economy was shite when it actually wasn't.

[doebag]

I had not thought of that, however 30 US mpg would  be about 36 UK mpg, which to me is still low.

[Richard]

Hi

Fill up with premium fuel when ever it is available, as mentioned in another thread what is the point in having a machine costing £££££ and run it on "it will do" fuel, use ECO mode most of the time.

The most I have done on a tank is 160 miles, most I have ever put in is 18L, this leaves 4L or so, which is fine, running out is not an option, just how daft would you feel 

The fuel gauge seams a bit random, have not seen the fuel warning come on. I am sussing out making a holder for a small 2L or 3L spare tin under the back somewhere by the diff.

Up to now I have not bothered worrying too much what the trike is doing, but reading this thread thought I would find out.
I am always very skeptical of the built in MPG readings, the cars I have had with them are always generous so I keep a record of miles / L of fuel.

Went to a British Vintage Wireless Society
http://www.bvws.org.uk/
thing in Royal Wootton Bassett on Sunday so did some calcs on the fill ups, mainly motorway, 2 up + top box + screen 3/4 from top, travelling slightly faster than most of the other vehicles without being daft  and it did 40MPG.
I am happy with that, considering its a trike with all the aerodynamic properties of a post office....

Richard

[aljaxon]

Aljaxon, is it at all possible that you think you are getting 30mpg because your fuel setting is in the American mode rather than the UK mode.


If this doesn't make any sense to you, you can check which setting you are in by going through the options on the bikes dash display. Mine by default was set to US settings even when I bought it second hand giving the impression my fuel economy was shite when it actually wasn't.

I will have a look at that cheers!!

to compare my 2000 zx6r with slightly more aggressive riding returned 45mpg on Saturday.

[viper]

i worked for BP for a few years, held a petroleum licence and had many a conversation with the chemical depts and saw alsorts of data on economy ect.

I can tell you that higher octane fuels are a waste of money, yes they do burn slightly hotter and do produce a very very small increase in energy which results in 1 or 2 bhp, such small increases can easily be out weighed by other factors such as engine condition, altitude, overall fuel quality ect.
in my opinion expensive fuels are a waste of money. On our forecourts , volume sales of super unleaded was about 4% , a poll by MORI suggested that 3% of this was accidental purchases.
BP retail make about 1.5pence per litre profit on UNL and about 6pence per litre on super, thats the only reason they sell it

[aljaxon]

viper care to comment on the respective ethanol contents of super and normal unleaded?

[viper]

well various spirit producers claim different amounts of ethanol they atre putting into super. BP claim that super is E0 ( free from etha  ) where as shell refuse to say how much is in their super, dfferent refineries do slightly different things.

depends which side the fence you sit on regarding the use of ethanol in your unleaded, its a renewable energy source so seems a sensible thing to add 5% ethanol , keeps the pump price down slightly , keeps the greens happy! however the debate still rages on about how appropriate it is for older vehicles in terms of its corrosive qualities. one thing is certain, its here to stay and its volume % in your fuel will increase over the decades.

[O.C.]

well various spirit producers claim different amounts of ethanol they atre putting into super. BP claim that super is E0 ( free from etha  ) where as shell refuse to say how much is in their super, dfferent refineries do slightly different things.

depends which side the fence you sit on regarding the use of ethanol in your unleaded, its a renewable energy source so seems a sensible thing to add 5% ethanol , keeps the pump price down slightly , keeps the greens happy! however the debate still rages on about how appropriate it is for older vehicles in terms of its corrosive qualities. one thing is certain, its here to stay and its volume % in your fuel will increase over the decades.

Here's the actual evidence of the damage that the addition of Ethanol does to the fuel tanks on classic/older vehicles

This is a picture of what came out of the fuel tank of my Velocette when it was cleaned and re-sealed against future E5 and E10 damage last week   

Its cost me over £250.00 to get this fuel tank issue fixed so that the bike can be used again, plus its taken me hours to dismantle, clean and re-assemble the carburettor   

[viper]

how can you be sure that was down purely to etha, i bought an xr4i in 1995 that had been run on super unleaded since it was built in 1983 ( still got the car btw) shortly after getting it i had a bad fuel blockage and the inside of my tank was a similair story to your bike tank, etha was not put in fuel then but the tanks still rotted from within. You may be right OC but normal spirit is very corrosive anyway

[Rusty]

Looks like a home made flapjack that's gone a bit wrong ! 

[aljaxon]

shell used to claim ethanol free for their v power but since 2010 have been adding ethanol in line with govt recommendations.

its the way pistons hole in half a second with no warning for us classic two strokers as opposed to 2 or 3seconds or a tell tale crinkle sound warning  in the old days.
once preigniton occurs ethanol then loses its anti knocking properties and its sadly the end of the line for most pistons.
I know I holed a piston last month. as have most of my pals.
and countless chainsaws/ lawnmowers have too.
it has rotted my fuel lines and my carb inlet rubbers have melted!!!
I am under the impression that the super unleaded v power and bp ultimate forms have less ethanol and so stick to them. and even try to fill up with v power and bp ultimate only.

remember was it Tesco or some other supermarket fuel that claimed a high octane and that was purely because it contained more ethanol?
and it knackered loads of engines up?
ethanol is excellent at absorbing water which isn't very nice to your engine.
the ultimate and v power fuels claim to have less ethanol than regular so anyone not filling up with these fules is either ignorant of the threat or a penny pinching fool.

[O.C.]

how can you be sure that was down purely to etha, i bought an xr4i in 1995 that had been run on super unleaded since it was built in 1983 ( still got the car btw) shortly after getting it i had a bad fuel blockage and the inside of my tank was a similair story to your bike tank, etha was not put in fuel then but the tanks still rotted from within. You may be right OC but normal spirit is very corrosive anyway

I know its the result of Etanol additive in fuel, the reason being...........

The bike was restored about 9-10 years ago and as a precautionary measure the tank was lined with whatever was the preferred lining material at the time, and that is what has collapsed as a result of ethanol fuel being added to the bike, and that is the residue in the picture.

Additionally, since its restoration the bike has stood unused (for about7-8 years) so hasn't had any  fuel in the tank for a long time, until I purchased the bike and started to use fuel with E5 in it that is.

I also use Tetra Boost as an additive in the fuel so as to protect the engine internals..
I have a pal who runs his restored A7 500cc BSA on nothing but premium grade fuel (I don't know which brand) and he has no problems with his machine, maybe his tank wasn't lined when he restored the bike

[Lonewolf]

OC, when I saw that pile I thought Viper had been emptying his rabbit hutch shavings in your garage.   

[viper]

OC, when I saw that pile I thought Viper had been emptying his rabbit hutch shavings in your garage.