[Ponch]

I am on trip to Arizona and going through Kansas, part of Oklahoma and Texas, my gas mileage dropped from 44ish to 33-37. I'll admit that I've been pushing a good headwind, but that seems quite a drop. I've never gotten mileage that bad ever. The bike has a little over 10K miles now, it's a 2009 RT. I'll have to see how it behaves going across New Mexico tomorrow. Last year I went to Crescent City from Iowa and back the mileage ranged between 40-51.

On another note, I saw a his and hers R1200RT couple last night in Topeka. It's rare to see a couple riding he same model bike together. Tonight I am in Dumas, Tomorrow night Gallup, destination Fountain Hills AZ.

 

[mwood7800]

If your going by the milage indicator on the bike your wasting your time.

 

[Ponch]

If your going by the milage indicator on the bike your wasting your time.

The trip meter doesn't lie.

 

[gerhard]

Actually the mileage indicator on my bike seems pretty much dead on. I kept track of the gas I have bought so far and the manual calculations are pretty darn close to the indicated mileage.

Gerhard

 

[horseiron1]

I went on a 2500mile trip 2 weeks ago and I have a 2009 also and if I had my windshield up I got crappy mileage. I was in a headwind also. Once I found a gas station without ethonal and with the windshield down I got 54mpg. Most of the time I was getting 46 to 48mpg. Oh yea, I have the stock windshield.

JJ

 

[Miggs]

Just done a 2000 mile tour to Swiss Alps, zero'd mpg at setoff and finished up at 61.4mpg

Fuel receipts + trip log seem to correlate approximately. Mind you, our gallons are bigger than yours (do they differentiate between imp & US?)

Prior to a throttlebody sync & valve gap tweak, I never got that mileage before. Maybe try that?

 

[Ponch]

I went on a 2500mile trip 2 weeks ago and I have a 2009 also and if I had my windshield up I got crappy mileage. I was in a headwind also. Once I found a gas station without ethonal and with the windshield down I got 54mpg. Most of the time I was getting 46 to 48mpg. Oh yea, I have the stock windshield.

JJ

I have a CalSci XL. I usually only put it up an inch or two. We'll see what happens today.

 

[frontiercat]

Ethanol fuel would be my guess. Our fuel in OK is horrible, at best.

Dumas, TX...home of the 287 Grille! Nice looking ladies working the bar in there...

 

[LTFan]

i have been using chevron since i moved to california and was happy with it.

3 months ago switched to Costco gas with techron add on seperately and found better mileage.

 

[Ponch]

I got 37-39 across NM. Better mileage, still windy. The bike seems to like Shell. I haven't seen a Chevron. I'd love to find gas with octane higher than 91 and without ethanol.

 

[steveaikens]

The headwinds out here are part of it. The biggest problem we have here is crap gas. Fortunately for us, we actually produce and refine most of what we have available here [in NM] so we can't point our finger at someone else and blame them for our crap gas - crap performance.

If it makes you feel any better - I've ranged from 27 to 52 mpg around the U.S.. Care to take a stab at where the 27 mpg came from...

 

[Ponch]

The headwinds out here are part of it. The biggest problem we have here is crap gas. Fortunately for us, we actually produce and refine most of what we have available here [in NM] so we can't point our finger at someone else and blame them for our crap gas - crap performance.

If it makes you feel any better - I've ranged from 27 to 52 mpg around the U.S.. Care to take a stab at where the 27 mpg came from...

Dang Steve, that sucks...I hope the gas and mileage are better in AZ.

 

[GVPurvis]

My 07RT likes the non ethanol the best.If it gets a tank of ethanol mpg drops.So far I

have used only Shell 93 with no ethanol about 97% of the time.Getting about 48-51

depending on where I ride.

 

[steveaikens]

We have a home in Tucson as well Ponch. Much better gas - still deal with winds.

 

[Ponch]

We have a home in Tucson as well Ponch. Much better gas - still deal with winds.

I'll be in Fountain Hills today. That is where I am moving.

 

[Ponch]

We have a home in Tucson as well Ponch. Much better gas - still deal with winds.

Hey Steve: Went from Gallup to Scottsdale today getting off at Holbrook and going through Payson and down 87. With AZ gas and less wind it was back up to 45. I am real surprised that the wind kills MPG that much and you've attested to it too, thanks. Man it gets hot hear. Riding down Shea in Scottsdale at 107˚ with leather on was an "experience".

 

[steveaikens]

Contact Mario Winkleman at LD Comfort for a long sleeve undershirt and some men's tights. Wear them by themselves under an Aeroistitch, Firstgear, or Kilimanjaro fabric gear, wet down and zip up and you'll be amazed at how fast 107 treats you like 90. Really works well.

Check it out and tell Mario I sent you. Mario Winkelman [email protected]
http://www.ldcomfort.com/

 

[Ponch]

Contact Mario Winkleman at LD Comfort for a long sleeve undershirt and some men's tights. Wear them by themselves under an Aeroistitch, Firstgear, or Kilimanjaro fabric gear, wet down and zip up and you'll be amazed at how fast 107 treats you like 90. Really works well.

Check it out and tell Mario I sent you. Mario Winkelman [email protected]
http://www.ldcomfort.com/

None of the outerwear fit. Normally I wear a 56 Tall, with 39" sleeves. The First Gear Scout Jacket I have is a 58-60 Tall and I had to take the liner out to wear it, so the sizing isn't right. Normally their tall stuff tops out at 52 and based on their sizing, it won't work. I don't think Aerostitch offers anything that big too.

I've heard good things about LD Comfort. Some people have suggested the shorts.

 

[Atomicman]

My bike ran awful on non-ethanol. It was very hard to start. Anyone else experience this?

 

[steveaikens]

I have the full catastrophe from Mario. I should state that Mario and I are friends.

That said:

For me, the shorts suck. The problem rests with the design to keep them 'in place' using an elastic band around the thigh area. Though not a problem with others, the pressure from the elastic is more than I am comfortable with. The other issue with the shorts is, I ride long distance with only my LD Comfort long sleeve shirt, tights [off and on] helmet liner, and my Aerostitch on top of it all. I really don't like the feel of the 'Stitch on my legs, especially in high heat, without some kind of material between me and that liner in the 'Stitch.

Cold? Add my Gerbings heated gear - which is awesome in itself.

Hot? Add some water down the front, down the sleeves front the top and up the sleeves from the bottom, zip up and enjoy some nice evaporative cooling.

Really hot? In my case, I wet down as noted above then snag a small bag of ice. The ice goes down in front, or, if not that hot, in the pockets of my stitch.

Riding home to the house in Tucson after the 2011 IBR, temps reached something like 750 degrees or more. Oldwhatshername was following me home from Ontario, CA and had ice in the ice chest. We stopped twice for me to ice down in the heat. Worked great. Normally, I'd ice down then carry the rest of the bag of ice in my lap until I needed it. During the IBR, that's exactly what I did and it works very well but the heat on the ride from Ontario to Tucson made the cooler in the Escalade more reasonable.

The point is, there are ways to keep warm in the cold, cool in the hot. This is a case of thinking outside the box when you ride. Unlike my tire issue/lesson during the IBR when I "didn't" - costing me at top ten finish.