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Fuel consumption

TomH65

TomH65

Active Member
I regularly monitor how much fuel I use by entering the details on a spreadsheet. My sportster was doing around 38 miles per gallon, but since I had the new exhaust pipes fitted, I'm now getting over 50mpg.
I'm not really up on fuel quality details, but I accidentally filled up with 97 Octane instead of the usual 95 Octane.
Does this make any difference with Harleys?
Or could it be that the new pipes are closer to the air intake and the engine warms up faster?
 
You have opened up your exhaust and now running leaner, you may need a fueler to compensate:s Lean is not good
 
Do they put ethanol in gas over there?? I would have expected to see some drop in fuel mileage, maybe you got some ethanol free gas and it gave you 50mpg?

Thought the UK was kph??

Jack Klarich said:
You have opened up your exhaust and now running leaner, you may need a fueler to compensate:s Lean is not good
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Yeah! What he said!

Hey Jack, you and I must have hit the submit reply button almost simultaneously! Your post popped in front of mine by a split second!
 
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Perhaps when the new pipes were fitted the carb was correctly jetted for the in out flow through the cylinders
But i would expect at least 50 mpg out of my bikes under normal road conditions i do not do much built up area riding
If your mpg figures are from imperial gallons then the 38 was pretty poor unless it was all in the city and perhaps the latest figures are from out of town riding
Imperial gallon = Approx 4.5 litres
US gallon = approx 3.75 litres
Or about 8 miles more per gallon from an imperial gallon

Brian
 
Brian: Imperial gallons. The riding was a mixture of town and open road just as I usually ride it. I am impressed at the better fuel economy. The carbs were set as per the V&H manual that the mechanic has.

Louie: we are still driving (or riding) miles per hour, thankfully. I don't drive in kilometres:D

Cheers Jack. I will check the details against the mechanic's data.

screwylouie said:
Do they put ethanol in gas over there?? I would have expected to see some drop in fuel mileage, maybe you got some ethanol free gas and it gave you 50mpg?


Not sure, but worth checking out.
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TomH65 said:
Cheers Jack. I will check the details against the mechanic's data.
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Have a look inside your pipes, if they are light tan or white you are too lean, if your bike runs good and does not hiccup you are probably OK
 
I would think that perhaps the mechanic that did the bike did it right as 50 mpg is what i would expect from any of my bikes unless i was really pushing it on the sportster then i might drop to 45 mpg

Brian
 
TomH65 said:
Brian: Imperial gallons. The riding was a mixture of town and open road just as I usually ride it. I am impressed at the better fuel economy. The carbs were set as per the V&H manual that the mechanic has.

Louie: we are still driving (or riding) miles per hour, thankfully. I don't drive in kilometres:D
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"driving or riding"!!!! LOLOLOLOLOL!!!

MPH? Really?? Never mind me, I live under a rock! Still on the wrong side of the road though, right??
 
screwylouie said:
"driving or riding"!!!! LOLOLOLOLOL!!!

MPH? Really?? Never mind me, I live under a rock! Still on the wrong side of the road though, right??
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That debate's on another page Louie LOL.
Some foreign bikes are delivered here with KPH on the speedo, but then overlaid with the proper MPH scale.
Both sides of the road are correct depending where you are :s
 
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