MPG on 500RI w/ABS

[alyn 7777]

I see a lot of folks around here getting 50+ mpg and I can only manage 47.5 on my 2009 500RI w/ ABS.  This is with stock rollers or my new 30 gram sliders, a new plug, clean CVT with newish belt, great clutch, new properly inflated (30/36psi) rubber, no passenger and no luggage. I am 6'2" and 205lbs geared up.  I do have the GIVI tall screen but it seems I got the same MPG with the stock screen.  I have a feeling that the carbed 500 got better MPG than our injected versions. I do probably 50/50 around town/freeway and never jump on it.  No matter what I do I can't best the 47.50 and this is on 87, 89 or 91 gas in California.  I can live with 47.5mpg but am wondering why the 50+ eludes me. Anyone here getting 50+ mpg with the 500RI ABS version in the States? Perhaps the California model was tuned differently for emissions???

[Scumeda3]

I suspect it is your weight.  I live in NE PA and will get 47mpg if I hammer the thing, but, I only weigh 200lbs with "all" of my gear.  Weight is a huge factor.

[sissy mary]

5 lbs diff? Its the 50/50. My mileage is at almost 100% hi/freeway.

[BigOrange]

I weight 265 + clothing and 45l top case usually 7+10lbs of gear in the top case + a half shell under my can.  You can see my actual fuelly numbers below.  I have a 2009 Xciting 500 ri no ABS.  I wish mine had ABS. I is an awesome bike.

[BigOrange]

My fuelly numbers listed below.  Kid just hit submit.  Almost all mileage is in the city for me.  My city has no highways.

[alyn 7777]

Ok, Big Orange then I have to figure out why we differ in MPG since it obviously isn't weight.  Do you use 87, 89 or 91 octane?  Have you done a valve adjustment recently ? I haven't checked mine ever, it has 7k on it. Manual doesn't call for it yet but maybe I should. Are you running a Givi tall screen?  Maybe it's California gas? Is it windy where you are? Where I am it's rotuinely blowing 15-20 knots.  I may try a 150 freeway run at 60mph to see if I can get to 50mpg. If not I'm stumped.

[BigOrange]

Only Super unleaded.

check your tire pressure. My city grips run 29 front and 32 on the rear.

My guess is the Givi windshield.  That thing is the size of a billboard.

[CosmoKorny]

The tall Givi can take 10mph off the top end of my xc250 if there is any wind.  No doubt that also translates into lost mpg, even with your larger motor.

[alyn 7777]

Will try it without the Givi. I have the stock 09 short shield and the stock 07 shield also.  The manual only calls for '92Ron' which equates to regular 87 in the U.S. But I'll try premium. Also, owner's manual wants tire pressure at 29 front '36' rear for one up. That's what I run my City Grips at.

[BigOrange]

I have the standard 2007 windshield, not the short one.  The givi is too tall and too close to my nose too much buffeting. It is 40-60 cents a fill up to use super.  I actually pour about an ounce of seafoam or stabil in each fillup.  I live in ethanol land.

[ScooterCommuter]

I have a 2013 and my mpg is in the 40s too. In daily riding (obligatory disclaimer since we are heading into winter here in the upper midwest: "When temperatures permit") I'm normally putting about 10 miles of surface streets and 40 of highway at about 60mph every weekday. Theres usually a few minutes of sitting in stop&go traffic in there too since there's one nasty choke point I have to get through in the evening rush. That stop&go is the culprit here - this is one seriously thirsty scoot under those conditions and even those few minutes each day makes a difference to the average.

[alyn 7777]

This must be it for me - the long lights in Ventura, Ca. The folks that designed the grid here I swear must be the same that designed healthcare.gov.  Impossible to navigate, 3-4 minute light waits, and sometimes 3 or 4 of these within 10 blocks. It gets to the point where I just turn the bike off and restart. I'm going to do a straight highway run and see if I can hit the Big Orange 50mpg milestone. FWIW I did a long test last night with the 09 stock shortie shield. It really didn't have any better acceleration or lower rpms to get to 75 than the Givi and of course the buffeting was unbearable at 75.  Guess I'll live with the lower mpg and the top end hit to gain the comfortable ride.   

[Porkie]

Wow, Ventura!  What pleasant memories.  For many years, from about 1979 till 1986, I had my power boat in a private slip at Ventura Isles Marina!  I also had a little 14 ft Dover Dory sail boat and a Zodiac raft there too!  I really miss the ocean but now live in the beautiful state of SW Missouri, in the country, with many wonderful curvy roads to ride on with no traffic----except deer, cows, turkeys and farm equipment!

An observation on fuel mileage and windscreens:  On my 2000 BMW K1200 LTC, it had a trip computer that showed instant mpg amongst other things.  It also had an electrically adjustable windscreen that would go up and forward for maximum wind protection and go down to maybe a 30 degree from horizontal position for maximum wind flow for summer cooling.  The difference when watching the instant mileage readout was very revealing as at a steady 70 mph cruise, the mpg would go up and down as much as 8 mpg or so between the high position (lower mpg) and the lowest position, giving the highest MPG. In this example, I used the cruise control on the Interstate.

Many, many factors affect mpg mostly the right hand!

Sam:)

[bongoman]

Amen brother to the right hand's tendency to like playing the twisty game.

[bongoman]

Here's a website devoted to people who like to compute mpg:  www.fuelly.com/‎