Fuel economy on new bike

Discussion in '6th Generation 2002-2013' started by arcteryx, Aug 26, 2009.

  1. arcteryx

    arcteryx New Member

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    Hi there, I recently became the proud owner of a new 2008 VFR, so far I'm loving it, however I was reading a thread of fuel economy, and I calculated my fuel usage as around roughly 25mpg or slightly less, or 10-11km/l.
    This seems to be a lot lower than what other member have been reporting in the thread I was reading. I guess what I want to know, is whether this is normal for a brand new engine that is still being broken in? I don't ride it particularly hard as I'm still breaking it in, I have been trying to explore the rev range without redlining it, but most riding seems to be around 4-6k rpm.

    Shane
     
  2. TOE CUTTER

    TOE CUTTER Mullet Man

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    City riding

    I have never payed attention to city mpg only on the freeway on long rides. Is your mpg measured in traffic?
     
  3. SCraig

    SCraig New Member

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    How many miles did you use for the calculation? One tank is not enough. Put some miles on it and keep track and it should be better.

    My '07 has averaged 42 mpg over 17,000 miles.
     
  4. arcteryx

    arcteryx New Member

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    Toe Cutter, it's was over a mix of traffic, country roads and exploring the vtec a bit, but nothing over the top. SCraig, yeah, I only measured it off the one tank, I'll keep an eye on it, I guess I was just a bit concerned that mine seems to be getting just over half of the kms that others are, and wasn't sure how much to put down to a new, stiff engine.. hopefully as it wears in she'll loosen up and be less thirsty, and by then I should have enough km's on it to get a more accurate idea of the fuel economy
    Thanks guys,
     
  5. VIFFER RIDER

    VIFFER RIDER New Member

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    If i ride freeway at a constant 75mph i managed to squeeze out 230miles out of 5.1 gallon fill up. If i ride street or canyons ill be lucky to see 130 miles on a tank.
     
  6. heymike

    heymike New Member

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    I picked up a 06 in June (had 6200 miles on her). My everyday mileage is around 32-36mpg. I just came back from a two week ride from Seattle to Southern California and back. My bike was loaded to the gills (850lbs including me) and my best mileage was 52.7mpg. My overall average was around 46mpg and I ran her hard. Only was on the slab for about 600 miles.
     
  7. arcteryx

    arcteryx New Member

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    Thanks for the info guys, I'll keep monitoring my fuel useage, I've been thinking of getting a k&n air filter too, might get it put in at the 1000km service, only on my second tank (weather has been really crappy here) so we'll see how it goes. I'm sure the engine being brand new would not be as good on fuel as one that has loosened up and been tuned. On a side not, would a power commander help with fuel economy? Though I guess it wouldn't be wise to install one until the bike is fully broken in.
     
  8. V4 Dude

    V4 Dude New Member

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    I'm new here but it's my understanding that all a K&N will do is save you from having to replace future OEM air filters since the K&N can be cleaned and reused. Other than that studies I've read show there is no performance difference (either HP or MPG) by going with an OEM replacement K&N. In fact, those same studies show the K&N allows larger particles through the filter than a modern disposable OEM paper filter. One disclaimer, this is assuming cars and fuel injected bikes are comparable.
     
  9. tsiah

    tsiah New Member

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    around town I see 30-35....I thought that was awful but yours is quite a bit lower than mine!!
     
  10. arcteryx

    arcteryx New Member

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    :frown:
    I guess I'll mention my lower than average mpg to the service centre for the 1000km service, see if they can check the tuning or whatever... it would help if i knew the first thing about engines :rolleyes:

    Took the g/f on the back for the first time today, the bike didn't seem to mind at all, still cornered beautifuly and braking/acceleration seemed fine
     
  11. V4 Dude

    V4 Dude New Member

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    My first tank of gas yielded 39.5 mpg (bike has 1200 miles on it). That's a combination of about 40% hwy and 60% city driving and I'm not shy with the throttle.
     
  12. VIFFER RIDER

    VIFFER RIDER New Member

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    I did a trip to Palm Springs and back from LA area 233 miles round trip and i still had a little bit of gas left. It gets good fuel milage if you stay off the VTEC range and cruise on the highways.
     
  13. arcteryx

    arcteryx New Member

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    Ok, I pulled into the servo the other day because I was down to the flashing red bar in the fuel guage, I had done 250km (155 miles) however it only took 16.4 litres (4.3 gallons u.s. 3.6 gallons imperial - not sure what the standard gallon measure is, sorry) which seems ok to me, given most of the riding was traffic & windy stuff, not much freeway at all, it seems to be getting a little better with each tank too... I think I get overly worried whenever I have a new bike :rolleyes:
    I gotta say I'm very happy with the bike though, put a Ventura rack and bag on it the other week which is great. Considering putting one of the Gipro DS gear indicators on, just because I like gadgets and I miss the gear indicator that I had on the GSXR. Unlike the gixxer though, I'm content to ride around at the speed limit just enjoying being out. Anyway enough waffle from me, thanks for the input again guys, really appreciate it.
     
  14. EricGDR

    EricGDR New Member

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    The best I've gotten out of my '02 was 49mpg, and that was a combination of freeway and town riding. However, the last time I filled her up I got 37 mpg, and that was with riding pretty hard. I hit 130mph several times and 100mph quite often on country roads. So your fuel consumption seems high as far as I know.
     
  15. Repsol_04

    Repsol_04 New Member

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    My advice is keep an eye on it - unfortunately not all VFRs are created by equal by father Honda, from my experience. I have owned two showroom new ones this year, and was getting about 220km/tank on the first and over 300km on the second. This during the break in period, so all revs under 6k and took the same 900km (round trip) route. Quite a difference, unfortunately. My previous 6th gen was getting below 200km even, but that was with a custom CDI/ECU that kept the VTEC on all the time (obviously after the run in period), so I don't count that.
     
  16. vthoky

    vthoky New Member

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    Four fill-ups so far, 543 miles elapsed among them.
    Individual readings: 34.7, 36.6, 38.2, and 41.8 MPG. (I like that trend!) Overall average = 37.8 MPG. :thumbsup:

    For reference, I've averaged 48 MPG on my 2006 Honda 599, spanning 5700 miles.
     
  17. Jollyhart

    Jollyhart New Member

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    Hi dude.
    I have a 5th gen with a k&n and madaz pipe and i am getting about 380klms to a tank.Thats pretty much highway and a little blasting in the sticks.But as you will find out you still have 80klms left when the last bar starts flashing.I know because I did 390 klms till I ran out of fuel!!
    I knew I was pushing it!!!!..............And then I had to!!!!

    :eek:
     
  18. Fred.Rodgers

    Fred.Rodgers New Member

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    Averaging between 42 and 44mpg here. That's in mixed driving, though lately just on weekends exploring country roads. I haven't seen much variation, whether on the superslab or commuting to work through town. I wish i could get a bit higher, my dad has gotten 46.6mpg out of the 01 civic mom drives. It's kinda embarrassing for a cage to beat me like that. Still, i keep hearing that the v4 is just a naturally thirsty engine. comments?
     
  19. wollein

    wollein New Member

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    I believe the real answer would be, who cares. If you wanna get good gas mileage get a Prius for the rest of us who enjoy the open road just keep squeezing that throttle. But of course everyone gets curious. I get around 40mpg average
     
  20. RubiconMike

    RubiconMike New Member

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    One or two tanks on a new engine is not a valid indication of fuel milage. Relax, have fun riding it and check the fuel milage over a long period of time.

    Keep a log book and pen in your jacket. Every time you stop for gas make sure the bike is level, and fill it to the same point in the tank (pick a spot, maybe the bottom of the fuel hole). Write down the exact milage and amount of fuel you put in. After around 10 fills or so, you should start to see what milage you are getting. You might be surprised to see how much variation there is from tank to tank.

    A lot of people never write down the miles or gas amount. They just punch the trip meter to zero when they fill up, then do shortcut math when the fill the next time. Due to difference in fill level (sidestand vs. center stand), riding styles, terrain, bad math, and other factors, you might get 25mpg on one tank and 45 on the next.
     
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