How far can you go on a tank of gas? I run the VFR to empty to find out...

Discussion in '5th Generation 1998-2001' started by Skifreak, Jul 26, 2014.

  1. Skifreak

    Skifreak New Member

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    On a recent ride to Eastern Oregon, I was literally in the middle of nowhere with one bar blinking on the gas gauge. I filled up with one gallon of gas from a sketchy looking 55 gallon drum from a local for $5. This got me thinking, what is the range of the VFR? Here is how I found out.

    After a recent ride of some mixed highway and twisty mountain roads, I noticed I was at about 180 miles with one bar starting to blink on the gauge. Time to start. I filled a one gallon gas can with premium, put it in my top trunk along with a funnel and rag and took off.

    I stayed at normal highway speed of 60 mph so as to be safer when the bike gave up the ghost, and stayed close to town so I could make it back on the gallon in my top trunk. I was hoping to make it past 200 miles. I saw the miles tick by 180, 190, then 200 miles. Sweet. Now the fun begins as the miles roll by; 210, 220, 230. At this point I am looking for pullouts as I ride, and now my new thought is maybe I can get over 250. I make it to 240, and when I hit 249.7 miles; hiccup, stutter, pop, silence. Interesting feeling doing 60 mph on a dead bike, like being in a glider but with traffic behind you. I put the bike in neutral and coast on the shoulder, there is a pullout just ahead. I get to 249.9 and still coasting at about 25 mph, when I finally tick over 250. Since my goal was over 250, I let it go to 250.1 before I stop right in the middle of the pullout. Perfect. Open my top trunk, drop in a gallon and head home. Mission accomplished. The VFR has a range of over 250 miles, if you don't mind dead sticking. At 5.5 gallons of gas that comes out to a bit over 45 mpg.
     
  2. Scubalong

    Scubalong Official Greeter?

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    Haha glad you test it out That is the only way to find out.
    Other if you want to try this method consider your speed and your mods
    Mileage is vary ;)
     
  3. nookiaz

    nookiaz New Member

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    :courage: but can that damage the injectors?
     
  4. Skifreak

    Skifreak New Member

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    My only mod is a Delkevic exhaust and some heated grips. Everything else is stock.

    I am not sure how running out of gas would damage fuel injectors. If it did, I can only imagine all of the fuel injectors needing replacing after cars run out of gas, but that doesn't happen.
     
  5. MichaelD

    MichaelD New Member

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    I average between 80-85 mph going to and from work 5 days a week. 100 miles round trip. I average between 35 and 40 mpg depending on wind. If I keep it between 60-70 mph I can get around 42-45 mpg. Never have pushed it past200 miles on a tankful
     
  6. Syclone538

    Syclone538 New Member

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    I went 200.7 miles, and got 4.623 gallons, for 43.41 mpg.
    5.5 - 4.623 = .877
    .877 x 43.41 = 38.07
    38.07 + 200.7 = 238.77 that I could have went.
     
  7. Skifreak

    Skifreak New Member

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    Any mods on your bike that might affect MPG?
     
  8. MichaelD

    MichaelD New Member

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    I have no mods just bags. Seems once up around 5700-6200 rpm it begins to drop the fuel milage. I once pulled close to 50 mpg on a trip but it was at a consistant 55-60 mph.
     
  9. Skifreak

    Skifreak New Member

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    ...a constant 55 to 60 mph? How much fun is that? Still, not bad mpg for a good sport touring bike.
     
  10. sunofwolf

    sunofwolf New Member

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    As long as you stay out of vtec-it should be getting over 40mpg!
     
  11. silverbullet132

    silverbullet132 New Member

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    I was getting about the same mileage as OP while on my ride down to Miami last season. Average speed was between 80mph and 100mph (with full hard bags + cooler)
     
  12. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    I can hardly wait to try this system on some runs to Walmart on the mach 1 91 with carburetors, 100 psi in the tires and ditching all that ATGATT stuff that causes all sorts of drag. Ain't science wonderful?

    Anybody know where a dude can buy an aerodynamic one gallon gas can?
     
  13. mlap5150

    mlap5150 New Member

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    The best mileage I ever got was 51 mpg, going constant 60 mph on two lane highways in Michigan's UP. Have a delkevic slip on and pipercross filter which may have helped a bit.
     
  14. Skifreak

    Skifreak New Member

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    Hey Sunofwolf, there is no VTEC on a 5th gen, so that is not a concern.
     
  15. sunofwolf

    sunofwolf New Member

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    vtec does help with gas mileage, the stock map on a 06 also saves 8% on fuel too, that's why I am leave it alone.
     
  16. Syclone538

    Syclone538 New Member

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    I've only had it a month, but nothing that I know of.

    I got gas again today. 201.0 miles and 4.565 gallons for 44.03 mpg.
     
  17. zoom-zoom

    zoom-zoom Member

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    Hey Skifreak

    For comparison, I enjoyed a fantastic ride in the BC mountains today and spent most of the day at between 70 and 85 mph. My bike is stock with the exception of a Delkevic 18" stainless slip-on. So bike wise, mine is equipped much like yours. Heated gear was definitely not required today here in the sunny Okanagan Valley as the temps were in the 30 C (around 85 F) and a bit windy. My total trip worked out to 522 km's (344.6 miles) and I used a total of 27.2 litres (7.2 US gallons) of fuel. This translates to roughly 47 mpg.

    The furthest I have ever ridden my 2000 VFR on a single tank was 421 km's (262 miles) and when I filled the tank it only took 19.5 litres (5.1 US gallons) and according to the owners manual the bike has a 21 L (5.5 US gal) tank. At a rate of 21 km's per litre, I should have been able to get another 32 km's (20 miles) before running out of fuel. The last 75 km's I rode that day were a mix of hills (mostly downhill) and twisty stretches of road and I have to admit to being easy on her as soon as I noticed the gauge flashing the last bar. I had checked the fuel gauge as I was coming to the last fuel stop before my home town and the gauge said one bar below a half tank. Thinking I was safe with only 130 km's to home, I didn't bother to fill her up. Let me tell you, I was shittin' bricks those last 75 km's when I noticed when the last bar started flashing. Apparently the bottom half of the gauge disappears a lot faster than the top half. LOL
     
  18. MichaelD

    MichaelD New Member

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    It appears that way .
     
  19. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Gas gauges on some bikes have LCD readouts. Other bikes have more conventional readouts. Both are analog. Some other bikes have no gas gauges. Some bikes have chips that are programmable for "mileage", some bikes are diesel. Some bikes are electric and it ain't gonna be too long before hybrids are out there on the market.

    Some bikes have reserves that are known. Some bikes have reserves just because of the way the tank fits over the main downtube or on some bikes fit over a spar.

    Some bikes don't have speedometers or odometers or even tachometers.

    "Mileage" or the precise measure of, can be affected by so many factors that for the DIY beancounter a ballpark figure of fewer than 0 decimals is close enough at least for the dudes that ride for the sheer enjoyment of riding without having to justify every second with number crunching.

    The question now becomes; Do you really give a shit and if so why?
     
  20. Rollin_Again

    Rollin_Again Member

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    Does anyone know if time-travel affects mileage on the VFR?? I would like to know this before I depart to another dimension.



    Rollin
     
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