Hello,
Historically my bike has gotten around 44 mpg on the highway. My typical cruising speed on an interstate is around 75 mph. I've gotten as bad as the low 30s with a really dirty K&N air filter.
Around the beginning of this summer, I got my bike running after it sitting for almost 2 years with a blown head gasket. I decoked the head, had new exhaust valves and guides installed, and had all four valve seats recut. The rest of the engine has around 40,000 miles on it. I also changed from a Ram Flo foam filter to a stock air filter.
My gas mileage on the Interstate has gone up, averaging about 47 mpg for pretty much the whole summer. A few weeks ago I changed from Thomaselli adjustable clubman bars to a set of clip-ons. My gas mileage on the interstate has averaged 52 mpg for the last 3 tankfuls. With the clip-ons, my hands are about 2 inches lower than with the clubman bars. Could the aerodynamics be that much better? I'd think they might be worth maybe a few tenths of a mile per gallon. Could my gas mileage increase be because the air is denser as it's gotten cooler here in North Carolina? I'd think they're probably starting to put oxygenated gas out now, which I'd expect would hurt my mpg, unless maybe was running too rich before.
Any other data points?
-Eric
Historically my bike has gotten around 44 mpg on the highway. My typical cruising speed on an interstate is around 75 mph. I've gotten as bad as the low 30s with a really dirty K&N air filter.
Around the beginning of this summer, I got my bike running after it sitting for almost 2 years with a blown head gasket. I decoked the head, had new exhaust valves and guides installed, and had all four valve seats recut. The rest of the engine has around 40,000 miles on it. I also changed from a Ram Flo foam filter to a stock air filter.
My gas mileage on the Interstate has gone up, averaging about 47 mpg for pretty much the whole summer. A few weeks ago I changed from Thomaselli adjustable clubman bars to a set of clip-ons. My gas mileage on the interstate has averaged 52 mpg for the last 3 tankfuls. With the clip-ons, my hands are about 2 inches lower than with the clubman bars. Could the aerodynamics be that much better? I'd think they might be worth maybe a few tenths of a mile per gallon. Could my gas mileage increase be because the air is denser as it's gotten cooler here in North Carolina? I'd think they're probably starting to put oxygenated gas out now, which I'd expect would hurt my mpg, unless maybe was running too rich before.
Any other data points?
-Eric