I just read that the 1982 V45 Magna is suppose to get 46 mpg. Mine gets 38 mpg. She runs great. The carbs have been rebuilt within the last 1000 miles. Do any of you know if 46 mpg is a legitimate expectation? If so, any suggestions on what I might do to get Scarlet up to that?
Riding style, tire air pressure, tuning, etc can all effect the fuel economy. I cant say for certain if the 1st gen Magna can get those MPH but I know the Supers and 3rd gen Magna's will so I would think yes.
Scarlet's Rider,
I was getting 45 mpg's most of last riding season, and sometimes more. When the weather cooled it went down to 38-39. Probably because I was warming her up for a longer time and doing more in town stop and go riding. I will let you know what it is like in another month. The rididng season is almost here in Michigan again. This doesn't really help, but at least you know it is possible.
She had a tune up the same time the carbs were done, but we didn't replace the plug wires. Maybe with warmer weather she will start to do better. The tires are also new and aired to specs. Most of my miles have been on the hwy or rural roads. I've just recently began braving in-town traffic. I was hoping someone might have some sort of magical cure. If we figure it out, I'll let ya'll know.
You're doing better than I am right now. Val is only getting 28 mpg at the last fillup. I know I need a new front tire and am in process of ordering one up. I also know that my carbs need synced. Planning on doing that this weekend. I am also going to order the K&N filter for it sometime this week. Hopefuly with those 3 things done it will get some better milage.
I know it is an old thread but I said I'd check my milage again when the weather was warmer and I was doing more that going into town or taking little hops this winter when the temp was above 41 degrees. With the clothes I have now, that is as cold as I can take riding. Anyway, at that time I was getting 38-39 mpg's. Today after a longer ride of 100 miles or so, I filled up and got just under 47 mpg.
I must say that it felt very good. The sun was out and in the low 50's. The roads were clear and very little traffic. No slabs, just the back roads. I am soooo happy spring is here and summer is coming. I may have to move to someplace warmer.
I love my bike and I love this forum.
Glad to hear it is warming up enough your northern birds to get in some seat time!
The Magna's will pull in gas mileage accordingly to how you twist the throttle. Nice easy and gently they will pull 50, hard and wild and they will drop to 30 LoL.
From my review
I wish dealers would get together and come up with a real-world range test. "Iowa, flat road, 75 degF, 60 mph, 350 miles per tank." Again, the Magna has a split personality. If you highway cruise slow at 3500-4000 rpm (51-58 mph) you will easily get around 50-52 mpg. If slap on a windshield and full load of sissy bar bags and saddle bags, then you run her like a rocket ship (85 mph from Arkansas to Dallas), you'll get around 32 mpg. Still, it's good mileage for a rocket. I average around 45 mpg.
Now that I'm in Tucson and ride mostly city streets (quiet a bit of stop and go, when going I average around 45-50 mph) I've gone as far as 135 miles before flipping over.
There's a 3.6 gallon tank (including the 0.8 reserve), but due to the flattened shape the most I've ever put in is 3.4 when I've run it near empty. To fill it up that far takes a lot of patience as you squeeze in a few drops, wait for the filler neck to drain, and repeat over and over. My Dallas city commute driving (50-50 highway/surface street) gets me about 110 miles until I flip over, then another 30 after that. I ran out of gas once and know not to go past 30 miles on the reserve, although I have pushed it for 35 (5th gear, highway, 55 mph).
Wayne, and all others;
Not sure what generation you are all riding but, personally, TODAY, I ran my first gen out of gas. (I was trying to see if my low fuel light would come on. It didn't). Got 39.37 mpg. I did have a pretty good head wind most of that tank. All I could get in the tank, empty, was 3.594 gallons. Supposedly a 3.7 gallon tank.
My last fill up I got 42.71 mpg. I recently found that the two biggest things that improved my mileage were changing over to Regular Unleaded fuel. I have been running Premium. The book says anything of 86 octane, so I tried it and runs fine. Plus have ridden my bike for years with 32 pounds of air in both tires. Reading the manual says 42 in the rear. Raised the pressure to 42, put in Regular and my mileage jumped about 10 mpg.
Just my experiences
To add to the gas mileage comments on a first generation Magna. Went riding today with 4 other non-Magna riders. My first tank was basically ridden through the Sam Houston National Forest area. Group stayed at about 50-60 mph most of that time. I got a little over 50 mpg on that tank.
The other day when I got around 40 mpg, I was running between 70-80 most of the time.
Your right hand has a lot to do with that mileage.
Aurox,
I looked at my owner's manual for the tire pressure and it says 32 psi front and rear with a load up to 200#. For loads over that, it says 32 front and 40 rear. I have an '82 V45. I did see 42psi for '87 and '88 for maximum load in the Clymer manual. I'd like to know if you notice any difference in your tire wear. I wouldn't be able to tell, I don't think. What size and year bike do you have? Just curious.
Also found the 86 octane recommendation and am going to give that a try. I am glad you mentioned it since I had forgotten about it. I'll do a couple tanks full of that and then the mid range, which I have been doing.
Of course, I see what you have at the bottom of your posts. I am getting worse all the time. It doesn't show up in the synopsis of the posts in the reply section is the only excuse I have...or rationalization.
It has been my experience that the lower the tire pressures the quicker the tires wear out. So I keep mine up to max rating and seems to make them last much longer.
Aurox,
I have run one tank of regular. My milage did increase by about 3 mpg. I have had that milage before and a little better, not consistantly though. We'll see what happens on the next few tanks.
I really haven't found a savings on my gas expenditures by using my cycle. It gets three+ times the milage but I ride more than three times the miles when I use it for real life, like getting a box of screws.
Well, my mpg has increased dramatically since I started this post. I am now getting anywhere from 48 to over 50 mpg. I am now riding at a lower rpm and we did a color tune on the carbs.