I bought my 95 Magna in October and since then have been consistently averaging 42-45 MPG. Two fill ups ago when I filled up I averaged 50. Hmmmm....well, I figured I just screwed up somewhere. Last fill up I averaged 52 MPG !? Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, just wondering where the extra mpg came from. Any ideas? oh, and yes, all the same gas from the same station and the same riding habits.
~~~Static ~~~~ crackle ~~~ Alpha 1, Alpha 1. We've located that misdirected, top secret super fuel to a gas station in North Richland Hills Texas. Dispatching two black helicopters! :shock:
LOL...if you ask real nice I'll tell you where I bought the gas :lol:
When I had my 2001 magna, I OFTEN got 50 mpg. I just quit wondering and rode. It usually happened on a full day ride with little to no stopping.
It the high temperature. It take less energy to heat the engine and maintaining the normal engine temperature. However the engine is not as peppy as it is in the cold temperature.
Your riding mood will effect your milage also.
It does not take much of a change in riding behavior to go from 50 to 40 miles per gallon.
I never saw 50mpg on my Magna.... actually, I dont think I saw 40 very often either. :smile:
You are right I never got 50. The best I guess was 45 and I was keeping the RPM's very low.
My normal is between 35 - 40
When I got my Magna it got a consistent 40-42 mpg unless I was running hard on the hwy, then it would drop into the high 30's.
After shimming the carbs I went to a fairly consistent 45 mpg. Then all of a sudden, I was mostly getting 48-50 for several months..
Mostly doing day rides running 45-55 MPH with few stops..
I then put in my 105 mains and I now bounce between 40-45 mpg and on the hwy (75-80mph) I drop into the mid to upper 30's.
Part of the drop in MPG is the bike launches SO much better now, so it's hard not to grab a little extra throttle..
I still want to drop in the 42 low speed jets I have and then I really need to balance the carbs..
Well this was my third fill up in a row that averaged 50+ mpg, so I guess that is what I'll figure on from now on. The only thing that confuses me is why the big jump after averaging 43 for so long? Guess it's just one of life's mysteries.
There are a lot of factors. I believe the Ethanol content will reduce your gas mileage a bit, so if you have started filling from a station that does not have ethanol in the gas, that could make a difference.
I got much better mileage in Colorado on our week long ride there in 2009 than here in Texas. On one leg, I got 65 mpg!! A friend who lives in Estes Park explained it this way:
Consider going up and down a mountain. While it takes more fuel to climb than it would on the level, it doesn't require twice as much, and it takes none at all to coast down. Makes sense to me.
Here at home I average 40-45 mpg in most riding. Occasionally I will get 50 if I am riding the back roads at 35-40 mph.
What is the outside temperature where you are riding? Report the mpg again when the outside temperature is around 50 degree. :-?
When I first got my magna, I was getting 50+ mpg, but I was babying it quite a bit, lugging around in low revs. Once I got familiar with the bike and it's happy revving ways, the mileage dropped, but I still get at least 45mpg.
I am usually around 45 MPG. I once was able to get 52.
I always fill up at the same ma and pop station up the road from the house. He is always about $.03 more expensive a gallon, but he knows me by my first name and only buys non-ethanol fuel to put in his tanks.
I got 62 mpg on my way to Broken Bow for MOOT Mag!
what? :shock: did you short shift the enite trip and keep it under 5k rpm the whole trip?
I'm not sure what short shift it.
I did keep it under 6K and I added some Seafoam to the tank before I left the house, and I have a very steady hand! 8)
Other people have reported incredible milage on trips with seafoam. I did get some seafoam to use. I will use it again to see I get the same.
So I guess I shouldn't worry about why the mpg went up and start wondering why I was getting such crappy mileage before.
I was thinking the other day. Gas with alcohol added will be less then just gas.
Quote from: Magnum Magna on August 16, 2011, 11:33:40 AM
I was thinking the other day. Gas with alcohol added will be less then just gas.
You are correct, Robert. Alcohol does not have as much energy per unit volume as gasoline, and your mileage will decrease slightly with "gasahol", presuming your engine was tuned property for each fuel.
I just hope no candidate shows up in Iowa this year claiming the title of "Mr. Ethanol". It is time to end this boondoggle.
The other day I took a long ride with some friends. We did 128.4 on the long trip. Before I started I decided to tank up before the ride. Today I fueled up again and I put 2.5 gallons in it. I darn near fell over when I did the figures which came out to 51.3 mph/gal. On this ride I had to baby the bike but not to badly. The weather here has been crazy. Been running around 60-65 degrees during the day and yesterday we recieved over 4 inches of rain in 6 hrs. When I fueled up I put the mid grade gave into it. Iuseually put 87 octane in it but I put 89 in it this time. Normally I get 40-45 mpg. I don't know if the change in the grade of gas I put in it had anything to do with the increase of mpg.
I always fuel up at the same place and usually run the mid-grade gas. If the fuel mileage went up at the beginning of summer I would suspect the gasahol thing but this was mid June. Just something I will continue to monitor.
I get 50 MPG all the time as long as I use this one store lol. All other I get 45-48. I use seafoam in my tank once a month.