Can driving you're bike at low RPM for an extended period of time do any damage? I ask this because for a couple of days know I was trying to keep the refs below 5000 in town to conserve gas. But I found know that sometimes when I start it cold, it only runs on three cylinders. If you drive it hard for a couple of miles the one cylinder comes back again and it's fine. Could this be related to the slow driving?
I do know that my bike is running a bit rich because of the high fuel consumption but thats a whole other problem and discussion on it's own. The experiment was just to see if I get better fuel consumption when I drive it carefully(not a very easy thing to do)

 

you'r jetting might be off, and the low RPM use is loading the motor up...so a plug fouls and then when you crank it up it burns off.

That said, you aren't hurting anything otherwise. My kawi 600's (andthe F3) have such good low end power,trotting around town below 5K is easy to do....anything below 35/3800 almost calls for a shift to accelerate at all though.

 

No it will not hurt anything. But also you will not get any better gas mileage by running very low rpms. The best I find is around 5000-6000 rpms. Any lower the bike works to hard and burns more gas.

 

Sigh..


That bike is bult to be reved, It's not a Chevy motor. The Ideal engine speed is around 7-8000rpm. Your not saving any thing on gas. And as mentioned its only going to fowl your plugs if you dont wind it up.

You wann be a cheap skate on gas? go get a Vespa.

 

I suppose U don't average 130miles on a tank of gas (and I don't drive like a maniac but if I do it gets even worse)

 

I get about 220 miles on a full tank, before the reserve. When I ride to Nebraska, I fill it up, get right on the highway and 96 miles later I'm there. I'll drive around all weekend, prolly another 50 miles (small town, then drive home all before I need to switch to reserve. Mine has 28K miles on it, and runs like a champ.

That being said, I'm not even sure how mileage is an issue with a sportbike. I mean, how can it be? I understand trying to get better gas mileage - but that's much more easily accomplished by jetting your carbs, new tires, new plugs and fresh oil. Actually, the best gas mileage is accomplished by simply maintaining your bike regularly.

Screw changing your riding habits - even a drastic change in riding habit may only increase MPG by 2 or 3. Not trying to sound like a jerk, so don't take it the wrong way, but if you're worried about MPG on your bike (splitting hairs, actually), maybe just park it?

You do have automobiles, don't you? Haha - screw it, rap that bitch out and let her run like she was meant to!

EDIT: WOW! You get about 130 per tank!!!!!!!! That's crazy - somethings up man - get your carbs rebuilt, get a K&N filter, some new tires, plugs, plug wires and an oil change. If you're bike has all that and you're still getting that - something is serioiusly wrong with it and I couldn't begin to imagine what it is. Sorry

 

Are you re-geared? Because best i've done is 150miles before reserve and i'm on stock gearing.

 

ya my bike dosent get that great of gas milage but carb. 1 and 2 are running very rich and i get 130-140miles till i have to switch to reserve i need to get a tune up but my parents are goin to pay for it (im 16) and my dad dosent start making alot more money till it warms up outside (stipper guide aka striped bass) i could pay for it but i only work in the summer and i only have 160 dollars right now so ya

my gearing is 15-43 530 RK chain

 

That's my exact gearing and chain, as well. And after you guys instilling doubt, I double-checked the distance to Nebraska City, and it's 86.

That means adding ride time in that city - we'll even say only 20 miles of riding, which is very conservative, I'm still getting about 192 miles before reserve at 50.5 MPG.

I've ridden this ride over and over and I never have to fill up until I get back home (which is about 192 miles after filling up). I can't believe you guys are only getting -150 miles before reserve. That's carzy.

The only thing I have not OEM on my bike is the 530 chain, K&N filter and iridium NKG's. I can't believe that my bike runs so much better than the majority. Maybe it's because about 170 miles of my ride time is doing about 95 for 50 straight minutes on northbound I-29.

I don't know...[&:]

 

i believe you, i know mine would get way better gas mileage if i had the carbs tuned right, header 1 & 2 get up to 250-300 and header 3&4 get up to 550-600 and plus you dont have to stop and start i bet that helps your gas mileage also