I replaced my FPR last year at the end of the summer, but with a couple months left of riding. I ordered and used a new FPR.

Here are my concerns:

1. When I installed the new FPR, I accidentally left the rubber boot on the FPR after the install, rode around for about 15 miles and realized something was wrong. I then removed the rubber boot and re-installed the FPR. Everything seemed to work fine afterwards.

2. My gas mileage sucks. Most of the time, on a full take of gas, I only get about 25mgp. Yes, so no matter how aggressive or conservative I ride, after a full fill up, my speedometer trip mileage reports around 95 - 100 miles when ready to fill up again (resetting at my gas fill-up). I've calculated only about 25mpg for 3.85 gallons to fill up (I fill up to the metal line in the tank every time).

3. My exhaust has a sort of gassy/exhaust smell, but it is not too strong.

4. Start up idle is erratic (really low, then normal) until like a minute after warming up.

For 3 and 4, I understand that this could be normal symptoms of a motorcycle with a shorty exhaust, for which my bike has and is the only performance mod I have on the bike.

I am mainly concerned with accidentally leaving that rubber boot on my FPR last year for that short ride and now wondering if a piece of the rubber from that boot could have broken off and stayed dislodged into the FPR or something. The rubber piece was ripped when I removed it, but it looked to be fully intact.

I have asked these questions before in various threads, but want to try and get input to see if my FPR is definitely the culprit or if I have another problem. I've also run Chevron Techron through my system (split the bottle up for two fill-ups) and it really didn't help much.

The only other symptom I can think of that could be related to the FPR is that sometimes when I am out riding, my throttle response is slow if I have to open the throttle with a real quick turn. Most of the time, the response is good, but sometimes it is much slower than normal.

Bike has around 6500 miles. No Power Commander is used. I used Fuel Stabil for the last winter sitting. Oil changed regularly and coolant when needed.

Thanks for any input I get.

 

just curious, when you say you get around 95-100miles per tank, is that including the reserve or no? i.e. is it 95-100miles when the reserve bars come on?

 

Just how short is this shorty exhaust? I doubt your FPR has anything to do with your mileage problem. Do you have a O2 sensor installed in the exhaust?

 

Another question is this: if you replaced the fpr did you also replace the plugs?

A bad fpr could have irreparably fouled the plugs. Bad plugs could also lead to bad gas mileage. Along with a lot of other things. Last time you changed the air filter? Battery strong? Etc, etc...

Basically what have you done on the bike since purchase. Lot of reasons it could be running rich. Also, what does she idle at when warm?

 

Yes, the 95 - 100 miles included the reserve.

I rode this past week and got on the highway right when the reserve indicator came on. Didn't have any choice, but had to ride it until the third reserve light started blinking. When I got to the gas station, I was at 98 miles and put the 3.85 gallons in the tank.

 

My shorty is about 10 - 12 inches. I didn't measure, but I can. I also have a picture in the Shorty exhaust - how to threat that is stickied in this forum.

No O2 sensor on the exhaust pipe.

 

No to the plugs or air filter. I took a chance, but did a lot of reading and research and found even though I had a bad FPR, my plugs were probably not needing changing. However, at this point, I will change both the plugs and air filter. If I don't get to them before the end of this riding season, I'll do it in March/April of next year at the beginning of the next riding season for me. I don't ride in the winter time here in Philly - whether there is no snow/ice. Drivers are just too ignorant and aren't used to seeing/hearing motorcycles on the road.

Battery is good. Kept on a Tender if the bike sits for more than a week, and it always has a full charge when I start the bike.

As for the warm idling, I'll check and get back to you. Right now, I am drawing a blank.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

Here are the spark plugs that was in my bike:

I changed them on Saturday and noticed only one improvement: when I start my bike, the cold idling is better. Gas mileage is the same. I rode around all weekend and only got to 104 miles from a full fill up to when my reserve indicator came on.

I also discovered a new problem (I'll start a new thread for that) which is my bike has a very faint buzzing noise at exactly between 5500 and 6000 RPM, but only in gear, not when in Neutral. The funny thing is I already have a manual APE installed and it hasn't given me problems since installed. I'll post all the details for this problem in the new thread.

Pictures below are all 4 old spark plugs with one new on as a comparison. The spark plugs had a little oil on them, but that could be from when I had a low side a couple years ago.

One closeup for everyone to see.

Were these fouled?

 

on highway my mileage is around 35-40mpg. are you sure u did the math right?

 

My math is correct. When I measure my MPG, I measure using three gas fill-ups. 1st fill up, I fill up no matter how empty/full my tank is (don't measure), then reset my odometer, ride until my reserve tank comes (and usually ride around for a few more miles--like 5 or 6 miles). Then, I fill up again for the 2nd time (measure amount of gas used and miles ridden) and then I ride it down until the reserve comes on (same as above, I still ride for about 5 or 6 miles more) and then I measure the amount of gas used and miles ridden. I always fill up to the metal rod in the tank with my bike level. For the second two fill-ups, I take the average of both amounts of gas used to fill up and take the average MPG from both rides.

The premise is that I ride down the gas to the same amount, measure what it takes to fill up my tank to the same place and get the second measurement.

The +/- for inaccuracy is probably no more than 1 to 2 %, so that is not enough to make the calculation that off. The control is the bike's reserve tank indicator and it hasn't been off for me in the past by a whole lot, so that makes the measurement as accurate as I can get it.

At this point, I am just going to accept this as my normal. Looking at the fact that I have an 8 year old bike (soon to be 9 years old) its not worth the extra effort to really try and see if I have a real problem.