Hope all are well.
I have an '03 roadie midnight which is stock with the exception of the Hacker exhaust pipes on the bike. Air box is original (with K&N filter) and no jetting has been done.
I'm currently getting around 30MPG. Is this low?

Thanks

yes it is. I get 37-38

If you are cruising at 80+ that is pretty good. But if you are riding around at 60 to 65 then that is a bit low for sure.
I have everything stock except for a set of Long shot exhaust pipes. I was getting mileage like 32 to 34 mpg so I looked into the jetting and found the PO had the carb set up way rich. I found I have a Dyna needle after I put either the 164 or 165 mikuni main in it, I don't remeber which it is. I dropped the needle one adjustment at a time to the 2nd clip from the top. I am getting between 45 and 50 mpg if I ride easy and keep it under 65. However it made it much more cold blooded when it is a little cool out.

I don't have any back firing on decel so I don't think it is too lean.
I have also put the iridium plugs in and they do seem to make a little difference in power.
Hope it helps.
I am not suggesting you should mix manufactures on your jetting. I think you will probable do better if you stay with the same company when you change jet and needle.

yes,30mpg its low,i get 36-38 mpg on avg but have gotten as high as 45mpg when trying to get best possible mileagae to see what it could really do on my 06 silverado with road burner pipes and jetted carb & stock airbox/airfilter.

If jetting isnt setup too rich which often is the case when shop recalibraqtes carb for aftermarket pipes. Or possibly your either short shifing it lugging the motor too much having to use more throttle then normal hurting fuel mileage or maybe your on the gas too hard when getting up to cruise speed wasting fuel too.

Even if you your doing either of those things but are the type thats on /off the throttle a lot insted of holding a steady throttle postion when at cruise that's kill's fuel milegae too esp on this bike.

Thats becasue the carb has an aceellorator pump so any time you breath on the throttle /moves even the slightest ammount the accell pump gives a shotof fuel int the carb soalways being on/off the gas reduced fuel mileage even moreso with ths type carb.

Scott

really guys? i get about 45 in the mountains (lots of slowing and accelerating, but riding hard) and about 50 if i run the whole tank on freeways at 70ish

i don't cruise very fast, so maybe thats why?


does anyone else get about what i get?

TROB wrote:
really guys? i get about 45 in the mountains (lots of slowing and accelerating, but riding hard) and about 50 if i run the whole tank on freeways at 70ish

does anyone else get about what i get?

There are many that do. It means you are really close to the sweet spot on your jetting, perhaps slightly lean. 5th gear at 70 is really fuel efficient.

I don't get anywhere near that, but jetting was done by PO, and I need to rejet and really go after the manifold porting. I have an HSR42 ready to go on the bike but need to get a few things to get the project underway

Pay attention to your engine temps if you can. Lean = HOT, so make sure your not over the line. Your right on the cusp for mileage.

Gram

Gram wrote:
TROB wrote:
really guys? i get about 45 in the mountains (lots of slowing and accelerating, but riding hard) and about 50 if i run the whole tank on freeways at 70ish

does anyone else get about what i get?

There are many that do. It means you are really close to the sweet spot on your jetting, perhaps slightly lean. 5th gear at 70 is really fuel efficient.

I don't get anywhere near that, but jetting was done by PO, and I need to rejet and really go after the manifold porting. I have an HSR42 ready to go on the bike but need to get a few things to get the project underway

Pay attention to your engine temps if you can. Lean = HOT, so make sure your not over the line. Your right on the cusp for mileage.

Gram

Thanks for the reply-

I had it dyno tuned, which was expensive, but it runs like a champ. She has never given any indication of being too lean.

thanks Gram

TROB,GREAT LOOKING BIKE YOU HAVE THERE & NO DISRESPECT MEANT BUT YOUR OVERLOOKING SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT WHEN TALKING MPG,ADD TO YOUR STRIPPED BIKE HEAVY THICK LEATHER SADDLEBAGS WITH LBS OF STUFF IN THEM & REQUIRED METAL MOUNTING BRACKETS/HARDWARE ,TALL WINDSCREEN THATS LIKE A SAIL,BACKREST -SISSYBAR-LUGGAGE RACK,LARG DRIVER FLOOR BOARDS ,REAR PASS SEAT,LRG TUBE CRASH BARS,MUCH LONGER SOMOEWHAT HEAVIER EX PIPES ESP IF RNNING WITH BAFFLES & JETTED CARB,AND LOWERS THAT ARE LIKE MINI SAILS TO YOUR BIKE AND WATCH IT LOOSE A MINIMUM OF 6-8 MPG IF NOT MORE IN A HEARTBEAT.

ALL THOSE ACCESSORIED ADD A LOT OF WEIGHT AND THATS NO TO MENTION ALL THE WIND RESISTANCE FROM THE TALL WINDSCREEN/LOWERS/DRIVER FLOOR BOARDS/SADDLE BAGS ALL COLLECTIVELY CAUSING CONSIDERABLE WIND REISTANCE TOO WITH WILL ALSO REDUCE MPG .

We have to remeber to compair apples to apples when making compairisons like this and maybe we should not really compair a fully loaded MUCH HEAVIER R* cruiser thats running a tall windscreen thats like a sail along with lowers and all the other heavy items i listed above to a almost completely stripped considerably lighter mostly in town custom cruiser thats got nothing on it,no way are they going to get same mpg even thouh they are running same basic motor/trans setups.

Just wanted to throw that out there to keep in mind when talking fuel mileage ad or for that matter perf of any kind with stripped vs fully loaded bikes of this size.

SCOTT

scottw wrote:
TROB,GREAT LOOKING BIKE YOU HAVE THERE & NO DISRESPECT MEANT BUT YOUR OVERLOOKING SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT WHEN TALKING MPG,ADD TO YOUR STRIPPED BIKE HEAVY THICK LEATHER SADDLEBAGS WITH LBS OF STUFF IN THEM & REQUIRED METAL MOUNTING BRACKETS/HARDWARE ,TALL WINDSCREEN THATS LIKE A SAIL,BACKREST -SISSYBAR-LUGGAGE RACK,LARG DRIVER FLOOR BOARDS ,REAR PASS SEAT,LRG TUBE CRASH BARS,MUCH LONGER SOMOEWHAT HEAVIER EX PIPES ESP IF RNNING WITH BAFFLES & JETTED CARB,AND LOWERS THAT ARE LIKE MINI SAILS TO YOUR BIKE AND WATCH IT LOOSE A MINIMUM OF 6-8 MPG IF NOT MORE IN A HEARTBEAT.

ALL THOSE ACCESSORIED ADD A LOT OF WEIGHT AND THATS NO TO MENTION ALL THE WIND RESISTANCE FROM THE TALL WINDSCREEN/LOWERS/DRIVER FLOOR BOARDS/SADDLE BAGS ALL COLLECTIVELY CAUSING CONSIDERABLE WIND REISTANCE TOO WITH WILL ALSO REDUCE MPG .

We have to remeber to compair apples to apples when making compairisons like this and maybe we should not really compair a fully loaded MUCH HEAVIER R* cruiser thats running a tall windscreen thats like a sail along with lowers and all the other heavy items i listed above to a almost completely stripped considerably lighter mostly in town custom cruiser thats got nothing on it,no way are they going to get same mpg even thouh they are running same basic motor/trans setups.

Just wanted to throw that out there to keep in mind when talking fuel mileage ad or for that matter perf of any kind with stripped vs fully loaded bikes of this size.

SCOTT

yea, i realized that. probably should have kept it shut.

I've been trimming the fat every chance i get since i bought her......youre right, theres no way to compare. Theyre different animals.

This summer I took a three day trip from Wichita, KS to Harlingen, TX (nearly Mexico). I rode hard on the interstate doing around 80. I got around 31 mpg. Almost ran out of fuel on a desolete 50 mile streth of US77.