[Pipewizard]

chrider,
You need to make a EDIT. You lift the LOWER chain run UP to just touch the rear tip of the rubber underslider.

Pipewizard,
If the chain can't touch the rubber, when one sets on the bike, the chain goes 'bow-string' tight. Which consumes HP.

Check tire pressures also. I recommend a minimum of 32 F / 30 R psi for highway usage.

And as others have suggested, check your engine oil level at least 3 times daily!

Thanks. I'm on it!!

 

[Pipewizard]

Chain is good. Air in tires is good. 38mpg last tank. My Harley got 29mpg on it's last tank. I'm thinking I might either slow down or change gas stations for a while.

I wonder which one I'll go with...

Pipe

 

[Pipewizard]

This tank. Not sure what’s going on, but I’m just going to ride it and keep messing around with it and see what happens.
Anything else you can think of to check?

 

[PeteK]

I did a mileage run yesterday. Almost 100 miles out and back on the same road. I maintained as close to 65 MPH as I could. The road was fairly smooth interstate, fairly flat with some mild grades, wind was light, temp 48 degrees. I checked chain adjustment and lubed it with chain wax before starting. I recently rebuilt the top end with an EM 692 kit and refreshed head. I weigh about 230lbs in shorts, I was wearing all the gear since it was 48 degrees, the bike has panniers on it with a few pounds in each side. Sprockets are stock 15/43. It has the stock jets and needle in the carb.

I filled the tank to the bottom of the fuel filler pipe at a gas station along I-5 in Washington, rode out 49.3 miles, turned around at an interchange and rode back to the same gas station, filled it up at the same gas pump with the bike in the exact same location, and filled it until the fuel just touched the bottom of the filler pipe. 45.3 MPG.

I also measured my mileage over a 96 mile run last week and got 51.1 MPG, but I was mostly on secondary roads going between 50-60MPH, with about 25 miles of interstate at 65. Apparently speed and/or RPM makes a big difference in fuel consumption.

 

[MVMike]

PipeWizard - Just asking since I didn’t see it mentioned, Is the Odometer accurate?

 

[Pipewizard]

PipeWizard - Just asking since I didn’t see it mentioned, Is the Odometer accurate?

That’s a really good question, I’ve been kinda wondering myself! I ride back and forth to work, but haven’t really been checking. I’ll map a rout, then fife it to check.

 

[PeteK]

Yes. Odo is within 2% of highway mileposts over 10 miles.

 

[Tom Schmitz]

Unless you have a radically different-sized front tire than the stock tire, the odometers are always very accurate. The speedometers are off by ~8-10%, but not the odometers.

At least in the EU, there are severe penalties to the manufacturers if odometers are found to be inaccurate at all and if speedometers are ever off to the low side. Thus, manufacturers make damn sure that odometers are right on and speedometers read low.

Since it costs money to customize stuff, they cater to the lowest common denominator and do this world wide.

 

[PeteK]

I’m finding that my Speedo is pretty accurate too, at least below 70 MPH or so.