I want more MPG!

[mr_mal]

I seem to be averaging 55-59 mpg on my glee, no matter how I ride it

Annoyingly, I can't remember what I used to get running it in with the 5k cap to compare.

I know it's a bit of a silly/obvious question, but what speed/revs are most economical?!

I need a bit of a refresher, and wondered what quick wins there are to be had!

Cheers!

Mal

[greywolf]

Speed is the big factor, much more than revs. Bikes are aerodynamically dirty. Best economy comes from decreasing the frontal area and keeping the speed down. Air resistance goes up along with the square of the speed. For highest mileage, put the screen on low or take it off, rest your chin on the tank, accelerate slowly and don't exceed 40mph. Also, don't carry luggage, go on a diet and only ride downhill in warm weather with the wind at your back.

[Ptarmigan]

[Fatbelly]

I have come to the conclusion that those who are getting nearly 70mpg are riding sedately and doing journeys of more than just a few miles.

To me 59mpg simply means you like to ride in a spirited manner and you probably do quite a lot of short trips.

I go quite quick and do longer runs and get 63ish.

(I don't want more mpg - I'm quite pleased with that, it's the most economical bike I have had in decades)

[Mitch]

Are you taking advantage of the generous torque on offer. You can make fair progress on a glee at reasonably low rpm. I live in a hilly area and do some short journeys as well as lots of long blasts. Still can obtain 70mpg if I wanted. Now its running in I'm riding using more rpm and still getting mid 60's no matter how I ride. I also have a givi airflow set on max and myself being big give my glee the frontal area of a telephone kiosk. I'm guessing you must be commuting or towing a caravan to be getting that kind of economy. Are your brakes sticking ? I'm guessing your tyre pressures are OK ? It could be you just love the noise she makes when wound up. They do sing rather nice at a higher rpm. I'd still keep mine even if I got 50 mpg.

[Strommer]

That does seem low for a Glee.  A K7+ (dual spark) should get better than that and I can get 59/60 on my K5 (single spark) (well could until I screwed the elecs.) if I sit on the motorway at 65 (indicated 70mph).

Take it for a 300 mile trip on the motorway, pin it at an indicated 70 and report back.

GW is right, revs matter less than speed and being heavy on the throttle.  Once over an indicated 75 they get a tad more thirsty.

Oh, and avoid alcohol loaded fuel (Tesco esp.) as this will hit the economy.

[MartinW]

Got to agree with Mitch and Strommer.

I've also got an older single-spark model and with the wind resistance being a square of speed I am sitting bolt upright making it worse. But I still get 53mph whatever I do. So your MPG seems low for the new model.

[Jacko]

Stay under 5000 rpm, seems obvious, even silly to mention it given that that's the run in limit, but if you want 70mpg that's what you have to do.. GW is right, the power need to push through the air at 85mph is 4 times the difference from the power needed at 80.. Air gets quite thick at those speeds.. Also, 59mpg is acceptable if you're enjoying your riding.. If I average that over the entire term of the bike I'll be happy..

Kevin Ash was a big fan of the Glee, he reported an average of 54mpg and thought that was great. It's all about perspective I guess.

[Gassoon]

Are the people with Glees going by some fancy indicated mpg readout, or really keeping tabs on fuel put in, miles travelled etc? My twin-spark K9 gets 54 mpg all the time these days, even with the 14t front sprocket I've had on for almost a year. My dropping down a size sprocket didn't make much difference, but maybe I'm riding differently/more efficiently with it on
What I'm saying is maybe you could change the ratios on your bike Mr Mal, to get better mpg - but going up a tooth at the front might spoil your fun, and might make next to no difference!

[mr_mal]

Thanks for the tips so far... I'm riding 30-60mph most of the time (country roads), have the taller seat, mra vario and a givi maxia topbox, so I'm guessing that makes a difference.

I'll consciously try to ride smoothly and follow some of the advice, and see if it makes a difference!

[Fatbelly]

Gasoon, the Glee has info on it's clocks that tell you current mpg, mpg from fill to fill, temperature, inside leg, what you had for breakfast etc., etc. Sadly, it doesn't give you phone number of that girl you just passed and I plan to complain to Suzuki about that....

[Gassoon]

Gasoon, the Glee has info on it's clocks that tell you current mpg, mpg from fill to fill, temperature, inside leg, what you had for breakfast etc., etc. Sadly, it doesn't give you phone number of that girl you just passed and I plan to complain to Suzuki about that....

   An italian maker will solve that one first, involving bluetooth I bet!  


Though occurs: or effing facebook

[loggamatt]

I haven't quite got the stunning MPG others have mentioned from the Glee either. I think the average (I've kept one trip computer doing a lifetime average) is something like 50mpg, though I'd have to check that.

My experience is that if I keep to 70mph indicated on the motorway I'll average about 60mpg, whereas if I go up to 80mph it'll drop to between 45mpg and 50mpg. Reading other people's experiences, this now seems very low.

On the other hand, I have a Givi Airflow screen, usually a big 52litre top box, plus I'm big, tall (so not exactly aerodynamic!) and heavy... so perhaps this is just the price I pay for being an overgrown lump?

[Jacko]

I got 71mpg (measured) out of my first full tank of fuel while running mine in.. I averaged 63mpg over my entire 1,900 miles on it so far, as indicated by my fuelly sig..v

I'm a sixth gear rider, I don't go much above 6000rpm in any gear, I short shift and plan well ahead.. I've taken advanced tuition in the past and adapt the 'system' to my riding.. I'll pull my fuelly stats up and edit this post..




This is with a standard screen and mirrors, no panniers, a 46L topbox, I weigh 15 stone, I don't hang about..

I can get 55mpg from my zx6 when touring on fast A roads, 70-80mph..

To get 54mpg from the Glee I'd have to be using more of the revs more of the time, and hooning around, and that's not why I bought the bike..

[jimbo8098]

I get 70mpg all the time and it's my first "proper" bike. You just need to think about how you drive. Don't rev it like crazy and furiously clunk up gears , make sure your chain is well lubed at all times and that it doesn't require adjustment , check your pads aren't rubbing. Road position sometimes helps a bit too because you can generally see things earlier and don't need to make huge changes to your engine revs , clunk down gears aggressively to slow down quicker. This also has the effect of not needing to use your brakes as much either which will save on pads but that's not such a big issue.

You will also notice that sticking to the speed limits is good for your MPG.

For a bit of background , I ride daily on roads 30-60 mph through congested roads during rush hour and the odd jaunt out at the weekends. On my recent trip to Ullapool , I believe I rode most of the way on one tank , I think it was south of Glasgow to Inverness or perhaps beyond.

I did notice it was harder to keep above 50mpg after the first service which I guess is due to the engine oil being thinner before the first service.

[mick-b]

I haven't quite got the stunning MPG others have mentioned from the Glee either. I think the average (I've kept one trip computer doing a lifetime average) is something like 50mpg, though I'd have to check that.

My experience is that if I keep to 70mph indicated on the motorway I'll average about 60mpg, whereas if I go up to 80mph it'll drop to between 45mpg and 50mpg. Reading other people's experiences, this now seems very low.

On the other hand, I have a Givi Airflow screen, usually a big 52litre top box, plus I'm big, tall (so not exactly aerodynamic!) and heavy... so perhaps this is just the price I pay for being an overgrown lump?

that's about the same as mine ,my average is 52.3 over the last 2000 miles .I'm 15.5 st 6ft tall with a mra screen and topbox and panniers twice a week . Mostly a roads @75/80 mph and overtakes  with bit of city riding ,to be honest I've never brought a bike for economy . cheers Mick

[loggamatt]

I'm just back from a ride and as I had this thread in my mind, did a few little MPG tests.

So, I reset a trip meter before I headed off then was surprised to discover after a combination of stop/start city riding and 'spirited' riding in the countryside (or as close as I get to it anyway... I'm not exactly the knee down type!) I had averaged 60mpg exactly! So I reset it again and kept track of the fuel economy on my ride home which was the A3 into Central London. It dipped a little on the last couple of miles as it was very start/stop, but until then I averaged 73mpg with probably an average speed of about 50-60mph (70mph to start with, then 40-50mph as the speed limit dropped). I suspect that if I had been doing a steady 70mph I would have averaged about 65mpg.

This is a lot better than I had been achieving before (lifetime average, now that I've checked, is 53mpg) so I put it down to a combination of two things... I've put my screen down a lot lower for summer and I didn't have my top box on the bike this time.

Will have to do some more experiments to see which is causing more of the aerodynamic drag, the screen or the top box... if it's mainly the screen, I'll just keep it down low all the time I think unless it's torrential rain. But if it's the top box that's a bit more annoying.

[skinny5216]

I have managed an average (so the on board computer reads) 67mpg over 4200 miles.  I never ride with luggage on or pannier rails just for a ride out. So not sure why you are getting low MPG   . I must admit I never do small rides, all our rides are 180 miles plus. (Tusker can vouch for that) I do ride progressive but never over rev and never brake hard, I do try to brake as little as possible and manage my ride. 30 in a 30 and all that. Nice and easy through the box to get up to speed without Revving the knackers off it. I suppose around town riding, stop start must use up the fuel. So maybe with me not riding with a top box on etc I may be achieving the mpg,
I suppose it's where you are riding maybe around town on smaller journeys returns less mpg, maybe longer rides at 65-70mph give better mpg, but I'm no expert so really don't know    

[Keith Cross]

I to am finding the above useful, but note that no 1000 owners are posting on this tread, can't think why

Keith C

[stibbs]

7.5k miles. Average brim to brim (not digital read out) is below in fuelly.

I ride a mix of roads and usually in a "spirited" manner. Although I never exceed in 30 & 40mph zones.

I have mra screen, high. Also top box permanently on.

Overall I'm well happy with 63mpg....