[2005rs]

What are you guys getting for range on a 650 interstate?
I'm getting 200 km to reserve (154 miles) fairly consistently. I fill the bike while on the side stand, so technically I could get a little more range with a bigger fire hazard.
I do tend to be a little heavy on the throttle. Used mostly for commuting these days with secondary highways and a short city part. No stop and go traffic.

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[Thumper]

I always check mileage on fill-ups as a habit. You can expect 50 mpg if all is running good.

 

[2005rs]

I'm getting more like 36 mpg.
Bike runs fine.
Time to pull the plugs and get a read on anything going on there

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[Fafnir]

I'm getting more like 36 mpg.
Bike runs fine.
Time to pull the plugs and get a read on anything going on there

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That's what I get in town with my GL650 standard

 

[Randall-in-Mpls]

Short trips on city streets will result in lower fuel efficiency because the engine is at optimal temperature for less of it's operating time. I expect to get significantly better gas mileage on the Spring Ride tomorrow, even carrying a passenger, than I do daily around town.
I see a similar difference with my Subaru.

 

[2005rs]

My commute is about an hour with the last 10 minutes in the city.
I'm going to track the mileage for a while and work on breaking my speeding habit.
Part of the motivation besides avoiding speeding tickets is to ride out to the end of the Trans Taiga road next year. Trans-Taiga Road - Wikipedia
It's going to take about 700 km range. It's unclear if fuel will be available at the end of the road, hence the need to increase capacity and efficiency

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[Sidecar Bob]

I'm getting 200 km to reserve (154 miles) fairly consistently. I fill the bike while on the side stand, so technically I could get a little more range with a bigger fire hazard.

Unless you tell us how much fuel it takes to fill the tank from reserve on the side stand this is pretty meaningless.

And why do you think filling the tank as Honda intended is a bigger fire hazard?

FWIW, Eccles used to get a bit over 200 Km from full (vertical) to reserve pulling the sidecar with the 650 engine and the same size tank as yours until something changed about a year before I retired (never did figure that out). Now it does about 160-180 but that is mostly short runs and often in 4th gear so I figure it would do 200 per tank if it spent more time outside of town. Note that you generally consume more 20-25% more fuel with a sidecar so If I went 200 on a tank someone without a sidecar should go at least 240.

 

[nolimitz]

What are you guys getting for range on a 650 interstate?
I'm getting 200 km to reserve (154 miles) fairly consistently. I fill the bike while on the side stand, so technically I could get a little more range with a bigger fire hazard.
I do tend to be a little heavy on the throttle. Used mostly for commuting these days with secondary highways and a short city part. No stop and go traffic.

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Ah confused but isn't 200 km = 124 miles not 154 miles? I getting around 150 miles on my 500 filled to the rim on the center stand before hitting reserve. This has been all in town miles

 

[Fafnir]

I am getting on my Standard GL650:

Town: 37mpg
Freeway: 47mpg (65 to 75mph)
On the HTTA ride 53mpg (mostly 50 to 65mph)
(being a new rider, I was slower on the corners but goosed it sometimes to 75mph on the straights to catch up with the leader)

My '98 Honda Civic gets:

Town: 28mpg
Highway: 49mpg 55 to 65mph and 40mpg at 70 to 75mph

 

[2005rs]

Good catch. You are correct.
My last tank was 260 km (162 miles) on 15 litres of fuel which is a significant improvement which can only be attributed to slowing down. I'm clearly not a math guy but I make that out to be 41.6 mpg. 260.2 km / 15.03 liters. Still a little high, but it was a combination of secondary highways, gravel roads and a small percentage of city commute.
Based on this consumption, I'll need an additional 25 litres (6.6 gallons) to get 700 km of range. Filling up while on the center stand will get me a bit more.
Looks like I'll have to take the lids off of the side luggage compartments and mount a jug on each side...

 

[Sidecar Bob]

KM/L x 2.82 = MPG

260/15 x 2.82 = 48.9 MPG

Note that our American friends are talking about their miniature (128 oz) gallons, not real (160 oz) gallons so all US MPG information needs to be multiplied by 1.25 to get the real numbers.

We are supposed to be thinking in Litres/100 Km. Yours works out to 7.5L/100, which I think should be just about right.

 

[Sidecar Bob]

Some will ask why you need to go farther than 260 Km without stopping but they don't understand about real world everyday bike use and the need to plan for when gas stations are open when travelling at night. For those that don't know, Jeff is a shift worker and there currently is nowhere to fill up in our town so there would be a big advantage for him to be able to fill up on the way to work and have enough range to get to work, return home and make it to where he can fill up again on one tank.

Carrying gas cans is OK once in a while but if you need the extra range often you need either a bigger tank or a second tank. There are a few made to fit on the back seat or under the trunk (Thane Silliker had one made for his ST that fits between the rack and the trunk with tunnels so that the trunk bolts through the tank to the original minting points in the rack for his cross Canada record runs)

When I was working and travelling to a club meeting once a week and returning after the gas station closed I needed to have enough fuel to get to the meeting and back and then to work in the morning and to the gas station after work so I often had to fill up when I still had half a tank to make sure.
I started contemplating combining the top of a Suzuki tank I have with the bottom of Eccles' original tank to produce one that will probably hold over 22L but never got around to it. These days I often drive Eccles less than 10 Km per week and a tank of fuel can last me over 6 weeks so that project has been rendered unnecessary. Perhaps we should consider building that tank for your 650......

 

[nolimitz]

Bob
I believe this is the motivation to carry fuel in this case

Part of the motivation besides avoiding speeding tickets is to ride out to the end of the Trans Taiga road next year. Trans-Taiga Road - Wikipedia [/qoute]

 

[Randall-in-Mpls]

Time for a GL Supertanker?

 

[2005rs]

Stupid math, but I can't let it go. I got 15.03 liters and travelled 260.2 km. 15.03 divided by 2.602 = 5.78 liters /100 kms
I was working in US gallons for the benefit of our neighbours to the south. As you pointed out, good Canadians work in liters /100 km
And yes, I'm looking for the additional range for a trip where no gas stations exist, not so much the commute. I had thought of looking for a larger tank, but one of the features of the Trans Taiga is very loose coarse gravel, and I don't want to raise the centre of gravity.
I did a trip in the area a few years ago; I did a slideshow about it here: James Bay Highway
That trip was very influential in buying the GL
I guess my leaky gas cap is not a normal thing. If I fill up on the center stand, then park on the side stand, I'll get a puddle of gas beside the bike.

 

[2005rs]

And as an aside. Why the H E double hockey sticks does the GL have an altimeter but no fuel guage???

 

[PDC-500B]

I usually get between 55 and 60 mpg (that's proper, full-size gallons) on general riding around, and that's with no short journeys, so mostly 50 miles+. I did manage 70mpg over a weekend of about 550 or so miles, none of it aiming at fuel economy, and filling up only twice, with over 200 miles on the clock.

 

[nolimitz]

I have no altimeter on either 500 or 650.

 

[Gerard]

And i thought the Duffy lake road was rugged! My 500 Silverwing once manged 319 km without hitting reserve from Lillooet bc to delta bc through the Fraser canyon. Average speed was 90 km/h any speed higher and the range deceases. At 120 to140 km/h drops to about 200kms . My Cx650e will hit reserve at180 kms if i'm maintaining a speed over 120km/h on the same road.
Looks like 2005rs is going to carry extra fuel for the trip he wants to take. Post pictures please. Cheers

 

[Fafnir]

Looks like I'll have to take the lids off of the side luggage compartments and mount a jug on each side...

I wonder if you could find bladders to fit the saddle bags?

Motorcycle Auxiliary Fuel Tanks