gas milage?

10107 Views 26 Replies 21 Participants Last post by Stan in Toronto, May 13, 2013

ironicnostalgia

Discussion Starter · Jul 16, 2011

hello all,

i was hoping people could give me an idea of what to expect in terms of gas milage with a cx500 and what youve done to improve it. right now im only a city commuter and have only 1000km under my belt. from this experience im averaging (after converting km and liters to miles and gals) im getting 31 miles/gallon.

like i said im a commuter and half my 25 minute ride to work is start/stop and the other half is around 60km/h without stopping.

thanks for the advice

1 - 20 of 27 Posts

ramprat06

· #2 · Jul 16, 2011

When I had my CX (82 custom), I basically used it for commuting to work as well. A round trip of about 23 miles. I usually got around 45 to 48. The long trips I took it was pretty much the same, perhaps a bit higher. My GL500 is slightly less at 43 to 46.

I am not very heavy handed, but on occasion like to WOT it. I usually don't see too much fluctuation from those numbers.

Having well balanced and clean carbs is key, as well as riding style.

Joel in the Couve.

See less See more

ironicnostalgia

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jul 16, 2011

yeah. i figured i wasnt getting great milage. though i have yet to tune or clean out the carbs since i bought it. my mechanic said the float bowls were in good condition but im assuming it could still benifit from an overhaul?

im pretty quick off the mark from red lights but not crazy.

what rpms do you generally ride at when going at a constant speed? i tend to upshift at 6000 but will ride at 5500 if i dont need to go faster.

SteveinPA

· #4 · Jul 17, 2011

ironicnostalgia said:
yeah. i figured i wasnt getting great milage. though i have yet to tune or clean out the carbs since i bought it. my mechanic said the float bowls were in good condition but im assuming it could still benifit from an overhaul?

im pretty quick off the mark from red lights but not crazy.

what rpms do you generally ride at when going at a constant speed? i tend to upshift at 6000 but will ride at 5500 if i dont need to go faster.

You will get the best gas mileage by using first gear to get rolling, 2nd to about 15 mph, 3rd to 25 mph or so, 4th to 35-40 mph, and 5th from 40mph on up. I generally shift at around 3000-3500 rpm if I am taking it easy. There are times I let it go to redline in each gear of course, but that eats into the fuel economy. Gently on the throttle is the key. Don't lug it of course, just take it easy. If you are just riding to work and not carving the canyons there is really no need for high rpms. Plan ahead for the red lights and slow down ahead of time so you can just roll through instead of racing up to them and coming to a complete stop like everybody else. Make sure your brakes are not dragging and that your tires are properly inflated. Avoid idling. I consistently get 50+ mpg with my interstate, fairing, bags and me at 225 lbs all going along for the ride. My last tankful I turned 54mpg

See less See more

ironicnostalgia

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jul 21, 2011

wow. thats way over and nearly double what im at. thanks for the tips!

Barry Ness

· #6 · Jul 22, 2011

The GL650 trike is getting 40 mpg right now (mostly around town some Interstate).

Up from the high 20's/low 30's...but it was not run for many months. I really haven't done too much right now as I'm currently working on a few other bikes. Mine (GL1200 trike) and 1 or 2 others (CB900F & a old HD 1200 Sportser).

LT2

See less See more

2

forestermel

· #7 · Jul 29, 2011

I've been trying to keep track of my mpg's - largely to figure out how far I can go before needing to fill up. My daily commute is about 32 miles total - a mixture of 30-40 mph in town, 65 mph divided highway, and 55 mph highway. My day to day riding seems to average somewhere in the 48-50 mpg range. However, I took a 'long' ride this past Sunday (115 miles - first ride longer than 20)... going 55 mph for a couple hours netted 56 mpg! Motor revs at right around 5k doing 55 - 5.4k for 60, 5.8k for 65.

-Mel

surfclod

· #8 · Jul 30, 2011

I find that on my machine, the motor really runs smoothly at just under 6k. I start to feel some vibration beyond 6k but keep it under 6000 RPM and it is nice and smooth. That puts me at an indicated 65 mph but I have not checked it with GPS.

Once on the freeway, I get passed by a number of other vehicles but I average just a hair over 50 MPG (US gallons) ever since I got the bike. Its been fairly consistent, lowest was 48.7 MPG, best was an even 52 MPG.

I ride fairly conservatively, shift around 3-5000 rpm depending on whether on not I need to merge with traffic.

DavidfromWisconsin

· #9 · Jul 30, 2011

I get 48-50mpg and I still haven't cleaned my carbs. One person riding a bike with carbs I have cleaned is getting 50-56mpg. Both my bike and the other that I am talking about are GL500Is.

I regularly got 50mpg when I had GL650Is.

No,I do not take it easy on my bikes.

See less See more

cdyoung1985

· #10 · Aug 2, 2011

I just synched my carbs, and don't have a speedometer, so I don't know how many miles I go, or any of that anymore, but before I properly cleaned the carbs and all that, riding hard, don't shift before 6k usually, most of the time nearly redlined, unless I'm behind slow cars and can't pass, and usually got around 40ish, didn't do complex math, but that seemed to be close enough to be fairly accurate, could be off by 5 or so either way, not sure, but I counted on getting 40, and it's irrelevant now, because I can't calculate it anyway.....

rogerb

· #11 · Aug 2, 2011

I get 60.5 mpg with my GL650i. Not going all downhill either

guzzijohn

· #12 · Aug 2, 2011

The 1st tank I kept track of on my GL650 was 56mpg-town&country. I believe the 60 cruising the highway.GJ

See less See more

jumbaaa

· #13 · Aug 17, 2011

mr. softie said:
You will get the best gas mileage by using first gear to get rolling, 2nd to about 15 mph, 3rd to 25 mph or so, 4th to 35-40 mph, and 5th from 40mph on up. I generally shift at around 3000-3500 rpm if I am taking it easy. There are times I let it go to redline in each gear of course, but that eats into the fuel economy. Gently on the throttle is the key. Don't lug it of course, just take it easy. If you are just riding to work and not carving the canyons there is really no need for high rpms. Plan ahead for the red lights and slow down ahead of time so you can just roll through instead of racing up to them and coming to a complete stop like everybody else. Make sure your brakes are not dragging and that your tires are properly inflated. Avoid idling. I consistently get 50+ mpg with my interstate, fairing, bags and me at 225 lbs all going along for the ride. My last tankful I turned 54mpg

Thanks I have to work on it. I got the Bike running last night and it was the first time in 20 years the bike has been running. I rebuilt the carb new plugs new filters.... and then last night took it for 20 min of test runs. Today I did 70 miles on the way home refilled (i hate having empty tanks) and did only 23 MPG. but I was also shifting way to high in the RPMS (somewhere around 6000-6500)

stern-69

· #14 · Aug 18, 2011

AQfter my tripple bypass and cleaning I have done a couple 160 miles rides (2 to be exact), and on each one I filled the tank before the trip (during if needed) and agian when I was done to return the tank to full. On both rides I got values of between 65 and 70 MPG, which shocked me a bit, but after checking the math 10 times it aways yeilds the same results.

JGBYJ

· #15 · Jan 6, 2012

Fadm stern, any theories on why, I'm in the 33mpg bracket too

Cost me a pretty penny and what looks like 30-40% of my range per tank!

I'm on a cx500c 79

Slacker

· #16 · Jan 11, 2012

I'm getting between 31-40 depending on how much time I spend in town and on the highways.

richnct

· #17 · Jan 17, 2012

Are Canadian riders calculating based on their BIGGER gallon?

Glenn

· #18 · Jan 17, 2012

Yes they are bigger up here and SIZE always matters...............

ramprat06

· #19 · Jan 18, 2012

cdncx said:
Yes they are bigger up here and SIZE always matters...............

I'm betting there might be some Texans with the same opinion.....

See less See more

2

richnct

· #20 · Jan 18, 2012

I think it's just all the insulated clothing that makes them look bigger in Canada.

See less See more

1 - 20 of 27 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.