[Monterey10]

I really hate to beat the fuel mileage thing to death. But I do like science and will study most devices carefully.

I read somewhere on the Yahoo forums that the 650 has a "sweet"
spot at 4500 RPM. Now, I usually loaf around 4000 RPM, on the freeway,
comuting 12 miles each way to and from work. (We cant be to much in a hurry to get to the salt mine)

This past week, I ran mine up to 4500 on most of the last tank of gas and found a slight increase in mileage. Now, keep in mind that I had to get to
and from the freeway ramps and there were two occasions that
the traffic was stopped. My bike has the clear view XXL and I weight
270 lbs.

All in all, 4500 rpm is a touch faster than I want to go, but not unreasonably so. The speedo show approx 73 mph. mmm deduct 10%, slide the decimal point, find the position of the moon, add the airspeed of an unladen pigeon, mmmm and I should be going about 65.7 MPH, which is where I really should be anyway.

The mileage increase was approx 4 miles to the gallon. In reallity, it's
slicing hairs when compared to the savings over my large Chevy truck.

I know that airboxes and intake air horns can be tuned. I wonder if
Suzuki tuned the air intake to have this sweet spot at normal California
traffic speeds. (This would be true speed, not Suzuki speedo speeds)

 

[jkrerol15]

I can't help you with info on your question, but I sure like your way of getting to the point - i.e. "an unlaiden pigeon."

My gas mileage definitely worsens the faster I go and I too have a Clearview, XL, though. I've tried putting the bike on a centerstand to put gas in and all that jazz but that doesn't seem to matter. Seems like I can go about 150 to 160 miles before my nerves take over a I get gas. It's always about 3.4 gallons to fill up. I guess I could go further, but I don't want to push that thing to the nearest gas station.

 

[Randy]

Monterey10 wrote

I really hate to beat the fuel mileage thing to death. But I do like science and will study most devices carefully

.

I think your kidding yourself, sure there are sweet spots were your fuel mileage will be best
but in the real world that "spot " will change due to a bunch of factors,
head wind, tail wind, tire pressure, filter condition, weight .. anyone could make your "sweet spot" change.
Well that's 2 cents anyway

 

[Kias]

Here's my MPG for every tank of gas I've bought since the bike hit 1,435 miles.

54.3 54.3 50.9 51.5 46.5 58.3 50.1 50.1 53.6 53.6 51.6 51.1 52.7 52.1 52.6 51.8 52.2 54.8 55.6 55.5 55.3 50.0

That's an average of 52.66 mpg overall. Not shabby! I don't worry too much about the MPG, as it beats my Ford Expedition a few times over.

The lower MPG is me playing, :twisted:

The higher MPG is me on non-stop highway trips. 8)

The sweet spot on my bike, is wherever the throttle ends up at!

 

[NormanB]

I believe you get much increased mpg while on the centrestand.

 

[Kias]

I believe you get much increased mpg while on the centrestand.

I know you've been drinking tonight, but wouldn't the Mile Per Gallon of gas drop to zero on your centerstand??

 

[NormanB]

Only if the engine was running (hic!) :wink:

 

[Kias]

Yet your gasoline would slowly evaporate and you'd still be at zero mpg. You'd have to push it... :?:

 

[Brian]

Yet your gasoline would slowly evaporate and you'd still be at zero mpg. You'd have to push it... :?:

Naw; his dainty little AN400 is on the back of a truck going down the highway, while he's enjoying another pint. :lol: