Gas MPG:-(

[TrainingWheels]

I have 2,500 miles on my '19 TG and only get, if I'm lucky, just a little less than 30mpg:-( I rode 300 miles today and got 29.49 on one tank and 30.07 on the other:-( My miles to empty read 6 and 7 miles respectively when I gassed up. Fairly steady 75mph, 1 up. Is there a way to increase the mpg? Will it get better with more miles?

 

[Fearless]

At 75 you are eating up miles and fuel slow down a little and see where the fuel mileage goes. Remember the trike is like pushing a large Tadpole down the highway. :Coffee: Our old trike gives us two up a constant 34-36 in Pennsylvania, the roads are anything but flat and of course slower speeds. Good luck on your search for better numbers.:Shrug: ride safe Fred

 

[rhino 2]

I have 2,500 miles on my '19 TG and only get, if I'm lucky, just a little less than 30mpg:-( I rode 300 miles today and got 29.49 on one tank and 30.07 on the other:-( My miles to empty read 6 and 7 miles respectively when I gassed up. Fairly steady 75mph, 1 up. Is there a way to increase the mpg? Will it get better with more miles?

At 75 MPH......You aren't going to get much better.....I had two Tri's an '11 And '17...

And thats about right......At 55/60 MPH... Around 35 Mpg...

 

[Koolbreeze]

Article is about cars but applies to any vehicle moving down the road.

https://phys.org/news/2015-07-properties-physics-affect-gas-mileage.html

Scientists at Argonne's sister national lab, Oak Ridge, tested cars' fuel economy at speeds over 50 miles per hour. For each extra 10 mph over, you lose a little over 12 percent of your miles per gallon. That increases as you go faster. Going from 70 to 80 mph costs you 15 percent, not 12.

I get pretty good gas mileage from 50 mph - 60 mph (35-38 MPG) over 65 it is more like 33 mpg. I expect if I was cruising at 75 - 80 it would be around 30 MPG.

Same with my Ford F250, anything over 60 mph the gas mileage drops consierably.

 

[MikeyTX]

I have 2,500 miles on my '19 TG and only get, if I'm lucky, just a little less than 30mpg:-( I rode 300 miles today and got 29.49 on one tank and 30.07 on the other:-( My miles to empty read 6 and 7 miles respectively when I gassed up. Fairly steady 75mph, 1 up. Is there a way to increase the mpg? Will it get better with more miles?

Sure .................. Lower your speed ! 68mph seems to be the optimum speed for a TG. Lastly, a TG is akin to an SUV in the realm of things. Oh yeah, try pulling a loaded trailer with it. Your fuel mileage will really tank. The fuel mileage on my '17 Z06 Corvette is in the low 30's on the highway.

:clapping:

 

[MikeyTX]

Article is about cars but applies to any vehicle moving down the road.

https://phys.org/news/2015-07-properties-physics-affect-gas-mileage.html

Scientists at Argonne's sister national lab, Oak Ridge, tested cars' fuel economy at speeds over 50 miles per hour. For each extra 10 mph over, you lose a little over 12 percent of your miles per gallon. That increases as you go faster. Going from 70 to 80 mph costs you 15 percent, not 12.

I get pretty good gas mileage from 50 mph - 60 mph (35-38 MPG) over 65 it is more like 33 mpg. I expect if I was cruising at 75 - 80 it would be around 30 MPG.

Same with my Ford F250, anything over 60 mph the gas mileage drops considerably.

BINGO ! :clapping:

Mike

 

[MikeyTX]

What the o/p needs to do is get out of the TX panhandle. The fuel up there sucks to begin with. Because of the altitude, the air is thinner than say down by Austin. And, with all the feedlots ..............

 

[hddocfl]

I ride my 2019 Tri hard, I get 30-32 MPG

 

[FuzzyWuzHe]

What every one is saying is true. There are some things that can help at highway speeds. A good tune is crucial. I do the speed limit, no more, no less.

Last June I took my tri to the Rocky Mountain Hog rally. about half the trip was at 75 mph, some at 65 mph, and a little around town. Just over 400 miles and for the whole trip averaged 39.49 mpg.

Also, last May I took it to Mesquite, Nv. Utah is all 80 mph speed limit, 75 in Colorado and Nevada, total trip was just over 940 miles. I averaged 34.42 mpg for the trip.

All the MPG numbers are determined by taking the miles driven/gallons for fill. I'm a tad annal about tracking data on my vehicles.

I have also calibrated the speedometer to as close as I can get it. When I purchased my Tri the speedo was just over 8% high. So, on a 100 mile ride it would read 108 miles. Or another example was at 75 mph per my speedo, I was really doing 69 mph. Now, it's about 0.5% low. I tried for several days to get it perfect, and for some strange reason, it bounced around -0.5% to +0.5%. So I just left it alone at -0.5%.

There are a whole slew of things that affect mileage on a trike, and most of them effect all trike (I can only speak to a Gold Wing and Tri's, because that's all I've owned). These seem to be across both platforms.

Speed - faster gets you less

Altitude - higer appears to get you less, although this doesn't seem to be consistent, as evidenced by the Breckenridge numbers. Also, changes in Altitude - for example, from Grand Junction to Mesquite you go from 5200 feet to 0 (you do get to about 8k in the middle of the trip with the mountains in Utah that you have to climb to the summit and down again going both ways) and conversely from Mesquite to Grand Junction it's reversed. I consistently get better mileage going from Grand Junction to Mesquite than from Mesquite to Grand Junction, like 10-20% better. This difference has been the same on all vehicles, 2 wheelers, cars, trucks, etc. I'm still not sure why. That's why altitude kind of confuses me, doesn't seem to be consistent. :Shrug:

Wind - Headwinds and Tailwinds are huge in the mileage numbers. I remember Kevin of DK was fighting a big head wind and reported like low 20's for mpg. I've had tanks where I've gotten 46 mpg with a tail wind.

Load - Obviously the heavier your loaded, 2 up, full travel load etc, trailer (this also affects mpg's by the amount of sail area, as well as, load).

Blipping the throttle - (don't laugh) a friend of mine was getting horrible mileage on a trip we took one year. We were both on Ultra two wheelers. The ride was in mainly 65 mph back roads with little towns every 5 to 10 miles. He was constantly blipping the throttle. He was getting 15% less mpg less than I was. I told him to just let the bike idle when we were slowed or stopped. He did, his mpg on the next tank got pretty close to mine. Us Harley riders tend to do this, let's face it, it's fun, draws attention ... and wastes fuel.

Jack Rabbit Starts - this is obvious, fun, but again, wastes fuel.

Tire pressures - On a trip I normally raise the rears to 24# for two reasons, help them run cooler and better mileage. Around town I lower this to 22#. I also use Nitrogen in the tires. (not gonna get into the debate here, but, I have verified the tire pressures don't fluctuate as much with Nitrogen and I hate checking the pressures all the time)

There are little things that I can only speak to on the Tri, like the windshield vent, I always leave it open, seems to clear out the vacuum in the cockpit area and I get better mileage and even in cold weather, I don't feel cold with the vent opened. The lower vents when closed seemed to affect the mileage. I seem to get a little less mileage when I put my feet on the highway pegs. Guessing more drag with the legs outside the lowers (didn't notice this on Gold Wings :Shrug.

I'm sure there are lots of stuff I've forgotten to mention, bottom line, the tune is the biggest factor, apples to apples. On my 15 Tri, new stock at 75 mph, I got 26 mpg. After tuning, at 75 mph it got 34 mpg. That's huge, 8 mpg, almost 50 miles per tank.

Around here mileage is not so much about cost, but, range. We got places if you miss a fillip, you could be well over 200 miles to fill. Lots of 125-150 mile stretches with nothing but wide open spaces ... literally. When you leave Salina, Ut headed to Green River Ut, there's a sign, "No Bull, 107 miles to next fuel stop" With a picture of a Bull on it. What it doesn't say, is not only is there no fuel, there's no nothing ... LOL. Well, there are prairie Dogs. I almost always am in wonder how people were able to traverse these routes in a covered wagon. What takes me a couple hours, took them several months or more.

 

[Colleydog]

The only issue I have when riding my trike concerning gas is if I have any, I have checked before but not in a year or so, if I’m getting 30 or 35 I’m good with it either way, whatever it is it’s worth it for the enjoyment my wife and I have had while riding on 2 wheels then 3.

 

[Colleydog]

Now, with that being said, I’m still working, when I retire maybe I’ll think more about it, as I get older I don’t want to spend money anymore like I did when I was younger. On a different note I have a 79 Ford Bronco that gets about 8 mpg, it’s a thirsty old truck.

 

[TrainingWheels]

Thanks for all the great thoughts. I had dropped my rear tire pressure to 22 for a softer ride, didn't really notice much difference. I will put it back to 26. Hadn't thought about the vents being closed (for the winter) I will open them back up. I don't ride with my feet on the pegs too much because I have hip issues so that shouldn't make much difference.

I don't know if I burp the engine much, will have to watch for that. Not going to slow down, I live in the Texas Panhandle and riding the speed limit (75 even on back roads) is still really slow for around here. Probably won't get out of town again until Mar. 14th, St. Patrick's Day ride to Shamrock, Tx. Will see how it goes then. Again, thanks

 

[rhino 2]

If anyone worries about MPG......Don't think about a Slingshot.......

 

[Texan]

I have 2,500 miles on my '19 TG and only get, if I'm lucky, just a little less than 30mpg:-( I rode 300 miles today and got 29.49 on one tank and 30.07 on the other:-( My miles to empty read 6 and 7 miles respectively when I gassed up. Fairly steady 75mph, 1 up. Is there a way to increase the mpg? Will it get better with more miles?

It's those short hops to Smokey Joe's that cuts you mileage. And those jack rabbit starts out of the parking lot. Rode down to the overlook last weekend and only got 28-29 out of my '13, one up. Was running 72-75 all the way down and back. i've tried everything in the world to increase mine but nothing seems to help except slowing down. Going to Sturgis last year I did get 32-34 but ran 68-70 the whole way.

8~\o

 

[Ol' Man Jeb]

It ain't about the mileage, it's about the ride.:clapping:

 

[TrainingWheels]

It ain't about the mileage, it's about the ride.:clapping:

It's about the mileage, because if your stopped filling up, you ain't riding:clapping:

 

[rhino 2]

It's about the mileage, because if your stopped filling up, you ain't riding:clapping:

And also you have to talk to Habib at the pumps.......:seestars:.:seestars:.............

 

[Sully]

I run the Speed Limit on Backroads and get 34 / 36mpg.......

 

[ultrafxr]

I've told my riding buddies the TG is about as aerodynamic as a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood, lol. Lot of air resistance across those rear fenders I would think. And as others have said it's not the actual mpg so much as it is the range which is a big deal in some parts of the country.

 

[427dave]

I have 2,500 miles on my '19 TG and only get, if I'm lucky, just a little less than 30mpg:-( I rode 300 miles today and got 29.49 on one tank and 30.07 on the other:-( My miles to empty read 6 and 7 miles respectively when I gassed up. Fairly steady 75mph, 1 up. Is there a way to increase the mpg? Will it get better with more miles?

My 2011 with 120ST engine gets about 34-36 running around 55. Speeding to 73 really sucks some fuel as the 120 engine has larger injectors and throttle body. The other thing that gets better gas mileage is do NOT run fuel with ethanol. I have stations that have prem gas with out ethanol. I f I have to use ethanol my mileage drops 3-4 mpg.