Touring and Fuel Range Improvements?

Couldn't find it in a search, but has anyone installed a secondary tank or moulded fuel bladder for the FZ?
I've seen it with the FJR & DLR. Wouldn't need to be big, but where to put it would be the hardest decision.
 
I am in agreement with the post about ethanol mix gas. In CO I have been getting high 30 to low 40s for mpg. My previous best was 36 mpg. I am so conditioned to stopping every 100 miles that I've only been putting in 2.3-2.5 gallons. My butt only can last that long so it works for me to take breaks. AZ gas must be that 15% ethanol crap. CO also has 85 octane which may help with mileage but i run a little rougher
 
Ssky0078 said:
I am in agreement with the post about ethanol mix gas. In CO I have been getting high 30 to low 40s for mpg. My previous best was 36 mpg. I am so conditioned to stopping every 100 miles that I've only been putting in 2.3-2.5 gallons. My butt only can last that long so it works for me to take breaks. AZ gas must be that 15% ethanol crap. CO also has 85 octane which may help with mileage but i run a little rougher
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It's the elevation more than anything, I think. I was getting nearly 50 mpg at some higher elevations when I was in northern California and Colorado in June
 
Dustin said:
It's the elevation more than anything, I think. I was getting nearly 50 mpg at some higher elevations when I was in northern California and Colorado in June
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Dustin I was thinking about elevation as well. The only thing is that I ride northern Arizona which is at 5,000 feet. I do get better mileage up there like the mid 30s but here on the 85 is the first time I broke 40
 
So I did my weekend ride and have some numbers.

My around town, to work and home 100% town driving, was terrible running ethanol free premium octane, got me 29.8.

The trip I did was almost all freeway to first fuel stop, got me 37.9 mpg on 10% ethanol premium at about 70-85 mph speed

From there to second fuel stop it was up and over a mountain pass, lots of twisties running about 50mph-65mph I got an astonishing 47.1mpg on 10% ethanol premium

From second to third fuel stop It was more freeway but only about 65mph-75mph and got 41.9 mpg on 10% ethanol premium

All of this is in my fuelly info in my sig, but its not displaying it all very well for some reason. Go here --> http://www.fuelly.com/driver/joshmundy/fz1

Anyways, hope it helps. My bike is stock besides slip on exhaust, Zero Gravity touring screen and I did have all 3 pieces of my GIVI luggage on the bike loaded up, about 15-20 lbs extra weight, but the side cases to stick out a bit so possibly some wind drag from them as well.
 
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JMundy said:
So I did my weekend ride and have some numbers.

My around town, to work and home 100% town driving, was terrible running ethanol free premium octane, got me 29.8.

The trip I did was almost all freeway to first fuel stop, got me 37.9 mpg on 10% ethanol premium at about 70-85 mph speed

From there to second fuel stop it was up and over a mountain pass, lots of twisties running about 50mph-65mph I got an astonishing 47.1mpg on 10% ethanol premium

From second to third fuel stop It was more freeway but only about 65mph-75mph and got 41.9 mpg on 10% ethanol premium

All of this is in my fuelly info in my sig, but its not displaying it all very well for some reason. Go here --> 2008 FZ1 (Yamaha FZ1) | Fuelly

Anyways, hope it helps. My bike is stock besides slip on exhaust, Zero Gravity touring screen and I did have all 3 pieces of my GIVI luggage on the bike loaded up, about 15-20 lbs extra weight, but the side cases to stick out a bit so possibly some wind drag from them as well.
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I was getting 25-29 mpg when I was running 91 premium when I first got the bike. I started running the lowest octane I could find and my mpg went up. Also I was using Chevron for the techron at the beginning, now I look for Arco/AMPM (whatever is cheapest) and find that I get better mileage. Shell gas makes my bike run like crap, gives poor mileage and I avoid at all cost.


As to the wondering about how the fairing and such helps the mileage for the R1 over the Fz1, from what I've been able to research it's the change in the cam that makes the fuel mileage drop for the Fz1. The fairing I'm sure helps with wind drag, but I don't see how it could help that much.

The other thought I have about how maybe your Givi luggage helped is that the extra weight on the rear tire increases the friction coefficient for the tire and the road, thereby translating greater amounts force from the bike to the ground and improving overall efficiency. I noticed that my bike gets better mileage when I have luggage on the back.
 
Ssky0078 said:
The other thought I have about how maybe your Givi luggage helped is that the extra weight on the rear tire increases the friction coefficient for the tire and the road, thereby translating greater amounts force from the bike to the ground and improving overall efficiency. I noticed that my bike gets better mileage when I have luggage on the back.
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Actually I was thinking my GIVI was negatively affecting my MPG as the side bags are extremely wide, possibly creating more drag, but your input on the extra weight is quite possibly.

Pic isn't the best, but you can see they stick out quite a bit


Guess ill have to do the trip without them and see :tup:
 
I'm getting 152 miles or 244 kms to the tank on my 2012 stocker and that's with 3 litres remaining when I fill up. I have found the gauge to come on too early and my 2008 did the same, but that was 20% down as well due to the full system, etc ;-)

Still, happy with 46mpg, that's 180 miles a tank to bone dry. I just fill up at 250 kms or 155 mile point on the trip meter and tend to not worry about the fuel gauge as much.
 
JMundy said:
Actually I was thinking my GIVI was negatively affecting my MPG as the side bags are extremely wide, possibly creating more drag, but your input on the extra weight is quite possibly.

Pic isn't the best, but you can see they stick out quite a bit


Guess ill have to do the trip without them and see :tup:
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The side case alone on my little 6R is 3-5 MPG easy. I didn't notice a big change with the top case but the side case add a lot of frontal area... drag.
 
Just did 1 of my favorite loops since having the IVAN ECU FLASH. I was aiming for an middle of the road (so to speak) ride. I purposely tried to keep the revs below 8k with an occasional burst up to 10k. I was trying to change my ride style and use the increased grunt of the flash and the full YOSH.

I put 155 miles on the tank with a lot of great twisties (Ice Hs rd & Hwy 193/Rock Creek Rd) & got 42.4 mpg on 87 octane Safeway gas.
 
Cars n bikes aren't the same thanks for the input though I went for a ride of 250miles and one way was done at 60-70 the other way 80-90 and you know what .Not much saving I thought oh ride slower get better mpg but no it works against you on the fz1. I would rather burn slightly more fuel and save time instead of wasting time at 60ish mph and save nearly nothing. For those who get 145 mpg you must be ham fisted as I like a lil speed but I can get 170 ish even 185 if I had a 5ltr can in tow on a tank.145mpg is real low on a good tank run eithrt its your mode or your throttle input both my 07 and 11 run fine around town stop start fast running n throttle blips I get 110- 130.
 
terdog said:
Just did 1 of my favorite loops since having the IVAN ECU FLASH. I was aiming for an middle of the road (so to speak) ride. I purposely tried to keep the revs below 8k with an occasional burst up to 10k. I was trying to change my ride style and use the increased grunt of the flash and the full YOSH.

I put 155 miles on the tank with a lot of great twisties (Ice Hs rd & Hwy 193/Rock Creek Rd) & got 42.4 mpg on 87 octane Safeway gas.
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What did Ivan's ECU flash cost? I'm thinking this is my next step. What modes do you have and what improvements besides the MPG did you experience?
 
Install a 39 tooth R1 or 44 tooth gen 1 rear sprocket to lower your rpm at cruising speed. Stock is 45t rear and 17t front. I'm not sure how small that you can go without shortening the chain. I raised the gearing on my gen 1 and still have lots of power on take off. We are talking about overdrive here.
 
I've never been happy with my '09 mileage. I bought it in December of 2009 and have barely put 6,100 miles on it since then. I just don't get to ride very often. For the most part, I was lucky to get 35-36. For some reason, all of a sudden around 5,800 miles I started getting better mileage. Two of my last 3 fill-ups were over 37 mpg. Never before did I ever crack 37. I have no idea what caused it to change so suddenly as I approached 6,000 miles. It was like a switch. I want from a 2007 Hayabusa that would easily crack 45mpg on the highway to a much smaller displacement FZ1 that struggled to get 35mpg. I just can't understand why the difference was so great. At least I feel like it's not just me. This just isn't an efficient bike from the factory.
 
Guess I got lucky when I bought my used '02 Gen1. I've averaged 44-46 mpg, and get up to 200 miles on a tank before my reserve light comes on. Big change from my old Vmax where I'd get around 100 miles and the light would pop on.
 
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