Tank range

[dazza]

Hi all, been making the most of the sunshine and nightwork by having some gentle cruises to the south east coast over the last few days.  When i had reached 200 miles on a single tank i started to get a bit concerned and started looking for a garage. Found one after another 9 miles and brimmed the tank. I was amazed  i could only get 17 litres in meaning i have averaged 55 mpg giving my bike a theoretical range of 256 miles. Just out of interest, would love to know what the furthest anyone has got on one tank of fuel. Don't want to turn this into a competition, just think of it as a safe alternative to Russian roulette. 

[tomlinscote]

Hi,
On long runs not giving it plenty I can also get quite close to 55mpg, but once when I did a north to south of France run in one go at a little over the limit (!) it dropped to 45 that was averaging close to a ton though, so I think the gen1 is capable of serious mpg even if you do give it a bit. The most I have got on the trip before bottling it for a garage was 210 could only get 19 litres in it at the garage.........

[Bracechenko]

220 miles from a tank before whilst bricking it trying to find a station. I pretty much always get about 55mpg though, really consistenly it seems regardless of how I ride (within reason)

I also much prefer an analogue gauge as you can actually see the petrol run down in real time. The digi ones start flashing at reserve but obviously you get no further idea. Obviously, you can check miles etc but it's not as good

[dazza]

Hi all, I know I said I didn't want to turn this into a competition but I may have lied..... Have just done 228 miles to a single tank before the thought of the dreaded walk of shame became too much to bare. Pulled into a garage and brimmed the tank with 20.9 litres. Agood call I THINK. Have got to say towards the end it felt so light and flickable it felt like a different bike. You really must try this.

[squitbit]

How far did you get after the fuel light started to glow? I can never seem to get more than about 18 litres in mine from what I consider pretty much empty, though my tank is dented and probably holds a litre or so less than it should  :\ . Trip to work is 33 miles and I can do there and back twice and there again (165 miles for the numerically challenged) before I get twitchy and feel I have to refuel. I might just take a few litres in a can in a rucksack and see just how far I can go.

[dazza]

Hello squitbit, the fuel light came on at 170 miles, dim at first then became brighter and brighter. The needle went right off the gauge and just started to touch the fuel light. So from when the light first came on I got another 58 miles. I rode it carefully for the first 130 miles then got quite bored and rode it properly for a while with quite a few full throttle moments.Took it a bit easier towards the end but the way you could flick it round a roundabout became quite addictive.    I think you may be surprised how much further you can take it if you do what you say  with the fuel can .... but you will get disqualified from the competition  for cheating. lol. I have also found it takes a bit of patience to really brim it allowing for all the air to come out but again its surprising how much more fuel it takes.

[PieEater]

Have got to say towards the end it felt so light and flickable it felt like a different bike. You really must try this.

I had my bike Ivanised last year and it as brought out more of the hooligan in me resulting in noticeably less MPG, before I used to average 160 miles until the light came on now it's more like 140, I am a big bloke though which doesn't help. However I went out last weekend when finding petrol was scarce and purposefully kept the revs down, probably averaging 3-4k, I still had good fun through the twisties, the relaxed pace meant I could take in more of the scenery, and I managed around 55mpg over 105 miles.

The comment about the bike feeling more flickable on an empty tank makes me wander if you've not yet done anything with your steering geometry to help with this such as drop the forks through the yoke or fit a jack-up kit. Coming from sportsbikes I really disliked the slow handling of my Gen1 on standard settings, a £15 jack-up kit and dropping the forks through the yoke made it feel like a different bike, now I have a Nitron shock and have raised the ride height a bit more the bike is easily as responsive as my earlier sportsbikes.

[dazza]

Interesting point pieEater, have wondered about dropping the forks through the yokes...any suggestions as to how much. I recently aquired a copy of july 06 Bike magazine where Master Mike (Falcon) tests the Fazer against the gen 2 and set my front and rear suspension to how he adjusted the test bike. As for a jack up kit  I'm a bit of a short arse and already find myself tiptoeing on adverse camber stops, so not keen on making it higher. :\

[PieEater]

About 10-12mm of fork showing through the top of the yoke is the general concencus though I think some have gone as far as 30mm. Support the weight of the bike with a car jack under the engine, undo the pinch bolts then use the jack to lower the bike down the forks and hold it at the required position so you can tighten the pinch bolts back up. Won't take you 10 minutes and should make a noticeable difference to the bikes handling and also mean you'll be able to get your feet a bit further on the floor   

I'm not a big fan of the one-size-fits-all approach to suspension settings, there are so many variables which can influence what are the best settings for a given individual on a given bike. Your best bet is to get a mate to spend half a day with you setting up the sag and then blind tweaking (your mate making changes but not telling you what) the compression and rebound damping on your favourite roads to see if you can feel a difference and if so whether it is positive or negaitive, doesn't take long to find what works best for you and your bike.

[Phil TK]

About 10-12mm of fork showing through the top of the yoke is the general concencus though I think some have gone as far as 30mm.

Has anyone tried going down 15mm or maybe even 20mm without issue? ie radiator interfacing the front mudguard on emergency stops? Reason I ask is that my yokes are down 10mm at the moment and I'm very nearly able to sit on the bike with feet flat on the ground, a little extra might make the difference and any quickening of the steering would be welcome anyway.