F800GS Gas Mileage: What Ya Gettin'?

[sturgeon]

Just back from James Bay Rd.

North of Matagami there's no premium gas. So I did about 4.5-5 tanks on regular. After the first tank, the mileage slowly got worse, from about 4.8l/100km to a high of 5.5, then back down to 4.8 after the lower-octane was completely used. Bike ran just fine on regular, BTW, other than the poorer mileage. Was able to sustain 175km/h+ fully loaded, without issue. Other than my own fear factor that something was gonna fly off and kill one of my riding companions

Another BTW, there's a new gas station south of km-381 that's about $0.20/l cheaper. I think they only take cash. Don't recall the exact spot, but it probably meant that I didn't need to carry those extra 7 liters of gas. Maybe the turn-off to Eastmain?

[Bushav8r]

I just spent 2 weeks travelling 9612 kilometers and burned 412.877 litres of gas. My bike was loaded heavy and the route consisted of rugged coastal roads, gravel roads, open highways and scenic back roads. I sometimes putted along at a leisurely pace and sometimes passed everything in sight on the highways. This works out to 52.2 miles per US gallon. I just wish it had a bigger tank.

[Gangplank]

Had the bike 6 or 7 weeks now. 4300 miles. Avg 52 pretty much all the time.

[jensht]

Originally Posted by lmychajluk

Good stuff, guys!

If you're interested, there's a website - www.fuelly.com - that keeps track of your vehicles and MPG. It's also accessible via mobile devices, so you can update right at the pump. I'd love to see more data there (hint, hint).

Or here is an alternative http://www.spritmonitor.de/en/

[frtzl]

Originally Posted by sturgeon

Just back from James Bay Rd.
Another BTW, there's a new gas station south of km-381 that's about $0.20/l cheaper. I think they only take cash. Don't recall the exact spot, but it probably meant that I didn't need to carry those extra 7 liters of gas. Maybe the turn-off to Eastmain?

That new station is at about km240. Anyone with decent range, running in the daytime, and carrying cash should not have to carry extra fuel between Matagami and Radisson. I packed 8l northbound before I found out about the new station, and didn't bother with extra fuel for the southbound leg.



For me:
Bike: F650GS twin w/ Powerbronze windscreen (current odo ~= 10000mi)
Rider 200lbs, 6'
Ride: Baltimore-JBR r/t ~= 3000mi
Luggage: Vario cases in narrow mode + dry bagged gear on top.
Tires: OEM Battlewings (now knackered)
Riding style: brisk hardtop and 200km of moderate gravel roads (LsQ-Matagami Traverse + Chisasibi-JBx2)
Conditions: Hot and steamy to "small craft warning" rainy
MPG for trip: 51mpg (US gal)

F

[Huesero]

Just got back from a ~7200 mile trip -- from Oregon up to Prudhoe Bay, and many points in between. Average fuel mileage: 47 mpg.

I weigh ~140, and was carrying about 60 lbs. of gear between panniers, duffle, and tank bag, and ran pretty hard on the Al-Can highway, but less so in other areas. My mileage really got worse as I headed into colder weather -- low 40s, or 39 mpg for a tank or two in the coldest areas, but jumped back up to ~50 with warmer weather.

The last time I did a big trip like that, I was on a ZX-9R, and averaged ~42 mpg, with the quaint carbs and maybe 10 lbs. less gear.

[Zapp22]

what i wuz thinking...

Originally Posted by Lobby

How accurate are the speedometers / odometers? Traditionally, BMW meters have been waaay off.

If you base your MPG off a faulty odo, you're gonna get a bad number.

Anybody doing this calc with a GPS?

[bikerfish1100]

don't have the GPS hooked in yet, but based on the radar boxes, my speedo is pretty dang close-reads high by only a few measley percents (say, indicated 30 records as 28/29 on the radar). that's maybe 3-5% error. so my calculated mileage of 56 (that's the commutting avg) is more like an actual 53/54. still impressive, given the performance.

[Ducksbane]

As I was heading uphill today about half a kilometre from a fuel station with 14Km showing to empty, I suddenly decided that another station half a kilometre downhill was a better option ... got there.

Tank took 17.5 Litres after 438 Kilometres.

[Bucko]

Originally Posted by bikerfish1100

don't have the GPS hooked in yet, but based on the radar boxes, my speedo is pretty dang close-reads high by only a few measley percents (say, indicated 30 records as 28/29 on the radar). that's maybe 3-5% error. so my calculated mileage of 56 (that's the commutting avg) is more like an actual 53/54. still impressive, given the performance.

I don't think it's a given that your odo and speedo will be off by the same amount. My KLRs always read 5-6 mph high, but the odometers were pretty close to the mileage markers on the highway. I'll have to get my ancient GPS out and check both on my GS. The speedo does seem to be just 2-3 mph optimistic.

For the record, I get about 48 computed mpg using the odometer and fuel pump numbers for general commuting and town riding, but that went up to mid-50's on a recent tour with lots of off-pavement riding.

[Roy Barnes]

Originally Posted by Lobby

How accurate are the speedometers / odometers? Traditionally, BMW meters have been waaay off.

If you base your MPG off a faulty odo, you're gonna get a bad number.

Anybody doing this calc with a GPS?

My F658gs is 3% slow by comparson with the GPS. The speed is about 2% fast. The 140 Tire is larger in Diameter than the 150 used on the F800. Since the speed is taken off the rear tire, it makes the F658 slower on the milage, if they are using the same map in the computer.

[alexcorral]

[Zapp22]

I had read a thread like this a year or so ago on bmw forum, re: 800ST, and the numbers seemed a bit higher than these. I could see that the fairing/ergos would make it more of a bullet, but is the engine in the ST tuned differently than the GS? Stock gearing diff?

[bfdarren]

I just started using fuelly.com to track my MPG. I take the mileage from my GPS to enter into fuelly.com

[Dirt Diver]

The Variables:
Units: Litres/100 Kilometers
Odometer: 4000 Klms
Rider: 6'0" 120kgs
Luggage: BMW Adventure
Windscreen: BMW Touring
Exhaust: Remus Hexacone Ti
Riding Conditions: Secondary highway commute every day (80-100KPH, gravel roads leading to gravel trails for playtime.

Results:
Overall Average from the start: OBC is reading 4.4L/100klms at the moment, has been as low as 4.3 I would say it averages out to 4.6. It started on 5.2 though, so I'm happy.

Distance to empty is fairly accurate too, pulled into a servo yesterday with 2 ks to empty and it took 16.43 litres to fill!!!