VF500 fuel mileage

I think I could handle 40-50 MPG just fine. Just the 30-35 is just not good. I'm going to take the bike out for a ride and check the plugs, and pull the rocker covers to check out the noise that it's making, and see what I can do!

 

Your hillbilly is showing MAGNAVMX5

You are on the wrong thread, son. This is a thread about Vf500 mileage. :focus: Pulling wheelies on a Magna 500 sounds interesting and you might have a winner if you started your own testosterone level gaging thread on the subject. You are obviously a pretty good mechanic and engine modifier. There is a long tradition of good'ol' southern boys' building hot rods for transporting 'licur' into northern states like OHIO and New York. But prohibition been repealed since Rooseveldt took the presidency in 1932. Where you hail from boy'? Pikesville, maybe Ohio Co?" I gess you been about that yoself? Yes sir. I gess so. You got one hot set of wheels there son. You best be ca'ful now tha yo' don' break that red neck o'yourn.

I'm sorry that you seem to be obsessed with what appears to be "the death wish". If you feel the need to speed then you need to graduate up to a V45 or better yet a Magna, Sabre or Interceptor with a V65 engine. They are cheap enough to own more than one and the parts aren't any more expensive than vintage Vf 500 parts. These are cycles that hit 100 mph in third gear going away, and make you grab for the handlebars and squeeze the seat between your thighs because of the acceleration. But it seems a shame to loose what might be a very talented mechanic to his adolesent need to prove his manhood by needlessly scarring the bejesus out of the family in the minivan in the next lane while racing some rich kid in a new Mustang that his "daddy dun bought him", on some 2 lane country road in coal country by out accelerating both cars down the yellow line in the middle of the road.

You need to visit the "GEAR FORUM" to buy yo some body armor son. 'Cause if yo' gonna be poppin wheelies until you knock yourself off you might as well go to your grave without road rash. But like I said this ain't the thread you be lookin fo'. And thanks for telling us that you get 30mpg when you are out leaving the ground.

 

A tad harsh.....IMO

 

hahahahaha....how tall is your rear sprocket....me dropping the clutch from 6000 rpms on mine didnt gfet the front tire about a foot of the ground ...i gotta see it to believe

 

how is that harsh? its the truth.....theres a time and a place for everything remeber that to!

 

DKC'sVFR's reply seemed harsh to me.

Dunnoh....maybe cause I'm Canadian and we're all really polite

eh?

 

Nah, not so harsh if it makes someone think twice about childish, adolescent behavior....

 

Fast horses, fine whiskey, and pretty women!

I think he might be a great mechanic, the world sure could use more of them. I could tell you a great story about a hillbilly kid who I would describe as a "natural born mechanic", that saved my bacon when I broke down on a Honda Trail 90 deep in the back woods of Central Kentucky. That was when I was just a ‘college boy’ starting out to ride. That hillbilly affected my whole life and taught me a lesson that I have never forgotten, but this is not the time or the place for story telling.

MagnaVMX5 was off base, he could only hear himself talking, he wanted to turn the conversation onto his "perversion" of a nice middle weigh cruiser into a terrorist weapon on the back roads in Eastern Kentucky. If he could have turned all that energy and intelligence into coming up with a way to optimize the carburetion on a Vf 500 then he would have been a welcome addition/leader in the discussion. But he was obsessed with who could get their frog to jump the farthest. That is ingrained in the culture of the south. There is a cultural sub current that molds southern boys to aspire to the updated version of "fast (blue grass bred) horses , fine (Kentucky sour mash) whiskey, and pretty women (those Eastern Kentucky girls are as fast as the cars, even faster). The further east you go the more that sub culture dominates. He needed a different audience, and he was desperate for an audience. I wish I didn't have to chase him away. I'm surprised that he crumpled so fast. I did not think I had pegged him that close, but I guess what I said hit a nerve. I hope he finds what he is looking for on the web. I hope he finds it on VFRWorld. But most of all, I hope he survives this part of becoming a man.

Hey, Slowbird, thanks for being a Canadian Gentleman, the world need more of you too.

DKC

 

Its ok man i will stay out of your thread. Most of what i said is relavent especialy when referencing Jamies posts. Stateing there is something wrong with a vf500 that gets less the 40 mpg. I know i might tend to get carried away but hell man im just over the top like that sometimes if the posts offend you i will delete them.
But make certian of one thing you did not run me off nor will i die, as a result of just enjoying, what i have conceived.
rofl about me street racing with a minivan around when and if i choose to rip and raor there is most assuredly more chance of me hitting a cow or deer, or hell even a combine or tractor in the middle of the raod than another vehicle of anysort. You california people have some funny ideas about the rest of the country. Its not all the socall racing scene man.

 

No offense given son and none taken.

Well then, c'mon back in here an take that seat by the fire. We was jis talkin bout you.

Anyhow, what we're about here is trying to modify the carburetion on a V30such that we maintain it's "nat'ual torque and HP characteristics" but modify it to treat gasoline like it was 'sippin whisky' stead of gargle water. Most of us are sorely perplexed that we don't get 50 mpg as a regular habit, and particularly angry that we are getting less mileage than a twin like the Ninja. We figure cause we are paying through the nose for the good stuff cause of the fact that we have a high compression machine, we deserve the best mileage. We have some factory choices of carburetors that include a collection of different main jets (90,92 102, 105, 108) and at least two different sizes of throttle/piston bodies (VD 31a,32a,56a,57a,58a,59a&b,85b) and we might have some different choices of mid range jets and emulsion tubes (35,38). The factory float setting (6.2 mm/0.24 in.) is up for tweeking too. Sooo, you know of any backwoods tricks that make your momma's Ford Fairlane get 20 mpg we would like to hear about them, is all. If you can find some interest in that then I know we'd welcome y'all heartily.

 

The basic precept of any interal combustion engine is you only pay for the horses you use. So if you short shift caost etc and keep the top speed aroun 70 mph or so making areo drag minimal then every vf500 could get 60+ mpg as i have done several times before. The problem we run into with our CV carbs is the initial rich settings as stated above true, adding some premium synthetic oil and a better air filter can counterbalance that with less internal drag but over all if you adjust the flaots and lean the bike out you will use less fuel and quite possibly make more horsepower. As you apraoch 13-1 or so. So in this respect my comment where all very relavent in this light. But as to the aging ford sorry all we ever had like that is my 67 and even with a good tune nice and lean, etc i have yet to get more than 8-12 mpg out of it. It has a topspeed of about 130 and hits it in damn near a 1/4 mile so maybe the hp i make and. use has something to do with it along with the wieght and areo drag of the car. By going to fuel injection and a standalone i might get 20-40 more hp and 1-2 mpg but the expense and time just dont add up. With the economy in the crapper and my anual revenues being down almost 30% gross this year have pretty much stopped all projects for the time being.

 

That looks to be a fine big grinnin' Blue Chevy truck to me.

 

I don't think it's much of a mystery - a good thorough carb rebuild should do the trick. While you are at it, making sure other items, such as the plug wires, are in good condition would also help. Just because "it runs ok" doesn't mean these parts are ok.

Your target should be 50-55mpg as that's what the VF500's should get.

 

The more I think about it, I definitely have a problem somewhere, fuel mileage aside. I notice that warmed up, at idle, it seems like I have a cylinder that once in a while will "kick in" and start working for a couple revs, then drop back out for about 10-20. It's not quite a dead miss feeling though(at least not like I'm used to on a car or truck.) With the weather being colder here, and getting darker earlier, on top of a busier family schedule, I haven't even had time to ride the bikes, let alone work on it.

 

Much more pleasant to discuss than a blue oval! :thumbsup:

 

i found a key word! VF500'S SHOULD GET

 

I agree with you, Matt. I don't expect what they SHOULD get, due to my riding habits, and the age of the bike, but I think I should be getting better than I am, as I'm barely getting half of what my 250 ninja gets being ran fairly hard (which is about the only way to run that bike, as it is pretty anemic in the power dept...)

 

call me a asshole but i didnt buy a bike for the MPG's i bought it to rail around the corners now there are you that seem to think different which is fine!....i will give you my best MPG i can pull out of that old girl but i would'nt hold your breath on it being the best out there... i think of my bike as a two dollar whore that i ride when the wife wont give it up mybe that's why it sucks the gasoline just like it sucks my money

 

Yep, it doesn't take much to kill the mileage of the 500. Something seemingly minor is all that it takes.

Another clue. Bikes that sit a lot are more prone to carb issues for sure.

 

I'm with ya there, but I think it should do a little bit better than my car (which it BARELY does!) Based on what other people's bikes get, and what my little 250 gets I'm thinking I would be happy with somewhere in the mid 40's (not to mention my riding.)