Cold Weather Gas Mileage

Hey all, I was wondering if anyone else had experianced a drastic decrease in gas mileage driving stop and go in town traffic once cold weather sets in? I was driving about 30 mpg but now I'm down around 20 maybe. I still do around low 40 on the interstate but my intown has deffinitly taken a drop over the last couple months. Also anyone have a good idea about the most effcient RPM intown? High RPM low gear maybe around 9 or 10k or have you seen better mileage at low RPM higher gear?

 

I honestly don't watch my mileage even close to that... well closely, but you may be seeing a couple things, in many areas the gas formulation changes in winter. Or also may be a slight, and it would be slight and depend on your ride. You may notice some difference because the bike takes longer to get to optimum operating temperature.

 

tape over the oil cooler!

u might have a bad thermostat, not uncommon.

 

Is that really nessacary? I mean engine temp is still a toasty 180... Nor do I know where the oil cooler is. It's a brand new bike, but I guess the thermostat could have been bad from the begining. Total bike newbie here.

 

it isn't really necessary, no
would just allow the bike to warm up faster and stay warmer

how long a ride are you talking?

does your gas change in winter? look for a sticker on the pump, although the sticker might be a CA requirement. I believe OR follows a lot of CA law on the pollution stuff though

how closely do you monitor the mileage, and over how many tanks?

 

The winter temps do a couple of things that affect mileage:
1. the motor takes longer to warm up, all the while using much a richer mixture
2. the colder, denser air causes the computer to richen up the mixture some.
You probably notice the extra power in cold weather, too.
But your mpg shouldn't drop by more than 10-15%

 

Geronpg is right on in his post. If you bike is warming up to temp fairly quickly and staying around 180 then it sounds like your thermostat is ok. What about your tire pressure? If its low you are going to get worse mileage, and 30 is low to start with. You could also check you air filter and make sure nothing got left in there from the factory or mice haven't made a nest in it. If all that's good check the brakes and make sure nothings dragging.

Action

 

I live in Colorado and every winter I watch the gas mileage go down in my truck quite a bit. I don't notice it on my bike as I don't ride it nearly as much. I know part of it with my truck is just letting it idle longer to warm up. The second part I think is the gas formulation during the winter. If it happens in a automobile I don't see why it would'nt happen on a bike.

 

Wow, its benn around 23 degrees F here in ohio lately. My bike barely warms up. Temp hardly gets over 150. And dips back down quickly. My MPG drops by about 6-7 mpg in city driving. I assumed it was because of the poor gasoline in the winter. It could be the richer fuel mixture.

 

30 MPG is low, Since it is a new bike I would bring back to the dealer and have them take a look. I rode in the winter some time down to 29° and I get average 34 to 38 MPG on a good days I got 40 to 42 MPG.

 

I watched the consumption on my 07 last summer. I have a 5 mile commute in town, lotsa stoplights. Under those conditions...32-33 was about it, with the outside temp being 60 - 70F. I usually allow warmup to around 150F before proceding. That's light throttle, too. Short trips and in city make a huge difference.

When I started running a bit longer route (8 miles with about half at highway speeds), I noticed an increase to 34 - 37 mpg. Running a complete fuel tank at highway speeds with only a few restarts increased it yet, to around 44 mpg. I suspect anytime the vtec "kicks" in, you're gonna see a healthy increase in fuel consumption.

I know Winter (and we're COLD here) poor fuel milage is a common complaint among the "cager" customers where I work. That's the way it is. When ECM inputs like engine coolant, air temperature, baro readings vary to the cold season...you're running on a lot richer fuel map much of the time. Throw in short trips, city driving...your milage gonna suck.

 

Yea I tried just letting it warm up but it seems my mileage is even lower when I do. I think maybe due to letting it idle for 5 min or so before I actually put any mileage on it. I am only doing about 6 miles though so I think that may have something to do with it. It's not like I monitor the MPG with a computer or anything, but its a 5 gallon tank, I do about 120 miles a tank since the winter hit, and that's like what 26 mpg? I thought 30 was pretty low. Like I said I do about regular gas mileage (40 something) when I hit the interstate. It's just to school and back every day and keeping it under 6400 RPM. If Dizzy did the same trip in the summer at 30 degrees warmer with only 4 MPG increase over what I am getting I guess maybe I shouldn't be too worried? I mean with gas below two dollars a gallon its like their giving it away.

 

It doesn't seem too far off. I'd keep my eye on it.

Like Squirrelman posted...a stuck thermo isn't impossible.

Last Spring I worked on an 06 ST1300...the owner had been noticing slightly lower temps...slower warmup at about 10K than when he bought the bike. He had been reading about this issue on ST's on some forum somewhere and claimed others had been finding an open thermo here and there. I thought he might be full of it, but being a regular customer...I popped his thermo out and sure enough...it was stuck slightly open at room temp. Gotta admit he was right. Still...That's the only bike I personally have seen it on.

 

Alright, Ill just make sure it stays about where it is then. Thanks for your help, I feel a little more at ease knowing my baby is normal.

 

A) Something sounds wrong...the gas mileage is too low for restrained driving. My 2007 does way better than that.
B) "...with gas below two dollars a gallon its like their (sic) giving it away." I for one do not feel like I am being given a gift when I pay under $2/gallon. And have you asked yourself why fuel has just gone back up 20 to 30 cents a gallon when the barrel price of oil just went down again?

 

I’ve heard people saying things both ways, even around here. Some guys are seeing huge drops others not much at all. I brought it up to the dealer about the beginning of winter when I first noticed it and they weren't very worried about it. Just wanted to get a feel for what some other bikes were seeing. I guess when it starts warming up here in a few months I'll see what happens to the mileage. If it’s not back up around mid thirties in town driving ill start asking some hard questions. And about the gas, total sarcasm. It's just gotten so ridiculous to the point where I can't get mad anymore, I just find it humorous.

 

Yes, I understand...sarcasm is my middle name! It helps overcome lots of "reality!"

 

Do they put Ethanol in your gas for winter? I notice at least a 10% decrease in milage in both the car and bike.

 

Would they only put it in in the winter but not during the rest of the year? I thought that was a whole nation wide thing where every state was going to at least 10% ethanol all year round?

 

I once had a jeep that would run like new normaly but would flat out refuse to fire if more than 20% ethanol gas was introduced to the tank.