22 to 25 mpg mixed city/highway resonable?

I have a 02 that I recently and as far as I know only the flapper mod is done to it. I weigh about 230lbs and was curious if 22/25mpg mixed city and interstate sounds reasonable? I think I can count on one hand the how many times I've been in 6th gear and I do occationally "get on it" just for a bit of fun, but I don't hammer on it all the time.

I'm sure if I baby it and shift to a highter gear at the expense of responsiveness I could get more miles from a gallon of gas....

Last fill up from complete full was 3.3 gallons and my tripmeter showed 74.8 miles with two bars visible on the fuel gauge.

 

That is wildy low. What temps does your engine run at?

 

This is half of what you should be getting. No less than 38MPG on a bad day. As Toe asked, what is your temperature when out and running? Sounds like a thermostat stuck open and the operating temperature not getting up high enough.

 

That's what I was thinking...

The temps run on a 45 degree day about 170 to 175 on the highway, a little warmer in town. Sitting and idling it gets up to 220 or so and the fan is fully functional. Everything seems to be tip top. It runs great and is a blast to ride, I just don't know where to go with this mpg thing.

I commute to work that is about 3 miles city and 5 miles interstate. The city driving is typical redlight/stop and go traffic, but not all jammed up. I basically have a hassle free trip from stop light to stop light.

In the mornings I let it warm up for about 5 mins or so before I head off to work and I can't imagine that'd be pulling that much fuel.

Should I put the diaphram back in for the flapper mod on the airbox adn see what happens?

Maybe some slick50 would help. =p

Hmmm. I do have a question though. Once the engine is started and allowed to idle, how long generalyl should it take to get to normal operating temp or at least get to the 95 degree "on" of the temp guage? Different than my usual routine this morning, I didn't have a chance to let it warm up like I usually do and just got on and rode, but keeping the rpm's low til the temp got up some... I rode about 30mph city driving and took it easy in 2nd/3rd gear. I bet it took 1.5 to 2 miles for the guage to even display 95 degrees. Once it hit that it wasn't too long to get up to my normal. The ambient temp guage showed it was about 33 degrees outside this morning.

 

So if the thermostat is stuck open I'd be running very rich until I finally get up to operating temp which would take quite a while with the fluid free flowing.... But once it gets up there it should lean out when I'm at temp. I apoligize for the newbness, I can work on suspension and such on cars/bikes, but I was never much of an engine guy.

 

you got it. No apologies needed. Anybody who knows the answer to this had to ask to find out......
I usually get mixed riding mileage in the mid forty's. over 50 more than once on the road. I'm 190# plus gear.

 

I'm having poor mileage like that too and low operating temps ( about 150-175 F in 50 F ambient air temps), 30 mpg. On a 2004 does changing the thermostat require removing throttle bodies, ie. a BIG job for a mechanical pygmy like me?

 

http://vfrworld.com/forums/mechanic...placement-6th-gen-vfr800-vtec.html#post246839 is a writeup elwray just put up yestereay on it. It looks pretty solid. That and the service manual is what I'll be using when I decide fore sure this is the issue for me.

 

Junyr.... yours doesn't sound like a t-stat as all your temps are in perfect range... just like mine are with a brand new t-stat. However it could be that yours is sticking open AFTER it has opened the first time, even if just slightly.

2thdr... yours DOES sound exactly like the t-stat problems I had. I bet as soon as you pull the t-stat out it will be stuck all the way open. Yes it does require removing the throttle bodies. It isn't a big task if you take your time. There isn't anything technical that you are getting into. El's writeup is excellent and spot on. Keep in mind you aren't messing with the injectors or anything. You are simply removing the assembly as a whole and replacing it back just the way it was. I was very leery about doing the t-stat replacement myself and very cautious throughout the process. Once I had it all said and done I realized I was worry way too much and it isn't a technical job at all.

 

Yah that's way bad...

So beyond something being wrong with your engine:

Are you getting past second or 3rd gear? (An assholish, but valid question)

Did the previous owner change the sprockets?

 

It's not assholeish at all, whatever will help get it back to normal. Generally on the interstate I stay in 5th at 65. Usually I wnon't hit 6th unless I'm over 75. The response just seems too sluggish at 65 in 6th. I haven't counted thand e teeth, but the miles are right between my house and my work so until can verify by counting i'm assuming they're right based on the milage check.
nte

 

that mpg sounds more like my Gen2 (and even I'm questioning if I shouldn't be gettin' more)... I'm with the above, check ur sprocket and ur thermostat

 

Check your air filter, plugs, chain and sprocket to make sure they all in good working condition. My bike set up with Staintune, PCIII o2 eliminator, K&N filter and I got about 36 MPG hi way.

 

Got the bike out today and it was about 40 degrees F. outside. I started it up and let it run. Using the method ELWRAY used in his thermostat procedure thread I touched the radiators when the temp showed about 140 degrees F. Sure enough they were nice and warm. Now if I'm understanding everything exactly right the stock tstat shouldn't start to open until around 170 degrees and the radiators should still be pretty cold up until that 170 degree mark and things start flowing some. Being that they're warm at 140 means that the fluid is most likely flowing through the tstat from the moment the engine is started is this correct?

So it looks l ike I do have a stuck open (at least partially) thermostat. yay.

 

If I remember correctly the right radiator will get warm before the thermostat opens however the left one will stay cool until it opens. If they are both getting warm then yes, you have a stuck thermostat.

 

I just did 300 miles mostly hiway but some city and twisties 70+ mph and got 53 mpg, that's right on par with reviews from 23 years ago, better check your carbs or gearing.On my VFR700.

 

Most streetbike tests include a top gear roll on in the 60-80mph range. If you are running in 5th till you hit 75 then you are burning more fuel. If you need the "response" downshift.

 

Both radiators were warm at 140 degrees. I'm going to order a new thermostat today and I'll let you guys know how it turns out. I can't imagine that my riding style, though I'm sure a contributing factor, would reduce my mileage by half of what it should be. I havent' counted the teeth on the sprockets yet but the MPH is on. I'll give them a count when I get teh thing ripped apart for the tstat replacement.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

Wish I had your ability and confidence to do that myself. Just my luck, I would get the thing put back together and have leaks at the least and a non-running bike at the worst. Looks like the shop is going to get more of my money that I don't really have to be spending on repairs right now...sucks to be inept without a teacher or guide.

 

Well I'm going to use the serivce manual in addition to the illustrated guides in this webiste that elwray and action worte up. I'm confident that between those three I can get it done. It looks way more time consuming than difficult.

http://vfrworld.com/forums/mechanic...placement-6th-gen-vfr800-vtec.html#post246839

http://vfrworld.com/forums/mechanics-garage/11331-thermostst-replacement.html