Why is MPG so poor of VFRs

I get about 37 on my 86 and I have to admit that i ride it in the city most of the time.

 

Where are these weights of 560lbs coming from. Last I checked an '08 (any 6 gen) was 520lbs stock, wet and ready.

 

That's Honda's wishful thinking, I believe. I got my weight figures from the Motorcyclist or Cycle World tests, back when I was comparing the VFR to the Triumph Sprint.

 

When really pushing, I have seen 120 miles out of a full tank......the only thing is I don't really care about economy, it's more about the size of the grin.

 

I also have a friend with and FJR that said he got 50 MPG until he got a Power Commander and it dropped it to 39. Then he took it to a guy that remapped it and now he gets 45 MPG. That bike is much heavier than a VFR.

 

My commute is mainly highway and I average 44 mpg. Your mileage does not seem to be that bad.

 

I get between 38 and 45 on my 5g and have 2 things to say:

1. This almost doubles the mileage out of my cage...
2. Gas is a hell of a lot cheaper than therapy, and accomplishes more...

 

Are you letting the bike warm up to 165F or so before taking off. it isn't that big of a deal in the summer but in the cold winter it is. when you take off in the winter while the bike is cold (165 or below) it has a hard time getting up to proper operating temperature. The ECU tries very hard to get the bike warmed up to right around 170F and accomplishes this by making the a/f ratio super rich.

If you've only got about 550 miles on the bike or so, you've not put enough on her to get a real good estimate. Especially if that is 550mi on a brand new bike.... it is still breaking in. i'm still on my first tank of the year and i'm getting terrible mileage. i usually get 180-190 before the light blinks and i need to fill soon. this first tank is about to start blinking and i only have 125mi on it. probably has something to do with the stabil in the tank from the winter, it sitting three months, cold weather, etc.

 

Sounds about right. I neglected to take Honda's propensity for such things into account. I was actually hoping that with all of the mods I've done that the bike would be under 500lbs. I guess only a scale will tell. Not that it matters in terms of handling, like they say, "once you get it moving it feels 60lbs less then actuall."

Just so that this isn't a total thread jacking...I get about 35mpg riding hard, and incrementally better mpg the easier I'm going at it. That's with a PCIII, so probably not ideal mpg.

 

I averaged about 36 mpg until I hit 3500 miles. My best is now 42 and I average about 38 to 40. I'm 6'2" and 265 lbs. I also have a 2007 6G so give it time they stay tight and "new" for a long time.

 

FWIW, I just did a quick search on the wet weight; 540 non-ABS, 551 ABS. So my memory was 20 lbs/ 9 lbs heavy.

 

Oddly enough have just had an OzVFR lister inform he averaged 49.5 US Mpg on his high km stock Gen 6, my Gen 5 Mk1s best has been 45 US mpg on gentle cruise but I had seen better on my previous Gen 6.

When riding at the same brisk pace as a mates GSXR1000K9 notice my mpg is always nearly exactly the same as his between fills on a road trip usually 39 to 42mpg, guess I need to flog the VFRs 800 a little where as his does the same ride easier.

 

The side bags increase the drag on the bike enough to lower my 6th gen's fuel economy 2-4mpg. They add *alot* more drag to the bike. Take them off for a long ride and I'm guessing you'll notice an improvement. I run a top case to hold my stuff on the commute and I have not been able to notice a change with or without it. Add the side cases -even empty- and mileage drops. Your mileage may vary.

 

So far I've only tracked one tank but I got 40 out of it in mixed highway/stop and go. My little 600 peaked at 52mpg. The low end tourque mentioned earlier is a big deal with bikes, thats why 600+lb big v twins can pull 50mpg if treated nicely on mostly highway trips.

 

I had to weigh my '04 to get tags for it...it had less than a half a tank of gas, no bags, and a leo vince slipon. It weighed 526 lbs.

 

My .02 - I'm only 160 lbs, my commute is all in town, I have Givi hard bags on most of the time, I'm probably harder on the throttle at launches than I should be. Last fill up was 30 mpg! I let it warm up while I'm putting on helmet and gloves, but rarely is it up to 167 degress I think. Is anyone getting this bad or is that about right for in town?

Oh yeah, the Erion exhaust is the only performance mod I know of.

 

i have a 07 with 3000 and i weigh in at 170 with gear and i wear a back pack and i get 42-50 and drive mostly city to and from work and when i am out of the city i drive it even harder often hitting the three digits so maybe your just driving it to slow ????????

 

How the bike is ridden, that is 'how hard' makes all the difference from my experience.

Last fall I only had the chance to log about 1k mi on my new to me '96.
First tankfull (still very tentative coming back to sport ergos, etc. from cruiser)... 48mpg! :whoo:
Second tankful, now more re-oriented, lot's of high speed slab and gear switching up back roads... 38mpg! :twitch:

It's all in the wrist...

BTW, my 2000 Vulcan 1500 w/duals & stage III Thunder kit averages 32mpg, 34 at best when I behave myself.

 

I'm in between 36-42 City/Hwy.

Here's a list of 6th gen averages from a while ago:

http://vfrworld.com/forums/6th-generation-2002-2009/13753-6th-gen-average-fuel-mileage.html

 

Nope you are the exception not the rule. There aren't many on here that claim their worst gas milage is 42 MPG. For most that is the best they see. I am actually the norm I think. But since you are wearing a backpack you obviously don't have hard bags, which most say bring it down a bit. I actually have gotten between 39-40 on every fill up except 1 and I got just over 35 on that one. I guess that is not too bad for a bike with 700 miles on it.