Jets, Pods, and Gas mileage

[jhw84]

To those of you with Pod filters and Jet kits:

How did this affect your gas mileage? Was there a significant difference before and after? If so, how much? Was the horsepower gain worth the extra gas?

Just wondering... all input would be helpful.

 

[Jeff Tate]

I have pods and a stage 3 jet kit on my 1100E and can get around 42 mpg while cruising on the freeway or even backroads at a reasonable pace but if I really get heavy handed my mileage will dip into the 20's. When my bike was brand new 44 mpg was normal on the highway and could get into the low 30's when pushed hard so it did have an effect on mileage. My bikes been modified since 1986 so as with anything you get used to the bit of extra power. I think the loss of weight from the stock exhaust to a 4-1 had some impact also. If you're a big person (I am) and can stand to lose some weight (I could), then leave your bike alone and diet. Loseing pounds is the same as adding HP. My bike runs fine but if I had it to do over again I'd have left it stock. I had a lot more patience when I was younger and didn't mind fiddling with the carbs every so often.

 

[Jethro]

I have almost the same mileage as Jeff said, 42mpg if the clock never sees north of 4000, 20mpg if I'm breaking the law.

 

[KEITH KRAUSE]

If you re-jet correctly, you'll lose about 2-3 mpg if you ride about the same after the conversion.
Personally, I would not do this mod on a 450, even if you installed a free flow exhaust. And jet kits made for pods, are designed with a free flow exhaust in mind. If you want more power, I would look into a larger bike.
It takes a lot of patience to correctly re-jet and if it's done wrong, you'll wish the bike was left alone. A 450 will most likely lose some lower rpm power/torque by going to pods. 450's need all the low end power they have.

 

[jhw84]

Well, Jeff, at 5' 10" and 145 lbs, i dont have any weight to spare. 8)
I understand its alot of work, and after digging in the carbs to fix the floats, Im sure I wont be doing that again anytime soon.
Yes, Keith, I think i will leave my 450 alone. I really like the 81 GS750 chain drive, and maybe one day i will be lucky enough to own one.
I was really just curious about that for future refrence, because nobody ever talks about it.
Even with your "lower" gas mileage, it is still better than the Toyota Corolla. Mmmmm... Bikes

I thank you gentlemen for your insight, it has given me alot to think about.

 

[Jeff Tate]

I only mention the weight loss as a horsepower gain (sort of) because it pertains to me and I think loseing 20 -30 pounds would be cheaper than trying to build my motor more to drag my butt around. I've decided that the best speed part for me is a new bicycle.

 

[Anonymous]

Jeff, i think you migh have something there, at 6'6" and 260 lbs, I feel like an abusive parent if I even think of actuallt using my sport rack, much less riding two up


Derrick

 

[lhanscom]

I only mention the weight loss as a horsepower gain (sort of) because it pertains to me and I think loseing 20 -30 pounds would be cheaper than trying to build my motor more to drag my butt around. I've decided that the best speed part for me is a new bicycle.

I think you're missing the point. You build the motor up so you CAN carry an extra 20-30 pounds,. :wink: :lol:

 

[Jeff Tate]

But then I'm back to square one. I appreciate you trying to convince me not to lose weight, but I'm doing just fine in that department myself LOL. I'm just a big guy at 6' 5" and 250lbs and I see some of these scrawny guys on sportbikes that easily have 40 horses on me and wonder how in heck they keep them on the road. (Well I guess alot of them don't after some of the vids I've seen on line).

 

[Anonymous]

I like that.....my mass provides stability for my ride :lol:

 

[jhw84]

As long as you are happy with who you are. Thats what counts :wink:

 

[Poot]

i seem to be fine 150 lbs :-D get enough torque from the 600lb piece i ride on too.

 

[Anonymous]

GS750, pods (hate em) 112.5 main jets (genuine suzuki part 09491-22015), boyer brandsen Mk3 ignition, 15/40 sprokets

Today (43C = 109F) I traveled

210Km
130.5mi

14.18 ltr
3.11 UK gal
3.75 US gal


This equates to:
14.8K/litre
7.05L per 100Km
40.06Mpg (UK)
33.35Mpg (US)

A good little online fuel conversion
http://www.euronet.nl/users/grantm/frans/fuel.html

 

[Anonymous]

Ps: im 95Kg or 210Lb

 

[jhw84]

Andrew, why do you hate your pods?

...Its 38 deg. F here right now

 

[rodcwer]

i love my pods and jets.still working on the adjustment( still a little rich on 3,4.but the difference in performance is worth a little gas mileage,at least to me.I took a trip up to sebring fla. a couple a weeks ago with earlfor,and i averaged about 30 to 35mpg .we were travelin about 70to 80 mph on the open roads

 

[Anonymous]

Andrew, why do you hate your pods?(

Well its simple reallly, my beleif (and experience) is that whilst they do breathe better, during rainy periods they allow water to be ingested onto the airfilter surfaces, thus causing an extra rich air fuel mixture which is similar to having the choke jammed on.

As you know, in Australia (and most other countries) the weather can and does change without warning, and the practicality of carrying a shield or OEM airbox for such times is impossible, not to mention the installation as well!

Ive experienced a rich air fuel mixture on numerous vehicles with open airfilters. Motorcycles with many various brands and types of pods, and the same on cars as well.

Hence my dislike of them, of the last 12 months, ive done 28000K on my GS750, of that about 8000-12000 was in rain which was generally heavy.

 

[isaac]

So I was thinking this discussion (or a tangent of it) should continue seeing as it's becoming ever so important as of late - particularly in my case.

After ripping the carbs apart and blasting the crap out of them, my bike still gets horrific gas mileage. I'm talking less than 25mpg on every tank. I ride exclusively in town, with a good amount of lights stopping me. Of course I'm thinking something's wrong when I've read these GS 750s were rated at 45mpg and I'm getting half that.

There was a tangent in this thread about riding style affecting mpg, and I was thinking maybe I ride exceptionally hard. I'd say about 40% of the time I pull away from a light I nail full throttle up to 9,000rpm for one or two gears. I always take off moderately hard, usually letting the needle pass 6,000 before shifting, but not too rough. Other than that I'm usually cruising, not running up and down over and over between lights.

So I'm wondering if riding style really does have a huge effect on mpg of a carbed bike. I've not yet tried riding like a wuss for a whole tank yet, but maybe I will.

 

[Katamaniac]

Riding style has a big effect on fuel economy. If you are hammering it out of the hole, you are taking fuel direcly through the main jets.

Just for the fun of (or lack of fun) try riding on a full tank without getting on it hard and I bet you will be very surprised.

I've gotten up to 43 MPG with the Kat and I have K&N Pods and a Yosh 4 into 1.

So I'm wondering if riding style really does have a huge effect on mpg of a carbed bike. I've not yet tried riding like a wuss for a whole tank yet, but maybe I will.

 

[Anonymous]

So I'm wondering if riding style really does have a huge effect on mpg of a carbed bike.

Yes, it will have a huge effect on your mileage. On my ZX-9 I average about 52-53mpg (imperial gallons, remember) commuting in mixed highway/freeway/surface street travel. This is almost always through heavy traffic, so I am puttering along at 1/8 throttle all the time. If I go out and rip it up a bit like you describe, it will drop into the 36-38mpg range easily. I have done worse than that on occasion when I was particularly spirited for a tank full. One of your full throttle blasts to 9000rpm probably adds 5-10% to the fuel consumption for an entire commute. Doing that every light could easily cost you 25% on mileage.

To get really good mileage from your bike you need to have the idle and needle mixtures set lean, just on the verge of noting lean issues (surging, hesitation, etc.). Your mains don't control much since the vast majority of time you will be only on the pilot or just into the needle. even at highway speeds. Then you must keep throttle openings small enough to not hit the main jet. Not much fun, but your mileage will improve significantly.


Mark