First Road Trip (with the GS850)

[Canada Dan]

I finally got an opportunity to take my GS850 that I bought four years ago for a road trip! (young family)

I rode to Wetaskiwin on the 24th of last month, stayed overnight then continued on to Calgary the following day. Sat through a meeting then travelled back to Red Deer in the afternoon. Spent a couple of days at the family farm then headed for home.

Great ride although Alberta's highways tend to be a bit boring. Ran through some rain and hail between Whitecourt and Vallyview - no problem though, I'm one of those wimps that hides behind a good windshield.

One thing that surprised me a little though was the limited range the bike has. I didn't switch to reserve ever, but the fuel gauge indicated I might have to after about 250kms. (155 miles) I was travelling at about 120kms/hr (75mph) and it improved a bit when I backed off a little however the best milage I got was 35mpg.

The bike ran great though and it felt great to get out there again, its been a few years.

Riding on the Deerfoot Trail in Calgary has gotten a little crazier than I remember, but then maybe it's just that I've aged a bit.

I encountered quite a few notsmarts in cars in the rain - why would you pass a bike in the rain on a fourlane highway with no other vehicles anywhere in sight and then pull back in right away?!!!

Great time though just the same, good thing I went when I did - we've had about 5" of snow here in the last few days.

Looking forward to spring...

Dan.

[KEITH KRAUSE]

Sounds like you had a pretty good trip.
Just be glad the cagers go around you and not over you.
Thanks for sharing.

[earlfor]

Re: First Road Trip (with the GS850)

Habit. Usually there is traffic coming, so they pull back in as quickly as possible. An empty road makes no difference, because their brain is as empty as the road.

Earl

[quote="Canada Dan"]

I encountered quite a few notsmarts in cars in the rain - why would you pass a bike in the rain on a fourlane highway with no other vehicles anywhere in sight and then pull back in right away?!!!

[Hoomgar]

Rock on Dan! I am happy for you
It's great to get back on and ride after a lull.

[MikeW665]

Snow already?????.....Yikes It sounds like you had a good time inspite of the knuckleheads on the road. What year is your GS? I have an 83 that gets between 45 and 50 miles (72 to 80 km) to the gallon. I get that with a mix of city and highway. Although I wasn't traveling at 75 mph I can't imagine that the mileage would drop off that much. You might want to check the condition of your plugs, which would give you an insight as to what's going on with carburetion.

[Canada Dan]

Mike

It's a '79, I changed the plugs last year and then didn't ride much as I had back surgery soon after. The other thing that is probably causing some of the problem is I still haven't addressed the tubes from the air box to the carb's. Three of them are a bit loose at the airbox - the headers off those three cylinders have discolored.

Yeah, and the snow thing well what can I say about that - It goes late and comes early (some years really early) but we love it here. The weather warmed up some today and is supposed to continue to improve through the coming week - I need to ride into town and wash the bike up before it goes in the back corner of the shed for the winter.

Dan.

[fast eddie]

Nice ride Dan. I remember one day I left from home (at the time Edmonton) in the morning and got back home in the evening, after a detour via Camrose, Drumheller, Taber, Fort Macleod, Calgary, Red Deer. The roads aren't the twistiest, but the highlight is an awesome sense of the great, wide open outdoors.

[mdole]

Sound like you had a pretty nice ride in spite of the cagers in the rain.

[bwringer]

That highway mileage is about right. Motorcycles are nowhere near as aerodynamically efficient as cars, so wind resistance goes up quite a lot faster as speed goes up.

If you're just putting around at 55 mph, you can easily get 40+ mpg on a GS850. But at highway speeds, mileage easily drops into the 30s. A decent size fairing also creates a lot of drag.

I get about 35 to 38 mpg on my commute (naked GS850G), which is about 25 miles of 65 mph state highway and 35 miles of 80 - 85+ mph interstate. On a trip to my sister's house (all 55 - 65 mph small roads and state highways), I get about 40 - 42 mpg.

Plus, a lot depends on how much you succumb to the temptations of the throttle. :twisted: :twisted:

[Jethro]

I was about to say, the mileage seems pretty good. I get 30-35 consistantly, but I consistantly throttle to the stops.

[dpep]

My 850's mileage is in line with yours, 35-40 depending upon how and where I'm riding. I have a Winjammer fairing.

You should definitely go on reserve. I don't even look for a gas station until I am on reserve. The GSs have a little over a gallon reserve good for 30-40 miles. On a trip I try to gas up at around 175-185 miles. One tank on a trip last summer took me over 200. I am talking about daytime riding on roads with reasonable distances between gas stations.

You want to use your reserve just to make sure it works. Someday you may be out in the boonies late at night need to go to that reserve. You want it to be there. Use it or lose it.