Bad Gas milage!

[GScruiser]

Hello all,

This may about be about my Gs, but I have a question about bad gas milage on my Sabre.

I just bought it off of my Dad. It is a great bike (v-4 power!!) But my concern is its terrible gas milage it is getting right now! My Dad said he used to be getting 40-45, but now im getting only 30-38!!! Yes, the 38 was on the hi-way, constant speed at 70-75.

I have tried different experiments to bump her up! I tamed my right hand down, no improvement. I cleaned air filter-none. I filled up the tires- none.

I am usually pretty hard on the throttle (as with most other motorcyclists), not crazy-beating-the-snot-out-of-it though ( i do not abuse it) but i think i should expect AT least 35+ in the city in these conditions!!!



Heres the specs-

33,600 miles

20-50 Valvoline Dino "racing'' oil

clean air filter

filled up tires to specs

Heres what i think could be possibiltys why im not getting good mpg ( or a combination of all)..


- Unbalanced carbs (never have been balanced since rebuild)
- to heavy of oil
- non-synth oil
- Junk plugs (have not been replaced since my dad has gotten it 9 years ago)
- Valve lash needs adjustment (has never been done for its 33,600 miles)

Any help would be appreciated!!!:-D

[hikermikem]

Heres what i think could be possibiltys why im not getting good mpg ( or a combination of all)..

- Unbalanced carbs (never have been balanced since rebuild)
- to heavy of oil
- non-synth oil
- Junk plugs (have not been replaced since my dad has gotten it 9 years ago)
- Valve lash needs adjustment (has never been done for its 33,600 miles)

I think you pretty much answered your own question. I think you're lucky it's getting 30mpg considering the lack of maintenance you've stated.

Change the plugs, adjust the valves, balance the carbs & I'm thinking you'll have a brand new bike!

Good luck.

[Mark whiz]

Ditto to what hikermike said - tune that sucker up. And get that racing oil changed out of it.

You also should check the brakes and make sure they aren't dragging on the rotors

[Nessism]

- Unbalanced carbs (never have been balanced since rebuild)
- to heavy of oil
- non-synth oil
- Junk plugs (have not been replaced since my dad has gotten it 9 years ago)
- Valve lash needs adjustment (has never been done for its 33,600 miles)

Any help would be appreciated!!!:-D

You should be happy that the bike runs at all! First generation Honda V4's are famous for eating their camshafts, and your bike has clearly been neglected so don't expect too much.

[chef1366]

Thirty-eight is pretty good :-D

[waterman]

I will second what chef said. I had a madura 700 v4 tuned great that would hardly get 38 mpg. I was getting maybe 30 on average. I think I would concentrate on getting the bike to run well and not worry too much about mileage, it can be frustrating chasing after figures. Especially when you consider all the variables that can affect mileage.

[80-81, GS 1100]

I had a V65 Sabre that got in the 40s. But I am afraid to
run a bike hard unless its valves are kept adjusted.
The V65 was pretty easy to adjust too, no special tools needed.
Plenty of bikes out there that get scraped for lack of a valve adjustment.

[Steve]

One other tip that involve no expense and very little effort:

Slow down. Bikes are very UN-aerodynamic vehicles, and it is really amazing how much difference there is in drag between the speeds of 65 and 75. My wife's 850 and my Wing get decent mileage when we cruise no more than 65 on the freeway, but they both really suck when speeds go over 70. A few weeks ago (Labor Day weekend), on our trip to West Virginia with a bunch of friends, we cruised half-way there on the freeway at about 70-72 mph (into a mild headwind). Her bike averaged 31 mpg for this portion, my bike got 33. Yeah even riding with my son on the back and towing a trailer, my Wing got better mileage than her 850. 8-[ We slowed down a bit on the winding 2-lane for the rest of the trip, my bike got 36, hers jumped to 42. The rest of the weekend was made up of day-trips through the mountains, then the trip home. Mileage for my bike for the remainder of the trip was 37.9, hers was 49.9. OVerall for the 1200-mile trip: Wing, 36.8 mpg, 850, 44.4 mpg. If we had kept the speed down on that first leg and gotten the same mileage as the rest of the trip, the numbers would have been 37.6 and 48.5.

Moral of the story: twisting the throttle will affect it some, but since we were in the mountains of WV, you know we were using the throttle. The big factor here is speed. It is still possible to have fun on a bike without racing everywhere, so, if you are concerned with getting more mileage, keep the speed down.

Oh, and do all that tune-up stuff, too. 8-[


.

[SqDancerLynn1]

If I beat on my 850 milage can go down mid 20's. Riding style can make a BIG difference. Do a tuneup first!

[GScruiser]

Thanks everyone for the input!:-D

I do not usually exceed 70 on the freeway, I go 75 if no-ones on the road(rarely) Speed is for the track!

I do mostly city riding, that kills mpg much, stop-acelerate- blast past a stupid cager - stop for stoplight for 40 secs. That does waste alot of gas!

Luckly, I have the second refinement V-4s, and the cam-oiling problems were fixed for all V-4's!!\\/

I have a junk engine to practice valve adjustment on before i open up my running bike and maybe mess something up more.

[Nessism]

Luckly, I have the second refinement V-4s, and the cam-oiling problems were fixed for all V-4's!!\\/

Cam wear problem was not fixed until 1986 when the VFR came out. Based on the mileage of your engine though, you got a good one so maybe you will be okay. Hope so.