Jets, Pods, and Gas mileage

[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

[earlfor]

Riding style will make a big difference on gas milage. My 1150 around the outskirts of town taking it easy and putting along mostly in the 40 to 50 mph range gets 45-47 mpg. On the highway cruising at 65-70, milage is 40-41.
At 80-85 mph, milage is 35-36. At 100-110 mph milage is 28-30.

Earl

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.

[dpep]

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.

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.

As stated riding style has a big impact on mileage and it sounds like you do hammer it pretty good. But still 25 mpg is low. Certainly try short shifting for one whole tank just for a reference point. But I would bet you have some ther issues going on there. Check your plugs. Check to make sure your brakes aren't dragging.

[Anonymous]

Andrew, why do you hate your pods?

...Its 38 deg. F here right now

Well, IMHO they are awesome for performance, great for improving airflow, but total crap if the bike is used in the wet.

Personal experience, and dyno testing shows that these "pod" air filters, (even when oiled correctly) mean running rich during damp conditions, meaning that you are effectively riding with the choke pulled on.

What happens is that the moisture covers the air filter surface on the directly exposed pod, and restricts air flow to the carby, meaning that it sucks more fuel and less air and also has to suck a lot harder to get the air fuel mixture into the engine.

As we all know, Running any engine with the choke on increases fuel consumption and decreases engine performance.

Another side effect is that the increased air fuel mixture washes some of the oil from the bore and increases wear in the engine.

again, this is my findings from personal experience and dyno tests.

[lhanscom]

Andrew, why do you hate your pods?

...Its 38 deg. F here right now

Well, IMHO they are awesome for performance, great for improving airflow, but total crap if the bike is used in the wet.

Personal experience, and dyno testing shows that these "pod" air filters, (even when oiled correctly) mean running rich during damp conditions, meaning that you are effectively riding with the choke pulled on.

What happens is that the moisture covers the air filter surface on the directly exposed pod, and restricts air flow to the carby, meaning that it sucks more fuel and less air and also has to suck a lot harder to get the air fuel mixture into the engine.

As we all know, Running any engine with the choke on increases fuel consumption and decreases engine performance.

Another side effect is that the increased air fuel mixture washes some of the oil from the bore and increases wear in the engine.

again, this is my findings from personal experience and dyno tests.

While what you state here is true, the effect will differ dramatically depending on bike design. Some bikes have the pods in a fully open environment, while on my bike, and my 700 before that, the pods are almost entirely blocked from moisture contact by the side covers. Personally I've never had any problems riding in the rain with pods, but have heard of some people having water from the tank pour directly on their pods, obviously effecting performance.