Decreased mileage.

Howardr · Post by **Howardr** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 12:23 am

Today I took a medium to long ride of about 240 miles. Most of this ride was at or near WOT. I check my mileage with every tank and during this ride it dropped from my usual 75mpg or so to 50mpg.
I did this ride specifically to check Buddy's response to WOT. I did not expect that much decrease. Fortunately, I had brought a 1 gallon can with my, otherwise I would have been out of gas around 30 miles frm the nearest human habitation.
Have others experienced this much reduction in mileage or do I need to look for something wrong?

Howard

Anachronism · Post by **Anachronism** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 12:27 am

Not clear in your post. Is this a typical ride, or are you saying you are surprised that a ride that was mostly WOT dropped your milage that much?

I'm really not surprised. Running full out for long periods will use a LOT of gas. Your average 35 mpg car on the highway will get 15 mpg or less run WOT.

nateandcourt · Post by **nateandcourt** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 12:51 am

I feel your pain,

I live in a rural area (I have the cattle in my front yard to prove it) So any ride I take is down us hwy 190 at or near WOT. Needless to say I top it off every time I pass the towns gas station JIC.

But we still get better mileage at our worst than most peoples best.

Howardr · Post by **Howardr** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 1:02 am

I ride a lot of distance, but usually at a more casual pace. So, I was surprised that it dropped that much.

So, it appears that i am not the only one to experience that much decline, so I am feeling a bit better.

jmkjr72 · Post by **jmkjr72** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 3:12 am

many things can cause poor mpg

what is your tire preasure like if they are even a little bit low your mpgs will go down and it can go down big time

if this is on the buddy belt wear will result in lower mpg

wind can cause your mpg to drop a lot if you were bucking a major head wind

poor gas can cause poor mpg also

i ride my stella at wot all day long and get 60 to 70 mpg

Howardr · Post by **Howardr** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 3:36 am

I filled with gas 4 times today:
Tank 1 - (71mpg) Getting out of town, a few stoplights etc.
Tank 2 - (56mpg) all WOT same weather conditions
Tank 3 - (50mpg) a few more hills
Tank 4 - (54 mpg) Flatter than the last.

No change in tire pressure
Brand new belt
Gas is from different stations many miles apart
The previous 2 tanks of gas, last week were 74 and 75 mpg.

The only difference I can see is WOT. I guess I'll have to stick around town for the next tank or two and see if the mileage stays down, or goes back up.

Howard

Post by **Lostmycage** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 4:39 am

Were you able to get your exhaust issues fixed? Even your starting MPG's seem a little down.

You've got the NCY kit in your scoot... are you using the 10g rollers that came with it? If so, you're way underweight in the variator. Especially if you're a long distance rider.

Just a few ideas to toss around.

Cheshire · Post by **Cheshire** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 5:36 am

I...ride mostly WOT in the Appalachian mountains and get about 85 mpg. When I went to Charlotte last year, about 4-5 tanks in a day, my low was 70 mpg. My scooter was stock and only had a few thousand miles on it at the time though, and it's a 125. Still...I'd go over it just to make sure. That seems pretty low.

As an aside: 240 mile trip? Awesome!! Got pics?

Howardr · Post by **Howardr** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 5:37 am

The exhaust issue was fixed with a brand new Prima

No, the 10 gram rollers went in trash after the first ride with the NCY kit. I'm using 14 gram sliders, now.

After the episode with the pipe coming off ( that was 4-5 weeks ago) I changed the oil, plug, belt and pipe.

i do get an occasional backfire on hard acceleration from a stop, but never any other time.

Any other suggestions?

Post by **Lostmycage** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 5:48 am

Something's off with a backfire on a hard acceleration. That doesn't sound as much like an enxhaust leak so much as bad jetting.

Also, 14g sliders might be slightly over-weight. I was using 12g sliders with the NCY kit in the Blur (heavier bike) and those felt just on the cusp of good and too heavy. 11.5 seemed like it would be even better for a mix of stop and go and 60mph cruising.

The backfiring part has me slightly concerned, but a backfire on acceleration is different from the norm... something seems off with that.

Did it backfire on acceleration before the pipe replacement?

Also, how positive are you that they replaced the exhaust gasket with a new one when it was replaced?

Howardr · Post by **Howardr** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 5:57 am

The backfiring has me a bit concerned as well, but it did happen prior to the pipe replacement.

I am not 100% certain that I got a new gasket. The Prima Kit doesn't come with one and they were looking around for one, as I recall. Good point.

Re: weights. I tried the 13 gram stock rollers and they seemed a bit light, some loss on top end. For a while I was using a combination of 13 and 15 gram rollers and that wasn't too bad. those wore out, so that's when i switched to the 14 sliders.

Skootz Kabootz · Post by **Skootz Kabootz** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 7:37 am

FWIW, I rode 1200 miles to Amerivespa the first week of July last summer, 900+ miles of it were WOT, and I found my mpg was pretty consistent. I did burn more gas, as one would expect riding WOT, but I had some tankfulls that actually were better mpg. And this really was WOT riding, fully tucked, hills, flats, up the coast on the 1 going there, and interstate 101 the whole way on the return trip. (Oh how I'd love to do it again right now...)

You can check out all my fillups and milage by clicking the Fuelly avatar in my footer or scroll to the bottom of this page: http://www.fuelly.com/driver/skootzkabo ... log/page/2 . The trip was from July 1- 7

There are two 126mpg oddball fillups when we topped up using the gas supply from the Genuine Love bus because a gas station was no where around (over looking Big Sur... ahhh the memories...) so ignore those two, but the rest are all 100% accurate.

I ride a St. Tropez too so I hope the data is helpful. (Scooter was bone stock on the Amerivespa ride and I was 6'1" 190lbs at the time... )

Skootz Kabootz · Post by **Skootz Kabootz** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 8:09 pm

Howardr wrote:Brand new belt...

Just spotted this. When I put in my Dr. Pully variator, sliders, and contra spring, I also put in a new belt (This was long after the Amerivespa ride). For the first 400 miles or so I saw my milage decrease significantly. By 20% even. As my belt broke in (and the variator too I assume) my milage returned to the same pre-mod levels.

pineapplemice · Post by **pineapplemice** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 2:13 am

What is WOT?

bigbropgo · Post by **bigbropgo** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 2:17 am

wide open throttle, the only way to ride. welcome to MB.

pineapplemice · Post by **pineapplemice** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 2:19 am

Thanks!

Hmm, what exactly does wide open throttle mean?

bigbropgo · Post by **bigbropgo** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 2:25 am

throttle is turned to the maximum. it can go no further. the carb is in the fully open position. throttle body is open fully. ( i have heard all of the above used to describe).

pineapplemice · Post by **pineapplemice** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 2:44 am

Ooh, full throttle! I avoid that like the plague on my Buddy 50, they told me it was bad for the engine (flood the engine or something, but I don't know what that means). I'll use it for a second when I really need the extra boost to get to 45mph.

jmkjr72 · Post by **jmkjr72** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:07 am

pineapplemice wrote:Ooh, full throttle! I avoid that like the plague on my Buddy 50, they told me it was bad for the engine (flood the engine or something, but I don't know what that means). I'll use it for a second when I really need the extra boost to get to 45mph.

ill call bs on that one you can run these engines balls to the wall all day long in the stock form all day long
now if its heavily moded that would be a diffrent story

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 11:26 am

pineapplemice wrote:Ooh, full throttle! I avoid that like the plague on my Buddy 50, they told me it was bad for the engine (flood the engine or something, but I don't know what that means). I'll use it for a second when I really need the extra boost to get to 45mph.

Don't worry about it. I don't do it all the time, but I've ridden my 50cc at WOT continuously for a full tank of gas. Just give it a chance to cool down (like when you stop for gas).

Dan Buddy · Post by **Dan Buddy** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 4:00 pm

Remember a car doesn't get the same gas milage cruising 60mph vs WOT. I don't think a scooter, motorcycle, train or plane would be any different, WOT is going to use more gas.

Syd · Post by **Syd** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 6:58 pm

Starting real training for an Iron Butt run Howard? Good luck.

jasondavis48108 · Post by **jasondavis48108** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 8:54 pm

pineapplemice wrote:Ooh, full throttle! I avoid that like the plague on my Buddy 50, they told me it was bad for the engine (flood the engine or something, but I don't know what that means). I'll use it for a second when I really need the extra boost to get to 45mph.

I run WOT on my 50 99% of the time. With these little 50s if you don't run WOT you get run over. I havn't had any problems whatsoever in the aproximately 2700 miles I have had her. AS long as its broken in I wouldn't worry about it.

pineapplemice · Post by **pineapplemice** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 11:09 pm

jasondavis48108 wrote:I run WOT on my 50 99% of the time. With these little 50s if you don't run WOT you get run over. I havn't had any problems whatsoever in the aproximately 2700 miles I have had her. AS long as its broken in I wouldn't worry about it.

Good to know! There have definitely been a few times when I relied on WOT to not get run over, but without keeping it at WOT it was just barely.

Hmm, the sales rep told me not to use WOT, but when I took it in for it's post-200 mile check-up the guy at their shop told me to keep doing what I was doing. Which was riding it hard. He said the Buddy is built to take it and love it... or something.

Thanks for sharing your experience with me! (And sorry for hijacking the thread!)

Howardr · Post by **Howardr** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 3:06 am

Syd wrote:Starting real training for an Iron Butt run Howard? Good luck.

Yup. 400-500 miles is the training ride, then the real thing.

Syd · Post by **Syd** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 5:07 am

Howardr wrote:
Syd wrote:Starting real training for an Iron Butt run Howard? Good luck.
Yup. 400-500 miles is the training ride, then the real thing.

Awesome. Got a date planned? The IB on a Buddy would be quite an accomplishment. Don't forget the NoDoz!

Howardr · Post by **Howardr** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 6:26 am

I'll be taking the date one day at a time. I'll be watching weather conditions. I don't to have to worry about hypothermia. So I'm waiting til night-time temps are about 60 degrees. I'm thinking somewehre around April 1st.

Howard

k1dude · Post by **k1dude** » Wed Mar 17, 2010 6:59 pm

When I was babying my Buddy during break-in, I was getting 90 to 100 mpg. After it was broken-in I began to ride WOT more often. My mileage has been gradually decreasing. I'm now only getting about 75mpg riding WOT most of the time. I weigh 160 lbs.

jijifer · Post by **jijifer** » Wed Mar 17, 2010 8:05 pm

yeah. I'm running 12g slider or 11? I guess I don't recall and the 161kit with a 150 head (not the NCY head) and the best I ever get is about 68mpg. If I'm riding WOT at any altitude over 1k feet that steadily drops and at about 4k ft I run about 50-55mpg.

I'm a big girl, too.

But interestingly, I saved 1/4 of a tank by riding below WOT. That is usually a trek to my scooter shop is 3/4 tank of gas (40miles) and while some sections are slower, mostly I'm riding WOT. When I headed down with all my camping gear, I went slower and ended up, despite the increased weight, using only 1/2 a tank instead of the usual 3/4. I think WOT really, REALLY impacts the mpg. I didn't clock the mpg, just talking about the gauge. Where normally I'll see 1/4 left I had 1/2!

So the only time I had any backfiring was when I put high octane gas in at a rural station. I think the gas was bad. Someone pointed out that maybe it sits in the tank a long time since it so expensive? once I worked that tank through, I never had a problem again.