poor gas mileage
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2nd Gear
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
poor gas mileage
I have a 2000 FLHT Electraglide Standard with about 21,000 miles on it. Only mods done are an HSR42 Mikuni Carb. and Screamin Eagle Air Kit along with V&H Longshot exhausts. I am not heavy on the throttle and rarely run above 3K rpm. I am getting a combined 29 to 32 mpg. While I understand intake, carb, and exhaust mods can affect mpg., this seems really poor. The carb. has a 165 Main jet. Any thoughts out there??? thanks.....drifter
RE: poor gas mileage
OK Drifter,
Milage is one of those things that you hear debated at the gas pump. When I was riding a new 2000 Ultra I'd ride in a large group and then stop for gas. I'd put in 4 and my buddy would put in 3.5. We both ran the same speed for the same distance . I've argued with people who claimed to be getting 50 mpg when I was getting 35 on a stock motor.
The more you change the more you use. Remember Harley's run lean out of the factory and everything you've done is considered a performance modification. If you could go down one size on your jet without running too lean you could probably bump it up to 35 mpg.
Personally I like getting 35 mpg and getting to the gas station 30 minutes ahead of the stock bikes (lol)
Terry
Milage is one of those things that you hear debated at the gas pump. When I was riding a new 2000 Ultra I'd ride in a large group and then stop for gas. I'd put in 4 and my buddy would put in 3.5. We both ran the same speed for the same distance . I've argued with people who claimed to be getting 50 mpg when I was getting 35 on a stock motor.
The more you change the more you use. Remember Harley's run lean out of the factory and everything you've done is considered a performance modification. If you could go down one size on your jet without running too lean you could probably bump it up to 35 mpg.
Personally I like getting 35 mpg and getting to the gas station 30 minutes ahead of the stock bikes (lol)
Terry
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 8,129
Likes: 1,981
From: Ottawa, CANADA
RE: poor gas mileage
Welcome to the forums. Good luck getting the mileage issue solved.
Cheers!
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Cheers!
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Elite HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 4,092
Likes: 1
From: St. Petersburg Florida
RE: poor gas mileage
Your aftermarket Carb might the the problem. As stated before, try going with a smaller jet size. If that does not work, go back to the stock carb. Is this a recent change in your gas mileage? Or has it been like this the whole time? How heavy is the bike?Have you added saddlebags, or anything that changed the weight considerabley? If you have corrected your carb or engine problems, then weight and drag would then have to be looked into. Gas mileage is determinant on 4 basic factors; Engine efficiency, weight, drag, driving technique.
Hope this helps and welcome aboard!
Hope this helps and welcome aboard!
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Cruiser
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 208
Likes: 0
From: Show Me State
RE: poor gas mileage
Hello and welcome, there's enough of us here that somebody will help you figure this out... first things first, like was previously asked, did this just start or has it been same MPG all along? Did you buy it with mods already? If not, what was MPG before mods? Do you notice a rich condition? plug color or gas smell?
again, welcome and good luck!
Rich
again, welcome and good luck!
Rich
Tourer
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 354
Likes: 0
From:
RE: poor gas mileage
Almost certainly your aftermarket carb, but you say you rarely run above 3,000 rpm? Might sound crazy, but try stretching her out a little more (without caning it
) - twin cam motors like to be revved a little and with the carb mod you might find it runs more efficiently further up the rpm scale.