Hi y'all,

I have a 1994 sportster 1200. Currently I am seeing 23 mpg!?!?!

Today, filled 2 gallons after traveling 46 miles. WTF is wrong with my Sporty?
I recently replaced battery and spark plugs. I though that would of helped
but it certainly did not.

I checked the plugs and looks to me like I'm running really lean too
(plug cores were white).

I am lost !

 

Makes sense if it's 46 miles in gridlock stop & go traffic and never getting out of first gear.

Under what conditions are you getting 23 mpg?

 

Hammer on it a bit and your gas mileage goes to hell quick too.

I can empty a tank in less than eighty miles when I'm by myself, but I can do better than 45 with the wife on the bike with me. lol

 

23 mpg is really really low. Im in mixed traffic situations, but not a whole lot
of stop and go. I am certainly not on the throttle that much, and basically just
at cruise speeds. most people get an average of 50mpg with a sportster 1200,
and coming in at half that raises a red flag.

 

Well, if it makes ya feel better, I get about the same mileage. 10 mi round trip commute, city streets up into the hills and back each day. On the freeway I get 50-ish mpg. City riding=horrible mileage.

 

strange that it seems to be running lean... my guess for a bike with low mpg is that it is like mine- too rich. which makes the thing run like a bat outta heck!
my mpg sucks cause i ride it like i stole it, and i have it tuned to run rich-

 

I'm not gentle on mine whatsoever, and mine has a mikuni, and I have never seen less than 40 mpg, ever, something is really up there.

 

You might want to check for a gas leak between the fuel petcock and the carb because that kind of millage is really low for just about ANY riding condition.

 

+1

 

I will pull the carb tomorrow and give it a thorough cleaning. If its in stock, I will replace all the fuel lines as well.