Early this morning 2 other guys and myself headed out for a few hours of riding some serious twisties through the Virginia mountains. Towards the end of the trip we all topped off our tanks and the following I found interesting.

Bike 1: 2010 Electra Glide Ultra Classic with 103 ci motor got 39 MPG.

Bike 2: 2009 Electra Glide Ultra Classic with 96 ci motor got 45 MPG.

Bike 3: My 01 Road King (carb) with 88 ci motor got just shy of 48 MPG.

Funny thing is my Road King never has a problem keeping up with the 09. Was the first time I rode with the other guy with the 103 and I am sure he could pull way ahead and smoke me in any condition.

Just glad we got a super early start (6:30 AM) as it got mighty hot as I came down the mountain. I got into town at 2:00 and sweat was starting to burn my eyes so I am thinking its got to be a hundred degrees. Come past a bank and it read 99.

 

Very understandable if you think about it.
Just like car engines, a 4 cyl will get better mileage than a 6 cyl and so on for the 8 cyl.

 

Just got home from my "loop" to visit people and places. Nc through Va and WVa mountain roads, I 79 to Pa turnpike into Ohio, then country roads back through Pa to Md and then Va and back to the house in NC. 1300 miles in all.

2000 95" S/E Road Glide.

Averaged 45 mpg on the interstates, and on 2 tanks through the mountains just a shade over 50 mpg. There were many miles of 2nd, 3rd and 4th gear climbing the mountains, but then I got to go downhill on the other side too, so the mileage was great.

And yeah, it was HOT. She burned just under a pint of oil on the trip, when normally it uses just a couple of ounces between 5,000 miles services.

 

Mileage can also depend on the cam and tune, not only the engine size, I actually get better mileage now that my bike is a 107 than I did when it was 96, quite a pleasent surprise.

 

Sounds almost identical to a trip I recently took except I just missed Ohio by a couple miles.

Sure but you got a sweet and black Road Glide. Aren't they more aerodynamic and just all around the best riding HD on the road? I've ridden a couple and want one so bad I can't stand it....

 

I knew a guy with a 120 dark horse motor in his ultra , he could get 54mpg if he was on the highway.
He said if he twists the wick it got 40 or so, all in the tune.

 

Makes sense, even the same year and motor will vary quite a bit sometimes.

 

Are all three bikes completely stock?

 

Yep, except for the exhaust tips. RC Customs on my Road King and Rush (I think) on the 96 ci. 103 has stock everything. No other mods to any of the bikes. Now if I bump into a money tree my motor will be built up with bored heads, Andrews cams, adjustable rods and then some but not in the foreseeable future.

 

sounds like a nice run.Interesting information