Best Gas Mileage.

[treybrad]

Harrumph. I should start a "Worst Mileage" thread.

Has anyone got worse than 48 US mpg?

Nope. I'm not getting the mileage some of you guys are -- my best was just over 70 MPG -- but the worst I've had was ~ 53 MPG a few times headed into the wind at highway speeds (75 MPH).

NC700X (Honda NC700X) | Fuelly

I'm averaging right around 60 MPG in mixed use. I blame my below average efficiency on the E10 gas we're forced to use down here.

trey

 

[670cc]

I'm averaging right around 60 MPG in mixed use. I blame my below average efficiency on the E10 gas we're forced to use down here.

trey

I've been using mostly E10 for something like 15 years or more (not because I wanted to). It figures out to about a 3% reduction in mileage, based on the actual BTU content of the fuels. 3% less is what I see in real world use on my street bikes, carbed or fuel injected. I got about 80 MPG on real gas with the NC700X, and average 77 something on E10.

Worst MPG in 3000 miles was 73.0, best was 80.3 (on pure gas).

Greg

 

[treybrad]

Worst MPG in 3000 miles was 73.0, best was 80.3 (on pure gas).

Well... I'm sure my right wrist doesn't help

I envy your mileage. You must ride at lower speeds than I do on the highway -- I've never seen 73 MPG, let alone 80+. I'm hoping to get up to Colorado this summer -- the higher elevation and lower speed limits should help me crack 70 MPG easily.

That said... I can't complain with the low 60's. My last bike was 'ok' on gas for a big 1255cc monster, but in the same riding conditions I was usually turning low 40's.

trey

 

[670cc]

Well... I'm sure my right wrist doesn't help

I envy your mileage. You must ride at lower speeds than I do on the highway -- I've never seen 73 MPG, let alone 80+. I'm hoping to get up to Colorado this summer -- the higher elevation and lower speed limits should help me crack 70 MPG easily.

That said... I can't complain with the low 60's. My last bike was 'ok' on gas for a big 1255cc monster, but in the same riding conditions I was usually turning low 40's.

trey

Yes, the local country roads I ride require low speeds, but there are few stops. My right wrist is gentle, and my RPMs are kept low. I'm not trying to win the MPG prize, but it's just how I use the NC.

I expect the efficiency to drop next spring/summer when I take some longer trips (once I get the seat sorted out).

Greg

 

[dduelin]

Harrumph. I should start a "Worst Mileage" thread.

Has anyone got worse than 48 US mpg?

I got about 46 mpg with one tank riding 80 mph into a steady stiff headwind. I reckon my airspeed was about 100 mph much of the time.

 

[Chris01011]

I bought my NC yesterday, but won't pick it up until the weather is a bit warmer and the streets are clear. It is used, but with just 106 miles.

My daily driver is a Civic hybrid, and I enjoy driving that for max efficiency. I am eager to see what I can reach on the NC, and will track it on fuelly.

Chris

 

[turbodieseli4i6]

Welcome to the club Chris! I think this bike will smoke the ole Civic. + its a hellofalotmorefun!

 

[tew47]

The 82.5 was a counrty road speed 50 mph. Two stop signs and two traffic lights for 66 miles. Filled up to a mark in the tank and put in .80 gallons.

 

[jmjohnson]

Broke 70 for the first time on my last refill, 74.6 mpg (US). Usually I drive with steep hills but this week I had 2 longer (about 90 miles total) flatter sections and that must have helped. Some amazing mpg numbers above.

 

[N97972]

Best milage ever was 87.6 mpg. average milage over the last 5700 miles has been 77.3mpg. worst was my 2nd tank 67.5 mpg Thrashing it on a road trip over the mtns and freeways (well over the speed limit) 10 0f my 28 fillup tanks are over 80mpg

Pete

 

[Drifter]

87.6 MPG that is hard to do on the new 250s!! I wonder what the cruiser version with this engine will do?

 

[xamagi]

Between 75.9mpg and 67.2mpg on manual S, mostly on road and motorways.

 

[tew47]

Went 63.7 miles on back country roads with posted speed limits from 45 to 55 mph. Got 84.9 mpg. I can live with that! That's was .75 gallons.

 

[Dominican]

I am getting horrible gas mileage! I haven't gotten better than 60 MPG yet. The bike doesn't feel low on power, it feels fine, but I routinely get less than 55 MPG, and I've put over 3k miles on the bike in less than two months. Granted a lot of my riding is riding in NYC, and it is very aggressive mileage, but I did a 320 mile trip over the weekend and on the way back I never went above 80, still only got 59 MPG.

Is there something wrong with my bike or is it just my twisty wrist causing the issue?

 

[happy]

I am getting horrible gas mileage! I haven't gotten better than 60 MPG yet. The bike doesn't feel low on power, it feels fine, but I routinely get less than 55 MPG, and I've put over 3k miles on the bike in less than two months. Granted a lot of my riding is riding in NYC, and it is very aggressive mileage, but I did a 320 mile trip over the weekend and on the way back I never went above 80, still only got 59 MPG.

Is there something wrong with my bike or is it just my twisty wrist causing the issue?

Ermm....how heavy are you?
Tire pressure?
Riding style?
Types of road?
Load?

 

[Gigs]

I ride 74 miles round trip to work 5 days a week. 20% city 80% back roads about 60mph. My best tank was 77MPG. I have the honda touring screen and saddlebags about 400ft above sea level here near Columbia, sc.

 

[MZ5]

My mpg has been steadily climbing since I got the bike late last year. It's now consistently 75+ mpg (American). I have 5,xxx miles on it now, and I think the combination of break-in and warmer weather is why it's been steadily improving. I have the 6-speed manual, and the bike has all the air deflectors, light bar, all 3 Honda hard bags windshield...everything we can get here from Honda. As I understand it, this is an RFG (reformulated gasoline) area, and every pump here is labeled as 'May contain up to 10% ethanol.'

I've only done a very small amount of direct comparing, so I can't say for positive whether the tall/touring vs. standard windscreen makes a difference that exceeds normal variation. Same goes for the saddlebags. Neither the windscreen nor the saddlebags _seem_ to make a difference either way. If they do, it's very small.

I commute on this bike, ~80 miles/day round-trip, all flat ground, mostly freeway at 65 - 75 mph, a little 'country road' at 50 - 60, only a few (<10 combined total each way, normally) stoplights and stop signs, and _generally_ not more than a few miles of snarly freeway traffic.

 

[bamamate]

Dominican,
My guess would be a combination of twisty throttle and higher speeds. The biggest killers of gas mileage are:
Stop n go traffic. Burning gas while not moving.
Fast starts. The faster you accelerate the more gas it takes.
Higher speeds. Once you get above around 50-60 aerodynamics becomes a larger factor and the faster you go the more gas it takes to push the bike through the wind. Tucking down behind the windscreen so your body isn’t a brick wall to the wind can help.

 

[L.B.S.]

I am getting horrible gas mileage! I haven't gotten better than 60 MPG yet. The bike doesn't feel low on power, it feels fine, but I routinely get less than 55 MPG, and I've put over 3k miles on the bike in less than two months. Granted a lot of my riding is riding in NYC, and it is very aggressive mileage, but I did a 320 mile trip over the weekend and on the way back I never went above 80, still only got 59 MPG.

Is there something wrong with my bike or is it just my twisty wrist causing the issue?

I'm pretty sure now that it's specifically how the bike is ridden by the owners, that does the big nasty to the mpg numbers. It seems (to me) that this bike is rather more sensitive to higher rpm usage and the drop off of efficiency than some other designs. Or more to the point actually, it's very, very, good at mpg when it's used at as low as possible rpm, but mediocre at what 90% of people (me for sure included) count as "normal" rpm's.

My first few tanks were pretty bad I thought, being in the 40's, low 50's, especially when my BMW F800ST was getting better than that, and my 800ST mpg was worse than just about anyone else that had one...

Then on one of my last trips the mpg suddenly shot up to 68 mpg. This was with a lot of first gear off road slogging, and highway use with great big wind catching Trax aluminum panniers sticking out. I did not go above 70 miles per hour.

I think if you went 60 to 70 mph, your mpg would be noticeably better. Approaching 80 mph, I think it starts to nose dive.

I've also finally given in to the reality that I'll never be able to shift @ 2,000 RPM. I just can't. I shift @ 3,000 and that still seems unnaturally low, lol. If that means I never get above 70 mpg, so be it I guess.

 

[BttrThnWrk]

I'd have to agree that it's mostly in the wrist. Ever since I got a Buell Ulysses back in '09, i've been training myself to shift sooner than I "felt" I should have. I've continued this practice on the NCX, although training myself to shift at the REALLY low RPM points in the manual has been challenging at times. I try, though. I've definitely found that winding out the revs on take off has a noticeable effect on the mileage. So do freeway speeds, especially when coupled with headwinds. Stop 'n' go city traffic cuts into the mileage figures, too. Fortunately I don't commute on this bike, since I'm retired. Lots of 200 - 400 mile day trips, though -- just rarely on the freeway.

I'm 250#, 5'10", and have a CalSci sport windshield and Honda side & tail bags.

Here's my current Road Trip display: