Eco Mods-MPG

[Alewi]

I am looking to change my sprockets before a 1500 mile road trip to Key West and I would like to change my sprockets to get a little better mpg.

This will be a vast majority freeway cruising so I'm willing to give up acceleration and around town riding performance to get better mileage, cruising range and lower freeway RPM.

Considering a 18/42 ratio but I'm concerned this may be too low and cause the engine to be under load the entire time and have the opposite affect of what I'm looking for.

Anybody out there with knowledge/experience that would help I'd appreciate.

Also getting a luggage rack (all 3 bags) and not sure what system/manufacturer to go with. Any suggestions?

I am doing install myself and can change the sprockets when I get back for better around town riding. I know my right hand is probably the biggest influence on mpg and I'm currently getting 47mpg with stock setup.

 

[outasight20]

18/42 is CRAZY high gearing. You don't want that. It will be very hard to take off from a stop without killing your clutch. I have 17/46 and can get upwards of 55 mpg ( my best is 58) if I'm careful with the throttle. The speedo is also corrected to within a few percent of actual speed this way. I would say maybe try 17/43 if you are looking for the best mileage. I personally wouldn't go higher than that. I'm also unaware of anyone putting a 18t front on their bike. It may not fit under the stock sprocket cover.

 

[Alewi]

Didn't think about it not fitting. I have only seen an 18T one time and I can't remember where.

If I could hit 60mpg I'd be pretty satisfied. On roadtrips i have a pretty conservative throttle. What about the chain? Would I need to do anything or replace it?

 

[yamihoe]

with the 17t on the front and the stock rear when I put my new chain on i had the rear adjusted all the way in...so you will probably have to add a link to your chain....but iirc there isnt a production 18t front sprocket and I highly doubt it will fit under the cover.

 

[Cortez]

+1 for 18/42 being crazy.

I went just +1 on the front and the drop in revs is enough, but I'm
having a hard time adjusting to the new acceleration/performance,
it made a bigger difference then I was expecting.

 

[ticktock]

Have you thought about this in terms of cost benefit?

If you wind up getting 1, or even 2 new sprockets and a new chain, you could spend anywhere from $50 to $200 for everything.

If you were to lower your consumption by 5 miles per gallon, that's an extra 25 miles per tank.

Assuming you're easy on the throttle and can get 200-250 miles per fill up, at $3.50 per gallon that's $17.50 per tank. At 3000 miles you're spending $210 on gas for the entire trip with a stock bike.

By doing the potential mod and getting an extra 5 mpg, you're upping your average tank to 275 miles. Re-doing the math, you'd be spending $190 on gas instead of $210. Only saves you $20, and the bike will be a lot less fun to ride. You'll actually be spending more on the mod than on gas.

Just wanted to throw this out there in case it didn't cross your mind.

Best of luck and have a great trip!

 

[novaks47]

Didn't think about it not fitting. I have only seen an 18T one time and I can't remember where.

If I could hit 60mpg I'd be pretty satisfied. On roadtrips i have a pretty conservative throttle. What about the chain? Would I need to do anything or replace it?

What kind of MPG's are you seeing now? Just curios, because with a heavy throttle(in the city, and very much so while merging), freeway cruising @70-80mph, and a 47-mile commute(one way), with 22 miles of that being mountain roads, I see 47mpg at the lowest. I usually see a steady 50mpg, 55 being the best I ever got. If your trip is mostly highways, 50+ should be easy. Oh, and the only mods to my FZ6(that could effect mpg's anyways) are and old Scorpion exhaust with the hard to get quiet inserts, and a Puig Double-Bubble screen.

 

[outasight20]

Didn't think about it not fitting. I have only seen an 18T one time and I can't remember where.

If I could hit 60mpg I'd be pretty satisfied. On roadtrips i have a pretty conservative throttle. What about the chain? Would I need to do anything or replace it?

You shouldn't have any problems with the stock chain fitting with 17/46. How many miles on the stock chain and sprockets?

You will be able to get very close to 60mpg with the 17/46 setup. Please realize that if you simply use the trip odometer reading to calculate your MPG's, you will be disappointed when you don't see any difference from stock. You need to add 7% to the odometer reading after the change, as your actual distance travelled is now further than the bike thinks.

 

[MattR302]

Last season I was getting about 47-48mpg on my regular commute. This season, I've noticed about 42 mpg. First thing that came to mind was last year I had a 52L topcase... over the winter, I added 21L sidecases. Haven't done any further testing to determine if it was the sidecases that reduced the mileage.

Either way, more miles per gallon and more smiles per gallon than commuting in my car.

 

[Cortez]

You shouldn't have any problems with the stock chain fitting with 17/46. How many miles on the stock chain and sprockets?

You will be able to get very close to 60mpg with the 17/46 setup. Please realize that if you simply use the trip odometer reading to calculate your MPG's, you will be disappointed when you don't see any difference from stock. You need to add 7% to the odometer reading after the change, as your actual distance travelled is now further than the bike thinks.

So that's why my fuelly is calculating rather high mpgs.
FFS.

 

[dpaul007]

You will be able to get very close to 60 mpg with the 17/46 setup. Please realize that if you simply use the trip odometer reading to calculate your MPG's, you will be disappointed when you don't see any difference from stock. You need to add 7% to the odometer reading after the change, as your actual distance traveled is now further than the bike thinks.

I have a 17/46 setup and I am consistently just below 50 mpg. This is after I multiply my tripometer by 1.0625 (17/16 = 1.0625 = 6.25%). And my commute is 26 miles one way to work driving 65-75 mph.

 

[Marthy]

Different bike a bit but not by that much. I tested a few ratio and MPG is not changing much. +1 front should bring down the RPM a bit but more than that would be a bit much. I ran -8 on the rear (16/38... stock is 16/46) It was way too much. Another thing... I end up changing my clutch at 20-25K miles too. I think it's because of the extra load I put on them from those drastic gear change.

If your concern is MPG, slow down. By the way, when are you riding South? I'm in West Palm Beach area...

 

[outasight20]

I have a 17/46 setup and I am consistently just below 50 mpg. This is after I multiply my tripometer by 1.0625 (17/16 = 1.0625 = 6.25%). And my commute is 26 miles one way to work driving 65-75 mph.

Yup, that's right about what I get at those speeds. The time that I got close to 60 MPG, I was doing 50-55 MPH on a state highway with few to no stops and being very gentle on the throttle.

 

[Gelvatron]

Have you thought about this in terms of cost benefit?

If you wind up getting 1, or even 2 new sprockets and a new chain, you could spend anywhere from $50 to $200 for everything.

If you were to lower your consumption by 5 miles per gallon, that's an extra 25 miles per tank.

Assuming you're easy on the throttle and can get 200-250 miles per fill up, at $3.50 per gallon that's $17.50 per tank. At 3000 miles you're spending $210 on gas for the entire trip with a stock bike.

By doing the potential mod and getting an extra 5 mpg, you're upping your average tank to 275 miles. Re-doing the math, you'd be spending $190 on gas instead of $210. Only saves you $20, and the bike will be a lot less fun to ride. You'll actually be spending more on the mod than on gas.

Just wanted to throw this out there in case it didn't cross your mind.

Best of luck and have a great trip!

+1 all the money your dumping on parts would be the cash your trying to save essentially being frugal is expensive.
I'd go up +1 in the front if you have to if not drive it easy 40mpg not enough? Buy a burg man

 

[Cortez]

Got back from a ride today, seriously thinking about going back from 17 to 16 as it was stock.. I've had it like this for maybe 2 weeks and I really miss the power. Funny thing is, I ride relatively slow, it's just how much roll-on power (torque) is missing..

 

[outasight20]

Got back from a ride today, seriously thinking about going back from 17 to 16 as it was stock.. I've had it like this for maybe 2 weeks and I really miss the power. Funny thing is, I ride relatively slow, it's just how much roll-on power (torque) is missing..

Funny, I've gotten so accustomed to the 17T sprocket (Had it for about 10,000 miles if not more) and I never really feel a lack of torque. I just downshift and get the RPM's up to 8K+ when I want to fly The only thing is it's definitely harder to take off from a stop with a passenger, especially up hills.

 

[Cortez]

Funny, I've gotten so accustomed to the 17T sprocket (Had it for about 10,000 miles if not more) and I never really feel a lack of torque. I just downshift and get the RPM's up to 8K+ when I want to fly The only thing is it's definitely harder to take off from a stop with a passenger, especially up hills.

I guess I'll leave it on for a bit longer then and see if I get used to it.
I noticed how easy the front wheel went up in air on throttle in 1st gear
before, and now it won't. Not that I really need it to, but there's a
subjectively big difference in low down pull IMHO.

I've done the same mod on my kawasaki 650r and while that was a twin
with a lot more torque down low, the difference wasn't nearly as dramatic.

Feels like my FZ6 went to being FZ5.