06 Fazer MPG issues

[symtex]

I looked and looked and found a great super clean Red 06 FZ6 with 3800 miles on it. I took it to Kent Power Sports to give it a look over before the purchase. They said to run fuel treatment through it and everything else looked good. I went to Chevron and I put 3 oz of Seafoam to the 3 gals it took to fill her up when I bought it, since the previous owner said the gas was over 6 months old. The bike seems to run and idle just fine. However, I only got 128 miles before I hit reservoir (31 mpg) on the first tank of gas. The second tank I did not user Seafoam and got 35 mpg. I have only put 254 miles on it since I purchased it, however the MPG obviously sucks. I'm embarrassed to ride with anyone yet with any distance since I will slow them down to fill up before them. I was reading about TPS issues and while they seem to have been corrected with the 06 and later, I ran the self diag anyways. I get 16 and 101 on the diag. I know 101 is out of spec, however I don't know if that would be enough to get the mileage im getting without obvious performance issues as well. I have not been driving above 9k much, so it's not the lets see how fast I can go and running it too hard. Temps have been 95 to 100 degrees.
I put new tires (Dunlop Q3) on the day the dealer looked at it and had oil changed and chain adjusted. Also the battery was just replaced before I purchased it. I have not looked at the plugs or the air filter since it only had 3800+ miles on it.

Anyone have any suggestions on what to look at?
How often can I use Seafoam?

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Check your brakes for excessive drag.

You should be able to get get close to one full rotation on the ft wheel (by hand). Put the bike on the CC, a sizzor jack under the header, or have someone lean on the seat to raise the front wheel up. Yamaha recommends caliper seal replacment every two years. In real life, expect 4-5 years.

Make sure your chain is very clean well lubed and adjusted correctly(2" total up and down play).

The 101 high # for the TPS isn't a major issue. The engine is running very, very slightly richer at 101. You want to make sure ALL the #'s in between are linear, don't skip etc.

I would check the air filter and also do a throttle sync.

You can run Sefoam all the time if you like, 30 MPG's is pretty low. You can run it on the heavy side as well without and ill effects...

Yamaha makes a product called RingFree which is MUCH more powerfull than Seafoam, (1oz / 10 gallons). It cleans the fuel system and the top end of the engine.

You should be seeing, depending on how your riding 35-50 MPG. I usually see about 48 beating around town..

Run that old fuel out of there or dump it.

Please post what you find..

 

[Carlos840]

I usually get between 30 and 35 Mpg on my Fz6, and it runs great! I do have a pretty heavy handed wrist though, and love to keep the rpm high.

One possible culprit i want to add to Scott's list is gearing! Double check that your gearing is stock, it should be 15 in the front and 46 in the rear, if you have anything else the odometer will be inaccurate and so will your mileage.

 

[ctbandit]

I usually get between 30 and 35 Mpg on my Fz6, and it runs great! I do have a pretty heavy handed wrist though, and love to keep the rpm high.

One possible culprit i want to add to Scott's list is gearing! Double check that your gearing is stock, it should be 15 in the front and 46 in the rear, if you have anything else the odometer will be inaccurate and so will your mileage.

I thought it was 16/46?

 

[FinalImpact]

Check your brakes for excessive drag.

You should be able to get get close to one full rotation on the ft wheel (by hand). Put the bike on the CC, a sizzor jack under the header, or have someone lean on the seat to raise the front wheel up. Yamaha recommends caliper seal replacment every two years. In real life, expect 4-5 years.

Make sure your chain is very clean well lubed and adjusted correctly(2" total up and down play).

The 101 high # for the TPS isn't a major issue. The engine is running very, very slightly richer at 101. You want to make sure ALL the #'s in between are linear, don't skip etc.

I would check the air filter and also do a throttle sync.

You can run Sefoam all the time if you like, 30 MPG's is pretty low. You can run it on the heavy side as well without and ill effects...

Yamaha makes a product called RingFree which is MUCH more powerfull than Seafoam, (1oz / 10 gallons). It cleans the fuel system and the top end of the engine.

You should be seeing, depending on how your riding 35-50 MPG. I usually see about 48 beating around town..

Run that old fuel out of there or dump it.

Please post what you find..

^^ +5
Well said and that covers the basics.
Def look at the air filter, thats super low miles which means lots of sitting.
Not sure of your skills but in the realm of fuel delivery under WOT if the engine runs out flawlessly to 12k up a hill it tells you there are no major flow issues in the fuel system so if its possible, make sure it pulls cleanly to redline WHILE UNDER LOAD! If it stumbles or hesitates, its good indication there is a restriction somewhere. In short, if its starving for fuel it can impact MPG's.
Good luck and be safe.

 

[FinalImpact]

I thought it was 16/46?

That is correct. 16/46…

 

[symtex]

Well I read up on how to access the air filter and checked it out. The filter looked good to me.
I also pulled the number 4 plug and it also looks good. I checked the gap and it was within spec.
I gave the front tire a spin with my foot and got 3 full rotations.
I will have to buy a Carbtune kit to check the TBS.
The dealer lubed and adjusted the chain when I bought the new tires.

****I took it out today and put 94 miles on her and got 38.2 MPG. Getting better.

 

[Carlos840]

That is correct. 16/46…

Indeed it is, my bad!

 

[yamihoe]

just for grins, change gas stations. I never get good mpg's when I get gas at a QT or a Marathon. Flashfoods, exxon, and hess all keep my economy up and consistent.

 

[FinalImpact]

Well I read up on how to access the air filter and checked it out. The filter looked good to me.
I also pulled the number 4 plug and it also looks good. I checked the gap and it was within spec.
I gave the front tire a spin with my foot and got 3 full rotations.
I will have to buy a Carbtune kit to check the TBS.
The dealer lubed and adjusted the chain when I bought the new tires.

****I took it out today and put 94 miles on her and got 38.2 MPG. Getting better.

Good to see no rodents have visited while she's been resting all this time! :thumbup:

Good picture on the plug too letting us see the important part! As stated, some fuel burns better than others. I have two vehicles that consistently hesitate on what ever gas "Safeway" (a grocery store) sells. As such the bike always gets name brand fuel unless there is no choice in the matter.

Keep us posted on the outcome.....

 

[symtex]

I did a decent zip tie job of connecting my Garmin 60CS to the handlebar so as to see my current speed and trip counter against my bikes speedometer and trip counter. I did about 20 miles and my trip meters matched up near perfectly. Speedometer was another thing and I'm glad I tested this out.
FZ6 vs Garmin
35 = 33
70 = 65
80 = 73
125 = 116

One possible culprit i want to add to Scott's list is gearing! Double check that your gearing is stock, it should be 15 in the front and 46 in the rear, if you have anything else the odometer will be inaccurate and so will your mileage.

 

[Carlos840]

I did a decent zip tie job of connecting my Garmin 60CS to the handlebar so as to see my current speed and trip counter against my bikes speedometer and trip counter. I did about 20 miles and my trip meters matched up near perfectly. Speedometer was another thing and I'm glad I tested this out.
FZ6 vs Garmin
35 = 33
70 = 65
80 = 73

That's pretty normal, speedos always read on the faster side, i think the factory mistake is something like 5 to 7% faster than actual speed.

 

[Slopeflyer]

I have the same issue. My 06 I picked up last week only had 460 miles on it. I got 30 mpg. Hopefully it will get better with time. I would like to get at least 45 mpg. I wish you all the luck.

 

[symtex]

Well I have now gone through 7 full tanks of gas and seems to be steady at around 33 MPG. This is really starting to bother me as I expected to get a bit more than that. I have went to different fuel stations (Diamond Shamrock, Exxon and Chevron) and that does not seem to make much difference. I have been doing mostly highway riding to try and get the best MPG possible. I keep the tach at about 7K - 8.5K and ease it to highway speeds etc. I have been keeping an eye on the tire pressure as well. The only thing I have not done is the TBS. Im trying to see if I can find one to borrow soon. Any more ideas?

 

[FinalImpact]

FWIW: my 08 is a pretty consistent 4.5% on both the ODO and Trip meter as reported by gps.

Indicated vs actual
100 = 95.5 mph
50 = 47.7 mph

Tires at ~ 50% wear in above values and the error % will increase as the tire wears.

Example: a tire with say 5/32" tread depth new vs worn to tread bars will impact that 4 or 5% error number by about 1.5% as it wears out. It changes the rolling distance.

 

[yamihoe]

There has to be something dragging or a reason for it being less efficient. I would just replace the air filter anyways and then make sure you don't have a vacuum leak or some varnish around the injectors or the butterflies.... that few miles in 8 years will cause issues.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

There has to be something dragging or a reason for it being less efficient. I would just replace the air filter anyways and then make sure you don't have a vacuum leak or some varnish around the injectors or the butterflies.... that few miles in 8 years will cause issues.

+1^^^

Have you checked your brakes for excessive drag? While on the CC, jack the header up slightly with a sizzor jack and see how many times "free spin" you can get by hand, should be at least a half turn.. Yamaha recommends replacing the brake caliper seals every TWO YEARS.

In real life, I've found 4-5 years max before the seals harden up(don't leak) and don't allow the pistons to retract. A good cleaning of crud on the calipers won't hurt either but there's no fix for old, hardened seals short of replacement..



Just a side note somewhat related. Last night, my sister came over with their F250 truck. She mentioned something like a coolant smell coming from the vehicle. We narrowed it down to the left rear wheel, disc caliper.

How? A lazer temp gun directed at the RIGHT rear disc was about 175F. The Left side(drivers side), about 470F!!!! Now that's dragging....

 

[symtex]

I checked the drag, I actually got 3 rotations with a good spin. Maybe I will just replace the seals due to age along with the brake lines.

+1^^^

Have you checked your brakes for excessive drag? While on the CC, jack the header up slightly with a sizzor jack and see how many times "free spin" you can get by hand, should be at least a half turn.. Yamaha recommends replacing the brake caliper seals every TWO YEARS.

In real life, I've found 4-5 years max before the seals harden up(don't leak) and don't allow the pistons to retract. A good cleaning of crud on the calipers won't hurt either but there's no fix for old, hardened seals short of replacement..

 

[iSteve]

You sure the fuel gauge is reading correctly?

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Hopefully he's recording the odometer reading and dividing by the gallons added to top back off..