Good gas mileage or is this a problem waiting to happen?

[Farmer Dan]

Been having a hard time keeping the left cylinder firing consistently.  Friday I installed a Flame Thrower coil and while I had the fuel tank off I took a look at the choke cables.  Seems the left cable was a little tight so I rerouted it and put a 1/4" of slack in it.  Went for a test ride and she runs smoother now and better throttle response but when warm idles at 2,200rpm.  I adjusted the idle on the left carb to slow it down just enough to keep the gen light from coming on.  Drove 205 miles on Saturday, bike runs great, little rumble in the exhaust when decelerating.  What has me curious is the gas mileage before this was in the low 30's after Saturdays ride I got 57.2mpg.  Think that might mean I'm running a little lean, need to pull the plugs and see what color they are.   

[oldbike54]

 Low 30's to 57 MPG is a huge increase . Seems the low figure is an anomaly , and the high figure sounds a bit high .

 Dusty

[rodekyll]

I thought that was happening to me until I noticed the odometer turned over twice on the hundreds counter.  It didn't do it all the time, just enough to make me wonder who's gas I was using.

[Farmer Dan]

My Dad called me back today he checked his log books (he never throws anything away).  When they had the bike they would get 57-60mpg depending on how much gear they were packing.  Trip from my house to the Iron Gypsies club house is 56 miles, the benefit ride for the VFW post was 149 miles, trip back home another 56 miles.  Used 4.56 gallons of gas.  Not bad for two up on back roads in a pack of 24 bikes.  Was a fun ride.

[Triple Jim]

What Guzzi?  MPGs in the 50s isn't unusual with some models.  If you had an enricher that wasn't seating, that would certainly waste fuel.

[pete roper]

What Guzzi?  MPGs in the 50s isn't unusual with some models.  If you had an enricher that wasn't seating, that would certainly waste fuel.

This.

[oldbike54]

 Dan stated he adjusted one of the choke cables . It is a '72 Eldo .

  Dusty

[Tom H]

The best I can get with my Eldo at 70-75mph on the freeway is 42mpg. My Ambo gets about 38 for the same run. How do I get 50mpg?????? Eldo 120mi with 2.9gal, Ambo is 3.5 gal for 120mi.

Edjumakte me please!?!?

Tom

[Triple Jim]

My best MPG with my Mille GT was about 55, and that was running several hundred miles on back roads.  Most of the time I was going about 60.  Wind resistance gets pretty significant as you go up from 60, so it may be hard to stay in the 50s at 70-75 mph.

[sidecarnutz]

Both my Cali III's have gotten 50 mpg out on the road at 60 mph.

You just need a well strangled small valve motor with tiny 30mm carbs. ;-)

And don't ride like you're in a hurry.

[Idontwantapickle]

Every loop I've owned has been able to get 50mpg. Not on the slab at 75 but on a secondary road ridden sanely it's no effort to achieve.
Hunter

[Testarossa]

My 850T got mid-50s on back roads, running 55-60 mph. Mileage dropped to 45 in the city and on highways at 65-75mph.

[redrider]

I have seen 65 mpg on the Mille after mods. Low 40s on the V11 if I ride like Grandma. What does raise a brow though is your adjustment of one carb idle screw. Surely that was a typo? Otherwise, both are out of sync.

[Triple Jim]

What does raise a brow though is your adjustment of one carb idle screw. Surely that was a typo? Otherwise, both are out of sync.

I understood that was the carb that had the non-closing enricher plunger, so maybe fixing the enricher uncovered a very high idle setting.  But you certainly have a point about matching idle settings and adjusting throttle sync.

[Two Checks]

Before rejetting the SPII saw 58 mpg at 85 on the slab.
I used to routinely get 300+ miles on a tank.
Carbed Guzzis are jetted way, way lean from the factory.

[Farmer Dan]

 :1: Good point redrider, I need to get my carbstick out and balance the carbs this weekend.  Been so busy lately that I forgot that step, thanks for reminding me.

[Tom H]

Didn't intend a thread hijack, but since it was on fuel mileage.

I forgot to mention my Eldo, Ambo have the police shield, side bags and a trunk. Maybe they did get better mileage back in the 55mph limit days. I do seem to remember 200miles between gas stops.

So maybe at 70mph I'm not doing all that bad?

Maybe I need to slow down a bit?? But out here, that can get you run over

Tom