Poor mileage on 2002 R1150RT-P

[OfficerImpersonator]

I've been tracking my mileage for the past six months and find I'm averaging 33 mpg on my 2002 RT-P, or about 205 miles between fill-ups.

Some of this might be ascribed to the stop and go traffic of my daily commute, and the fact that a RT-P is slightly heavier and has more wind resistance than a stock RT, but I don't think it explains 33 mpg.

What are some of the possible causes for poor gas mileage that I can suggest my wrench investigate when I take her in for a Level I later this month?

[bikerfish1100]

You are absolutely right, 33 mpg is WRONG, and the P factor of your RTP explains very little of that lousy mpg.
If you're giving it to the shop to investigate and fix, your best bet is to just describe as carefully as possible all the symptoms that you're experiencing, and that's it.
Let THEM decide what is causing the problem- that is what they do for a living, that is what you are paying them to do, and they should know what to look for. If they don't.... find another dealer that does.

So, besides poor mpg, are there other symptoms? Poor starting? Vibration? Hesitation on hard acceleration? Sluggish performance across the rpm range? Surging? Etc.
Have you tried different sources of gas, or do you always get fuel at the same location or of the same brand? May make no difference at all, but at least it gives you more info to talk to the shop about. Have you taken it out on a non-commuting ride? If not, I strongly suggest you do so (for the same reason as the gas station change).
Good luck.

[OfficerImpersonator]

You are absolutely right, 33 mpg is WRONG, and the P factor of your RTP explains very little of that lousy mpg.
If you're giving it to the shop to investigate and fix, your best bet is to just describe as carefully as possible all the symptoms that you're experiencing, and that's it.
Let THEM decide what is causing the problem- that is what they do for a living, that is what you are paying them to do, and they should know what to look for. If they don't.... find another dealer that does.

So, besides poor mpg, are there other symptoms? Poor starting? Vibration? Hesitation on hard acceleration? Sluggish performance across the rpm range? Surging? Etc.
Have you tried different sources of gas, or do you always get fuel at the same location or of the same brand? May make no difference at all, but at least it gives you more info to talk to the shop about. Have you taken it out on a non-commuting ride? If not, I strongly suggest you do so (for the same reason as the gas station change).
Good luck.

I have never put anything other than Chevron premium fuel in the tank, usually purchased from the same gas station but occasionally from other Chevron dealers.

Occasionally she will belch smoke at start-up - particularly if she's sat for a couple of days on her side-stand - all normal oilhead stuff I've been told.

She doesn't surge at all.

Occasionally I notice the odor of raw gas while riding - especially when slowing down/stopping. I'm never sure if it's me or another vehicle on the road, and she never drips anything onto the garage floor either at home or at the parking garage at my office.

So I'm stumped. Except for the rare items mentioned above, she runs flawlessly all the time. Always starts on the first push. Never stalls. Runs nice and smooth.

Very rarely, she will ping/knock when in lower RPMs (between 2500-3500) and accelerating quickly - especially uphill.

[ltownsend]

I find on my 2002 RT that 33-35 mpg is not all that hard to do in daily commute in city traffic. A few hard accelerations from stoplights, stop and go, etc. takes a fuel toll. I still get 45-50 at 70mph on the highway. I don't find 35 mpg in (especially Seattle) traffic all that unusual. It is still better than my Mazda's 20-25 mpg communte mileage and much worse than my bicycle's 0 mpg.

LT

[BubbaZanetti]

Very rarely, she will ping/knock when in lower RPMs (between 2500-3500) and accelerating quickly - especially uphill.

just out of curiosity (and this isnt' gonna explain much of your MPG issue) are gas prices high in your area?? i found 2 summers ago, when gas first got unusually pricey, that the premium was causing pining. i switched to 89 octane and it went away. what i was told was that people were not buying the expensive premium, it was therefore sitting longer and actually degrading a bit at the station. not sure of the validity of that, but the premise makes sense.

on my way to west bend this summer i switched back to premium because i was noticing a ping again. gas had become more "reasonable" (you know, everyone got used to it) and i think the 89 might have dropped again in popularity to the premium.

IIRC my 1100S is similar to your 1150RT in terms of compression, if not a bit higher

[OfficerImpersonator]

just out of curiosity (and this isnt' gonna explain much of your MPG issue) are gas prices high in your area?? i found 2 summers ago, when gas first got unusually pricey, that the premium was causing pining. i switched to 89 octane and it went away. what i was told was that people were not buying the expensive premium, it was therefore sitting longer and actually degrading a bit at the station. not sure of the validity of that, but the premise makes sense.

on my way to west bend this summer i switched back to premium because i was noticing a ping again. gas had become more "reasonable" (you know, everyone got used to it) and i think the 89 might have dropped again in popularity to the premium.

IIRC my 1100S is similar to your 1150RT in terms of compression, if not a bit higher

That's a good theory. Premium was up to around $3.50/gal. Now it's down to around $3.25/gal. I would think that for the theory to be valid, I'd notice some change as gas prices went up and down - but I haven't.

I bought my last tank in a very tony area of town (near Bill Gates' house, if that helps explain the neighborhood), where everyone puts premium in their BMW, Mercedes, Ferrari, Bentley, etc. cages, so I'd think the premium tanks at the station gets a lot of use.

So I'll go ahead and make an appointment to take my bike in for a Level I and ask him to check out my mileage issue.

[Dave_Faria]

Some of the RTP bikes get a sport transmission. 1st and and 6th gear are short. I have one of the sport transmissions I'm going to play with this summer. The normal 1st gear is 2.05:1 on the sport it is 2:38:1. 6th normal is .7:1 sport is .8:1. If thats what u have it might be kinda fun to play with.

Dave Faria
Austin, Tx

[OfficerImpersonator]

Some of the RTP bikes get a sport transmission. 1st and and 6th gear are short. I have one of the sport transmissions I'm going to play with this summer. The normal 1st gear is 2.05:1 on the sport it is 2:38:1. 6th normal is .7:1 sport is .8:1. If thats what u have it might be kinda fun to play with.

Dave Faria
Austin, Tx

I knew RT-Ps are supposed to have a shorter 1st gear, ostensibly for parade duty and other slow speed "authority" activities - but this is the first time I've heard of a short 6th gear also being an option.

I can tell you for a fact, from the way my tranny behaves, that my 6th gear is definitely not short. It's quite the leap from 5th to 6th, which I only use when cruising over 70 mph. Anything slower in 6th brings the RPMS too low and lugs the engine.

[bikerfish1100]

for comparison purposes, what is your indicated road speed at 5,000 rpm in 6th?

[OfficerImpersonator]

for comparison purposes, what is your indicated road speed at 5,000 rpm in 6th?

Ball park guess would be between 85 and 90, but I'll have to check that out for sure on my ride home tonight :burnout

[Dave_Faria]

4k rpm is 80mph on my std transmission.

Dave Faria
Austin, Tx

[Dave_Faria]

I was thinking this morning while I was installing new plugs in my bike. My speedo reads about 5% high and you have the police speedo which is accurate. Another factor to consider.

Dave Faria
Austin, Tx

[bikerfish1100]

i'm at an indicated 90-92 or so at 5K in 6th, if that means anything in the translation.

[OfficerImpersonator]

i'm at an indicated 90-92 or so at 5K in 6th, if that means anything in the translation.

I commute in rush hour traffic with mine, so 92 mph is out of the question for 99.99% of my riding - but based upon my RPM in 6th at 70 or 80 mph, 90-92 mph is precisely where I estimate mine would be at 5,000 RPM in 6th gear.

She's going to her wrench on Friday, so I'll see what he has to say about low mileage. My wrench has the contract to maintain the Washington State Patrol's fleet of RT-Ps, so he should have a good idea of what's going on.

[bikerfish1100]

waiting to hear the diagnosis.

[OfficerImpersonator]

Dropped her off this morning. Mechanic agrees 32 mpg is too low but is unconcerned that it's a big deal. In his British cockney accent: "She's just outta whack, mate".

He's going to perform a Level I/30,000 mile service and replace the tranny and final drive fluids while he's got her in his shop.

I'll let you know what he says about the poor mileage.

[DarrylRi]

In his British cockney accent: "She's just outta whack, mate".
That must be Mick Valentine.

[OfficerImpersonator]

That must be Mick Valentine.

I only wish I had a prize to award for your correct answer!

[DarrylRi]

He's definitely old school. Does he still roll his own cigarettes?

[wlpmd]

I've been tracking my mileage for the past six months and find I'm averaging 33 mpg on my 2002 RT-P, or about 205 miles between fill-ups.

Some of this might be ascribed to the stop and go traffic of my daily commute, and the fact that a RT-P is slightly heavier and has more wind resistance than a stock RT, but I don't think it explains 33 mpg.

What are some of the possible causes for poor gas mileage that I can suggest my wrench investigate when I take her in for a Level I later this month?

I have noticed the same problem with mileage. I have inquired without real good answers. Mine must be "outa wack too".

[OfficerImpersonator]

He's definitely old school. Does he still roll his own cigarettes?

Yup. Drum loose tobacco in a pouch :)

So she was outta tune and the tires were low on pressure. The combination of the two conspired to kill my mileage. $400 later she runs as smooth as silk. For that price she got five quarts of synthetic oil, a new filter, new fluid in the tranny and final drive, and a tune-up/throttle sync.

[Mcathcart]

In town I normally get 30ish too. On the highway at 80 mph I get 40. In either one of our VW Tdi's I get 40 mpg in town and 49 mpg highway. As much as I love to ride I normally drive a Beetle (and have air and heat).

Mike

[bdspler]

MY RTP 2004 ....well its a 2005 old style!
in the 2 months i've had it and 6k later. 40 Miles 2TG is my Avg.
42 on a good day.......38.5 on a bad day as in, on the gas

I did notice my front wheel did NOT spin free.... that was takin care of and she runs like a deer!
LOVE This bike!
bd

[ksmith57]

I have never put anything other than Chevron premium fuel in the tank, usually purchased from the same gas station but occasionally from other Chevron dealers.

Occasionally she will belch smoke at start-up - particularly if she's sat for a couple of days on her side-stand - all normal oilhead stuff I've been told.

She doesn't surge at all.

Occasionally I notice the odor of raw gas while riding - especially when slowing down/stopping. I'm never sure if it's me or another vehicle on the road, and she never drips anything onto the garage floor either at home or at the parking garage at my office.

So I'm stumped. Except for the rare items mentioned above, she runs flawlessly all the time. Always starts on the first push. Never stalls. Runs nice and smooth.

Very rarely, she will ping/knock when in lower RPMs (between 2500-3500) and accelerating quickly - especially uphill.


I have an '03 1150 RT and the only time i've gotten that poor of milage was when I had a leak in the fuel line. I believe you have a crack in the quick release connector. Good story is it's easly replaced for about $40.00 in parts (you can do it yourself.

Yes you can ride the bike with this leak, but not safely. I traveled 60 miles before I got home and found the problem myself.

Good luck...

Ksmith57

[Mr. Frank]

I don't know if you have a leak, but I've never smelled gas on my RT in 79K miles. I keep it garaged so I would smell it if it was there.