Motorcycle Season 2021

Yea - 1 fill up a week roughly (34-38L).

Your annual insurance on the bike is probably less than my monthly (I pay annual and since I just got the Versys and have both bikes on policy right now I am not sure what the split is).

I originally thought I would end up in sales so I tracked my gas usage like my dad. Since I picked up my car in January of 2014 I have sunk $17,254.94CAD in fuel as of my last fill-up.

Truly rapid charging, long range EV’s can’t come soon enough. I’ll just enjoy ICE’s on bikes!

I’m getting a tesla truck as soon as humanly possible.

2 Likes

Last time I had the truck low on fuel. I never let it go this low so I had to put 64.5 Lts in it. That cost me 97 Qatar Riyals or 26.64 USD. Thats why I can drive a Camaro SS here.

1 Like

I had a Vauxhall (holden) monaro for a while a long time ago.
I dropped my then girlfriend off in Birmingham for a party on new year’s eve and I picked her up in the morning. No police around so it was flat out all the way there and back both times

Fuel bill for the evening…£225…it would LITERALLY have been cheaper to fly her there and back.

Coincidentally the precise absolute top speed of a Monaco VxR is 163mph.

1 Like

Ouch!

I am glad my bikes are cheap. The Ninja 250 never seemed to care how high the revs were - never any noticeable change in economy. Ever after a good highway stint of 130km/h which was like 10,000rpm. 18L tank, I would fill it when it was down to 1/4 on the gauge which yielded about 300-330KM.

Versys I am still learning it’s ranges. The gauge on it’s digital dash isn’t a needle but an annoying segmented thing. 21L tank, though - makes up for the added displacement, its a 650. As you lose segments, the last one will flash when you are on the last bit of fuel. I made this note in my iPhone:

——

Total Capacity 21L
Capacity before warning 15.4L
Capacity at warning 5.6L
Approximate segment fuel burn 2.56L

Fuel gauge requires bike to be fully upright for accurate display.

———

So there’s quite a variance between reaching a segment and burning through it.

Ninja got 3.5 to 4.2L/100KM.
Versys has been 4.5 to 5.0L/100KM so far.

1 Like

My Gsx-r 600 does 27mpg at max conserve fuel speed. But my 1000 does 31mpg. Go figure. I’m assuming the difference is the acceleration power being used on the 1000 is less to get it up to cruise speed as they stay at the same revs roughly at 70mph. I guess the big one uses less fuel through the injectors at lower revs. Its a mystery.

My old Hayabusa was the king of fuel consumption. 38mpg. Big tank. It went forever without filling on thr cruise. It did drink some when you opened the taps a bit.

Worst performer by miles was my TL1000-R. 16mpg. The sound made made it worth it though.

Not mine but similar exhausts

Closest sound to a merlin engine in the world. Same offset on the V.

1 Like

MPG(imp) I gather.
So metric is:

GSXR600 = 10.5L/100Km
GSXR1000 = 9.1L/100Km
Hayabusa = 7.4L/100Km
TL1000-R = 17.7L/100Km

I could see the ‘busa cruising well! Would be a sight to see one with luggage out on a tour.

What cut me off from sport bikes is they typically have 15L fuel tanks these days. The street versions like a Ninja650 (instead of the ZX-6R) may be 17L, not much better.

We have stations everywhere in town for fuel, but out in the country they can be dozens of kilometers apart. So since I hope to tour some I opted for a bike with a giant tank. One day though - R1250GSA with a 30L tank! :sweat_smile:

Excuse validated! Carry On!

1 Like

They are an oddity. Too fat for pure sports riding and too much of a stretched sports position for long touring. I was always tired getting off it.

Remember that it doesn’t matter how much horsepower you have if you don’t have the fuel to go anywhere.

I was involved in some activity in my youth. I don’t know how much to say with this as it incriminates me a fair bit. Although it was years ago so it’s probably fine…

There is a famous road in the UK called the m25. Its a motorway that runs the circumference of London. It’s known as the biggest roundabout In the world.

A group of us used to race it. We got quite famous for it. Massively illegal. Hugely irresponsible and we had tactics and fueling strategy that would put F1 to shame.

I. Do. Not. Condone. This.

It was very very dangerous and we were lucky to not be arrested or killed.

My friend Paul had the “lap record” I was very very close behind him. I was a bit of a lunatic in my youth. I’m happy to tell some stories as long as we all agree to not tell the police.

For that:
If not the touring GoldWing or K1600 - perhaps a Concours or a FJR1300.

1 Like

I’m not willing to pay the long-distance fees. :sweat_smile:

1 Like

And we’re cleared cool! :snowflake:
4°C approx, sunny, no winds.

Took the Ninja out as it’s tamer, less valuable should an unfortunate icing event occur, and it was the one closer to the garage door.

Carbs tuned for 25°C aren’t too happy, but once warmed up the engine - died. Got it going again but any clutch release, even at 5000rpm and it dies.

This is a fuel problem, so seeing as how it flows some and I am not about to tear it apart I ran it up trying for 9,000rpm but it would cough up a storm mid range. Low RPM ok, high end a bit unstable but otherwise ok, mid range giant dead zone.

Minute or so of this and I take off for a lap around the street, but it pops to life immediately so I took it for a 36Km trip around town.

Saw two other bikes. One guy in a SUV rolled down his window to chat at a red light - how pleasant is random social interaction these days!

Ninja got a rinse from the hose when I got back to the driveway, and then I used my compressor and an airgun attachment to blow most of it clear of the chain, bearings etc. No quick evaporation at these temperatures!

We need our leaf blower back - my sister borrowed it. That would make quick work of a dry-off.

Not bad for February in the Great White North!

I almost rode my bike today.
But the battery was too low for the starter so I removed it and now it is charging.
Might try again tomorrow.

Woohoo!
Battery was good to go after 10 hours of charging so I put it back in and took her for a ride.
It was only 50km or so, but I had a nice little (slow) ride.
I went to the glider airfield that I am modeling for MSFS2020 and took a few pictures, so the trip even had some use. :slight_smile:

1 Like

As to my knowledge, I am the only active duty law enforcement officer on the board, and my jurisdiction is about 4740 miles short of London I think you’re good. I also am very curious to hear what all you guys got up to, we have our own street racer issues that we’re dealing with. We are in the process of actually trying to setup a track day for them to get them off the highways.

1 Like

Ok,

So in the earlyish 2000’s there was a Magazine in the UK called Max Power. It featured modified cars and half naked girls. It basically encapsulated the whole “Lad” culture in Britain. It was an awful rag, but extremely popular.
s-l400
They had a feature one month regarding a group of racers in souped up Nissan Skylines, Evos, Supras etc all racing each other in a time trial around the M25 orbital Motorway. They had the goal of beating the loop in under an hour.
No motorcycles were mentioned in this and they all looked like complete dorks with their big swoopy bodykits and Dump Valves.
This hatched a plan with me and a few mates. it was by no mean my idea but I was certainly heavily involved in the planning and execution of our runs.

we would congregate at the Famous “Ace Cafe” (no relation) in london and work out the schedule for the evening.
index we would try and find out the nights the “Car People” would be running so we could show them up and make as bigger splash as possible.
Now a few things that are very important to know.

  1. police are EVERYWHERE on the M25

  2. There is no possible way to do this other than Anti clockwise as the Dartford bridge has (not anymore) a toll both on the clockwise side which you cannot get past unless they let you.inde1

  3. there is not a motorcycle in EXISTANCE which can do the loop on 1 tank of fuel at top speed, this is very important.

  4. all runs must finish by junction 16 M40 to Oxford.

so. on a run night, we would send out spotters. 5 or 6 guys with green torches. they clear the road and run interference and if the way is clear they would spin around at a pre set junction and shine the torch across the motorway, you could see the torch for miles. they would also sit on bridges and rush after police to cause them to give chase. Police are incredibly easy to lose if you deny them a few things.
the most important job was fuel ferrets.
you could not get round in 1 hit. you HAD to stop for fuel. there are 5 places to stop that are within the track or so close to it you could get in and out quickly.
Ferret would act like a team mate. he knew where you were going to stop. he would be there waiting, you shoot in, splash fuel in as fast as you can and the ferret would go and pay so you could go without delay OR you would just drive off without paying and the ferret would go ahead to make sure no police had snuck past during the stop. green torch in hand.

so we know the basics. its easy enough. however, There were bonuses.
Wreck someone elses run and you were a king. especially a car.
Smash a record and you didnt pay for drinks until it was beaten.
Have more than 3 counties of police after you and get away and break the record in the same run and everyone clubbed together and bought you a new back tyre lol

We did this pretty frequently, I wont mention speeds or times because its pretty incriminating and also its just not believable frankly. It smacks of boasting and whenever we all got together we all knew who the fastest was. it wasn’t me, but i am no slouch.
We were incredibly lucky not to have anyone killed (nor did the car guys) or arrested and my lord did the police try hard for that one! It got to a point where it just was not possible anymore. You would get halfway or less and the “heat” for want of a better word was just silly.

Few little anecdotes though, just for fun. I have no problems telling these and believe them or don’t I dont mind, but please do not accuse me of lying as that is not what I do. Its all for fun.

Had a race with a souped up toyota supra (think fast and furious but less orange) caught him up from a long way back as I started late. I pulled along side him between the Armco railing and the fast lane and he was concentrating so hard he didnt see me, so i banged on his window. His face was a picture as i am sure he was pretty convinced he was the fastest vehicle in the area at that moment.

group of us running together came across a car on fire, middle of the night. 2 of us stopped and rendered assistance to a lovely young lady who was screaming “my baby, my poor baby” so obviously we smashed the back windows to save the child and after we found nothing (not even a car seat) we found out the CAR was her bloody baby!

saw a Mitsubishi EVO that was super ultra famous for being 1000hp at a time when it was unheard of get smoked so badly by a ZX12-R that he blew the turbo clean through the top of the bonnet trying to catch up.

My mate had a Hayabusa with almost 600hp. but would only do 40 miles to a full tank. this meant 3 fuel stops. He has the record run. I wasnt there and it must of been something to see. I have ridden that particular bike and I had it at 195mph on the speedo and it was still pulling HARD. so i dread to think how fast he was averaging. although i suspect that he used a roadside fuel stop with someone stood there with a couple of cans ready to pour in. never confirmed it though.

I missed a complete family of Ducks, ducklings on their merry way across the busiest piece of road in the UK. I saw something in the distance and went between the whole lot. they were lucky.

I was following a car, I forget what it was but he was shifting! I was sat behind him in an attempt to draft him to possibly save a fuel stop (it doesnt work) my mate came past the both of us so fast that I probably wouldnt be able to catch him. I pulled out from the car and gave chase, he was still obviously pulling away when I saw a huge spark from under his bike and something fly off it and Whizz past my helmet (no danger of hitting me but still…)
he slowed right down and I shot past him, it was only after the run that we met up and i saw his bike. He had changed lanes, hit a Cats eye and had his handlebar ripped out of his hand and smashed into the fuel tank so hard it snapped the grip off about 4 inches down. the only thing that kept him upright was his immense speed.

so, yeah…we were all bloody idiots. ask anything you want @jenrick if you want to use it against this sort of thing out there, Mothers shouldnt bury kids doing this sort of nonsense and we were supremely lucky not to have been killed.

3 Likes

A very interesting read, and thanks for the frankness about dangers of it all.

Fortunately for us, we have nothing close to a circular highway in Austin (if you check out Loop 1 in Austin, you’ll see loop is a very odd term for it), so we mainly get guys doing straight line runs. Either dragging over a 1/4-full mile, or in general burning up a highway at triple digits. Interestingly we don’t have a lot of bikes in the mess. We have a huge motorcycle rally here every year and get a ton for about a week, and then we’re back to normal.

In general we very rarely chase, any kind of true performance car with a half way decent driver is going to smoke a patrol car in a straight run down the highway. We’ve had it happen more times than I can count, and we even had a gentleman in a BWM (I don’t recall the model), out run our helicopter (that wasn’t a racing case and ended up with an officer involved shooting). Sports bikes, we just wait for the call out on the fatality crash, happens probably around 30%-40% of the time they run.

I found it most illuminating about WHY you guys did what you did. As a car guy myself, I had a pretty good idea, but it’s good to hear from the other side (even if you are since long reformed). Also I think being able to point to the level of sophistication that was employed to achieve your run, helps bolster my argument that it’s not “drunken idiots” (to quote a particular supervisor) doing this.

Honestly if I could get that point across to every risk taking individual under about 25 the world would be a better place.

I’m going to bed, but I’ll probably send you a PM in the next couple of days. Thanks again for sharing.

1 Like

I got the Versys out for a stretch last night, had to make it quick as dinner was being picked up at the same time. So out and around a couple city blocks.

Took the side cases off for this quick zip.

4 Likes

'17 V-Strom 650. l like to get it dirty every now and then. This was about a month after I bought it. 3 days of riding through the mountains of Kentucky. Anything from river through the river, to over the river on a skinny little railroad bridge, to stone, prairies, mud, single track and surprisingly a lot of sand.

I was at a big disadvantage since the crew I was with were regulars, and this was the first trip off road for me in 20+ years. Not to mention a 500lb bike with street tires is a handful. She went down twice, though no fault of her own. I pick some of the worst lines…

!

5 Likes