New to bikes and the FZ6

[REO Scorpio]

I've never been too happy with mine either, but I do have scorpions with PCV and auto tune, K&n filter. Even when it was stock I got right around 40.

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[Carlos840]

Just an update, I've put about 650 miles on the bike so far. Really enjoying it!!

I did my first oil change a few days ago, pretty sure it had Yamalube in it. I changed it to Rotella T6 and the gearbox is at LEAST 2x as tight now. Before it would clunk a good amount, now it shifts beautifully. Very happy with how it rides and performs.

One thing I'm not happy about, is the mileage . I haven't tracked it yet (Need to check the manual to learn how to set the trip), but I'll be lucky if I get 180 miles until the reserve starts flashing . Its definitely under 40mpg, closer to 35 I'd imagine.

12k miles, two brothers exhaust, K&N air filter, otherwise stock mechanically. The exhaust pops a bit on decel so I'd imagine its running a bit lean? What do you think is the culprit? The exhaust? Plugs should still be fine to 16k or so right? Would a TB sync make a big difference? This is with cruising and generally light throttle.

Mileage will vary hugely depending on your riding, i like to keep my bike in the
powerband and will often take it to 13000 rpm and i get between 120 and 140 miles per tank, which is between 30 and 35 mpg.

People who shift at 5000rpm will usually get 40mpg or more...

What is your usual shift point? And do you take the bike to the happy part of the tach regularly? Maybe your are revving it more than you think.

And yes, i have gone through a few tanks a day many times!

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

That K&N air filter (interesting article: K&N Air Filter Review - Debunking the Myths (and why OEM is better) )will allow more air to flow (leaner mixture) and will help exaggerate the popping.

If those are the original plugs, their due for changing. You may want to consider iridiums as they'll likly last the life of your bike.

A throttle sync can only help with both performance. mileage and vibrations as well. I'd strongly suggest, if halfways mechanically inclined, to do it yourself. You can buy a Manometer (or make your own) for under $100 with NO liguids to worry about ( www.carbtune.com )

Most of my riding around town, I shift at 5,000 RPMs (very easy on the throttle) and mostly cruise in top gear all the time above 50 MPH. I'm getting about 48 MPG (just around town) with an occasional much higher RPM run. With open Scorps, "anyone" nearby can hear me coming.


Morgan Carbtune:

 

[dpaul007]

I'm averaging just under 50 mpg. I do a LOT of highway commuting though. If you have sprockets that are not stock-sized, you'll have to do some math to get your actual mileage.

 

[nitroheadz28]

Thanks for the replies gents! I didn't have a chance to burn a whole lot of gas and track mileage today, so that'll have to wait until it stops raining the next few days

Carlos- Around town I shift between 3-4k accelerating very lightly. On the highway I'm usually cruising between 6-7k at 75-80mph. No WOT acceleration, and every once in a while I'll accelerate to 6-8k (I'm still a very new rider so I don't push it). Point is, I'm very light on the throttle all the time.

Townsend- Thank you for the article and detailed post. I myself dislike K&N from air to oil filters. I will most likely end up swapping to an OEM air filter. I'll poke around the forums and see which ones specifically are recommended as far as plugs go . I will definitely look into throttle syncing, I'm a decent wrench so I'll see if theres a cheaper way- I don't mind liquids

dpaul- I actually have no idea whether mine are stock or not, I'll have to do some reading and see if there are any markings I can go by. Or just count teeth..

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

. I'll poke around the forums and see which ones specifically are recommended as far as plugs go . I will definitely look into throttle syncing, I'm a decent wrench so I'll see if theres a cheaper way- I don't mind liquids

.

I actually learned about the Iridiums here on this forum.

The NGK, Iridiums are by far, the post popular. NGK Iridium IX® Spark Plugs

I didn't really notice any difference with them, my old, originals had about 8,000 miles on them and still looked new..

I did get mine thru Amazon, all four together just qualified for free shipping so it was the best deal.

BTW, once you do get to doing the throttle sync, re-check and adjust at 4,000 RPM's (its NOT mentioned in the manual) and makes a big difference, especially with the annoying vibrations. I got mine within 3 mm's across the board doing a bunch of fine tuning (10mm allowance). Vibrations are nill now, especially with "grip puppies"

 

[nitroheadz28]

First mpg check yesterday- 35.5mpg . This was 90% city with mild riding/ acceleration.

On another note, I love the tone of my two brothers exhaust- but I hate when I come home late at night and I know I'm waking up everyone in my neighborhood. I'm thinking of making some perforated plates I can use as butterfly valves so they can muffle the sound to some extent when I need it. The issues are making the disks so they have a minimum impact on performance and making it look factory when on the bike. I've done a lot of searching and it doesn't look like anyone has done something like this. Only cutouts for stock exhausts and some people have made their own DB killers- but thats not something that can be controlled on the fly.

 

[Andz]

Who's going to be the first to put MT-09 bars on an FZ6?

I sat on one last week and they seem very wide....

 

[nitroheadz28]

Second fill up= 41mpg, slightly more highway this time.

Question- My reserve (I'm not sure if reserve yet, but the last bar starts flashing and the fuel trip counter starts up) comes on at after using 3.5 gallons, is this normal? I haven't ridden more than 10 miles after the F trip comes on, but I *should* be able to go another 40-50 miles right with the 1.4 gallons left right? Right now I've been filling up every 150-170 miles.

 

[long101]

Second fill up= 41mpg, slightly more highway this time.

Question- My reserve (I'm not sure if reserve yet, but the last bar starts flashing and the fuel trip counter starts up) comes on at after using 3.5 gallons, is this normal? I haven't ridden more than 10 miles after the F trip comes on, but I *should* be able to go another 40-50 miles right with the 1.4 gallons left right? Right now I've been filling up every 150-170 miles.

I haven't ridden my bike this year yet, so I don't remember the exact #s. But reserve does come on pretty early, and you should be able to get another 40 miles out of it. I am a wimp, so I don't typically go for more then 15 or so.

 

[ShoopCE]

My F-Trip starts flashing and counting miles after about 4.0 gallons are used from full. So there's just a bit over a gallon left. I've gotten as low as 32 mpg and as much as 52 (honest). So if you have to stretch it to the next gas station you can keep the revs down and possibly make it 50 miles or so. I'm a wimp too and stop soon after the warning starts.

 

[nitroheadz28]

Deleted post

Why did you delete?

Little update:

Approaching 1500 miles, I've gotten quite comfortable with the bike now except for high speed winding roads (50+ and hard leaning) because NYC sucks and the closest "good" roads are at least an hour away in the boonies.

The last 2 fill ups have been 41 and 42mpg respectively. The strange thing is that I've been wringing the engine out much more?

Now I believe is the most dangerous part of the learning process. The noob has become comfortable with his/ her machine and pushes it harder and harder to learn the limits. (Nothing crazy here). So far my only "scary" moment was WOT acceleration where I hit a small bump in first and experienced my first tiny death wobble, just a very light oscillation luckily.

That brings me to the biggest concern with this bike setup. If I ever DO get a full on death wobble, it will destroy the tank because the bars hit during steering as it is. I've read that a damper isn't necessary on the FZ6 but I'm not sure how the clubman bars impact the probability of a wobble? Comfort wise surprisingly I find them just fine for all day trips. I wish there was an FZ1 in NYC I could check out, I don't like how mine hit the tank- the steering radius SUCKS.

 

[FinalImpact]

nitro, keep up the steady progress and you might read up on SAG and suspension as that can play a role in light steering and wobble under acceleration. In short, if the rear compresses too much, the nose comes up and the steering gets light. What is your weight and what is the rear shock set at?

Oh Glad all is well during the "dating scene" with 1500 miles covered!! :thumbup:


Another interesting thread on mpg.... To use that term ah - ring it out a bit, mine is stock fueling, 2bro pipes, OEM air filter and OEM 16/46 gearing. Last tank was 200 miles/4.1 gallon to refuel ~ 49 mpg and 1/3 of that run was >8000 RPM...

Not for the new riders per say, but a comment on fuel economy...

As someone else said, this things are not tractor engines and working them lightly by rev'ing them higher may in fact get better MPGs. When you lug an engine it works it much harder, drops the vacuum and to keep it happy (not pinging) it adds lots more fuel (hurts mpg). I'm not saying there is a need to run at WOT throttle. I'm saying let it rev with minimal throttle opening (lower gears) and that way should there be a need to get out of harms way there is potential it will do it w/out dropping 2 gears.... Plus it seems to get pretty fair mpgs. My avg is 45 to 47 its not in tractor mode.​

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Why did you delete?

I don't have anything on this thread deleted. Admin might have cleaned up and got rid of it..

 

[nitroheadz28]

nitro, keep up the steady progress and you might read up on SAG and suspension as that can play a role in light steering and wobble under acceleration. In short, if the rear compresses too much, the nose comes up and the steering gets light. What is your weight and what is the rear shock set at?

Oh Glad all is well during the "dating scene" with 1500 miles covered!! :thumbup:


Another interesting thread on mpg.... To use that term ah - ring it out a bit, mine is stock fueling, 2bro pipes, OEM air filter and OEM 16/46 gearing. Last tank was 200 miles/4.1 gallon to refuel ~ 49 mpg and 1/3 of that run was >8000 RPM...

Not for the new riders per say, but a comment on fuel economy...

As someone else said, this things are not tractor engines and working them lightly by rev'ing them higher may in fact get better MPGs. When you lug an engine it works it much harder, drops the vacuum and to keep it happy (not pinging) it adds lots more fuel (hurts mpg). I'm not saying there is a need to run at WOT throttle. I'm saying let it rev with minimal throttle opening (lower gears) and that way should there be a need to get out of harms way there is potential it will do it w/out dropping 2 gears.... Plus it seems to get pretty fair mpgs. My avg is 45 to 47 its not in tractor mode.​

To be honest, I don't know what my shock is set to , I weigh 175 w/o gear. Ha thanks! I'm really loving the experience now. I had my first 2 up ride with a female friend who's been wanting a ride since I got it and it was awesome . I love how much slower and stable it is, makes it more fun (and legal) to run through the gears. Not to mention its so fun when a cute friend keeps squeezing her thighs against you every time you roll on the throttle

Wow!! Thats some amazing mpg with that much >8k running! I will try keeping the rpms up and shifting at higher RPM to see the impact. I figure since the bike runs so well now (except for mileage), I'll just wait until the season ends and do everything. Plugs/ TB sync/ coolant flush/ OEM air filter/ etc.

 

[kenh]

To be honest, I don't know what my shock is set to , I weigh 175 w/o gear. Ha thanks! I'm really loving the experience now. I had my first 2 up ride with a female friend who's been wanting a ride since I got it and it was awesome . I love how much slower and stable it is, makes it more fun (and legal) to run through the gears. Not to mention its so fun when a cute friend keeps squeezing her thighs against you every time you roll on the throttle

Wow!! Thats some amazing mpg with that much >8k running! I will try keeping the rpms up and shifting at higher RPM to see the impact. I figure since the bike runs so well now (except for mileage), I'll just wait until the season ends and do everything. Plugs/ TB sync/ coolant flush/ OEM air filter/ etc.

Remove your seat so you can more easily see what the rear shock is set at. The factory setting I believe is 3. You can use the factory tool from the toolkit to adjust as needed, the higher the number the firmer the rear shock setting. I have the same TB exhaust and the note when you rev 8-10k is pure music and quite frankly I don't care what mileage I get.

 

[rsmith2072]

I just put fz1 bar on my bike this morning. I rode about 200 miles today. I personally love the fz1 bars and think they make a huge difference over the fz6 bars. I didn't use bar risers and my bars miss my tank by about a 1/4 of an inch when turned all the way. The fz1 bars are more comfortable on my wrist. It more of a natural stance.

 

[Wildcat_drvr]

To my aging eyes it looks like your handlebars are on upside down!If that is what clubman bars are please excuse my ignorance.I'd check to see if you can put them on with the rise up instead of down.They won't hit your tank and may be more comfortable.And the cost would be right,just your labor!If I rode your bike it would either fix my back or put me in the hospital! Sharp looking bike!:thumbup:,For a blue one,,just kidding about the blue,but everyone knows the black Raven model is sexier! LOL!
Have Fun! Be Safe! Gear up! :rockon: Rich

 

[FinalImpact]

To my aging eyes it looks like your handlebars are on upside down!If that is what clubman bars are please excuse my ignorance.I'd check to see if you can put them on with the rise up instead of down.They won't hit your tank and may be more comfortable.And the cost would be right,just your labor!If I rode your bike it would either fix my back or put me in the hospital! Sharp looking bike!:thumbup:,For a blue one,,just kidding about the blue,but everyone knows the black Raven model is sexier! LOL!
Have Fun! Be Safe! Gear up! :rockon: Rich

Sharp looking bike! :thumbup: For a blue one! just kidding about the blue, but everyone knows the black Raven model is sexier! LOL!

^^ So true ^^ :thumbup: Blah

The FZ1 bars work for me! A great fit!

 

[nitroheadz28]

Well I gave the higher RPM running a shot out of curiosity, by this I mean cruise at no less than 5k and winding it out much more generally speaking. MPG is has now been 39 and 38 respectively. I guess I'll just suck it up until the season is over and do a full tune up on it :thumbup:

Coming up on 2k real soon and really enjoying it. Last night I managed to wind it out until about 130 for the first time, now I just wish it wasn't so slow :spank:

Enjoy the holiday, and remember our service members :thumbup: