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crappy gas mileage

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 3:25 am
by denskies
I have an 07 rattler with 680 miles on it.
I'm 6' 170 lbs.
Im doing mainly city driving(stop and go)
I just took the rat in to be serviced and have the tranny oil changed.

the highest i have seen on my odo for a single tank of gas(premium) is like 55 miles.....This seems a little low....

Im new to scoots and stuff, anyone else getting this low gas mileage?

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 5:10 am
by ScootLemont
I have a Rattler 50 with prima pipe, rollers & upgrade jet kit
I am getting 70 mpg - not the best, & not good for a 50 but....
the performance parts are costing me MPG, my town is ALL hills (built on the side of a river valley), its almost "city" (small town) driving & I run it WOT up a lot of hills.
so I am not "happy" with only 70 mpg, but I understand how I am getting it.

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 5:18 am
by MPA
ME :) I probably need a rejet since the heat is nuts now, but the diff is only thousandths os a penny. It's pretty sad my old naked SV650 only got a few MPG less then this and I got a few more on my EX250

Likely MPG takes the 10% speedo error into account and the $pm is based on that.
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Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 7:01 am
by brimstone
i have a stock rattler, 6'2" and about 230-240 and i'm getting about 65-70 out of every tank. stop and go mostly but if i want to ride for joy instead of work i read a stretch of 20 miles or so round trip a couple times a week with a couple hilly neighborhoods in the downtown area. oh and 1050 miles and counting.

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 11:55 am
by nissanman
I'm getting about 65mpg outta my Rattler. That's riding it the way I like, a 100 main jet, spring, rollers and pipe. The gas gauge reads 0 bars after you use a gallon (the tank is 1.25 gallons) and that's usually when I'll fill up. Unless you machined the cylinder head to increase compression just run 87 octane, there is zero benefit to running higher octane then is necessary. Always use "good" gas instead of crappy gas, that makes a difference... but the octane rating is not going to help your Rattler.

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 12:23 pm
by luckyleighton
I can't say exactly what I am getting, I usually fill it up with my stored lawn mower gas. But I will say I am NOT getting 70 mpg. I would say closer to 55 is probably what I am seeing.

I was expecting higher, but mine is recreational anyway and not a commuter, so I have not been that concerned.

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 1:58 pm
by kazoo
I am seriously impressed with your attention to detail. Is the mileage decline a reflection of your not be gentle with it? Might a F. Flow meter aide in conservation> That is assuming you are interested in conservation .
MPA wrote:ME :) I probably need a rejet since the heat is nuts now, but the diff is only thousandths os a penny. It's pretty sad my old naked SV650 only got a few MPG less then this and I got a few more on my EX250
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Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 4:15 pm
by MPA
Thanks for the compliments. I've never cared about gas mileage or even thought I would keep track of it but I figured what the hell lol. If anyone wants the spreadsheet to use for themselves, shoot me a PM with your e-mail address and I'll send it off to you. I've missed 3 or 4 fill-ups but I don't think it would change the #s much.

Yeah it's likely my fist and the heat we are experiencing now. I'm full throttle for probably 75% of my commute but have not changed my riding style - well, maybe I'm a little more aggressive with it now that I'm used to it. Obviously with the EX250 and SV650 I could not continue to live if I throttled them like the 110 :)

BTW - my scooter has 11xx miles on it.

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 6:22 pm
by sunbunny
What kind of gas do you use? Premium or regular?
What or how do you know crappy gas from better gas?

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 6:45 pm
by MPA
I always run 87 - the one super fill up was just to see if I noticed a difference

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 8:09 pm
by ScootLemont
there have been a few gas threads on the forum
I use the 87 octane & it runs great
2 cycle scoots can not take advantage of any of the higher octanes & in China their premium would be 87 octane using the US octane scale
- not to druge all the gas talk up again

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 8:11 pm
by sunbunny
I've only had mine a week of driving, so I filled up at the local circle K. I don't know if that is cheep gas, but it was $.10 cheeper than Chevron for the same octane.

Does adding a pipe really change anything? It seems like you get worse mpg, but gain what?Speed?

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 8:14 pm
by Ray Knobs
added low end and noise

Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 4:13 am
by ScootLemont
this is kind of like AA for Rattler owners.....
Hello my name is Tim & my scooter dosent get 100 mpg
Feels kind of good to say it in public (or at least on the interweb)

Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 4:42 am
by denskies
for some reason my dealer told me to put the good stuff in it (93 octane). Im not sure why but i listened to him and have never put anything but 93 in it. I guess now that you guys say otherwise I feel better about being a cheapskate.

Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 5:21 am
by ScootLemont
denskies wrote:for some reason my dealer told me to put the good stuff in it (93 octane). Im not sure why but i listened to him and have never put anything but 93 in it. I guess now that you guys say otherwise I feel better about being a cheapskate.
I dont know why your dealer said that but....
I believe some of the Genuine manuals (translated) say to use premium gas - well over in the pacific rim, 85 is premium (from what I have read)
so he may have gotten it from that & just didnt know about pacific rim gas.

Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 5:22 pm
by Mrs.Spaceman
I think I saw an old Stella manual that said to use premium. I'm getting anywhere from 80-95 depending on how I ride. Except lately, since I'm in the middle of upgrading a bunch of stuff. Running it really hard everywhere until I can make up my mind what size rollers I want to use. I have 6's in right now, and am about to go find out what my top end is.

As for the pipe... lots of wonderful noise (it sounds better now) and more low-end acceleration. I'm not sure about it's effect on mileage yet.

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 6:44 pm
by denskies
I know that i have a bigger carb. It is not stock, so would that have anything to do with what kind of gas I use?

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 11:56 pm
by Groovealufagus
Even with all the upgrades I recently did, which included the Prima pipe, 100 main and 46 idle jets (and MultiVar 2000 w/ 2k contra spring and added 1500 rpm clutch springs), I got 73 miles out of my last gallon.

Are those of you getting such bad mileage constantly running WOT? Constantly throwing it WOT off the line?

Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 1:21 am
by denskies
barely ever WOT.

Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 1:43 am
by ScootLemont
Groovealufagus wrote:Are those of you getting such bad mileage constantly running WOT? Constantly throwing it WOT off the line?
pretty much off the line... & when I am going over 45mph I pretty much have to ride WOT (its only a 50)
I am sure I could get better than 70mpg if i wanted to but I would rather spend the extra 1 cent per mile & ride faster

Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 2:03 am
by nissanman
Larger carb... no. If the cyllinder was machined down to give you a higher compression ratio... yes.

Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 3:03 am
by MPA
WOT alot lol

Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 3:56 am
by nissanman
WOT... is there anything else :lol:

Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 7:57 pm
by denskies
could it be the rediculous 110 degree texas heat that is getting me only 50 miles to a gas tank? what is the deal??? I even had the dealer adjust my mixture and its still getting like 55 to a tank.....WTF

Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 12:00 am
by denskies
i had my dealer adjust the mixture because it was running rich. I am now getting like 45 miles to the gallon. I also cant break 53, but have great acceleration. Should i just go back to the stock carb? Will I lose my mid range if i ditch the after market carb?

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 1:50 am
by ScootLemont
what do you think you will pick up 10 or 15mpg?
If you are getting the power you want, when you want it, I would stick with it & not worry about the 10th or 20th of a cent per mile you would pick up - but thats just me - I assume if my rattler 50 was stock, I would get better than 70mpg - but I need the extra get up & go so I am not worried about not getting 80 or 90mpg

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 2:35 am
by denskies
yea but 40-45 mpg....thats not why I bought a scooter. I mean the thing is fun, but in the long run I would rather get 20 more miles per $4 gallon of gas than be the fastest scooter on the block.
If I replace the stock carb I hope I get 60+ mpg.

if not im trading this bietch out to get a buddy and look like a wuss....a wuss with more money in my pocket 8)

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 2:57 am
by MPA
now that it's cooled down a tad I am back to getting 60+ Rattler MPG again.

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 3:17 am
by denskies
Ya Im stuck in the middle of Texas, and its been steady at high 90's and 100's like all summer.....hopefully fall will bring me better gas mileage

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 3:21 am
by ScootLemont
denskies wrote:yea but 40-45 mpg....thats not why I bought a scooter. I mean the thing is fun, but in the long run I would rather get 20 more miles per $4 gallon of gas than be the fastest scooter on the block.
thats a valid point - I was not happy with the 70mpg but decided to live with it in exchange for the performance - yeah 40 is low