Determining MPG's

chancerbeans13 · Post by **chancerbeans13** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:51 am

Ok, I had the whole gas leaking out of the right side canister thingy today (technical terms!) I understand that this is an overflow vent or what-have-you. My question is this, if you cannot fill the tank to the bottom of the neck of the gas tank, how in the heck are you supposed to have any clue of how much gas you have used in order to determine the MPG's you are getting on your Buddy....this is very frustrating. PLUS!!!! Is it just me, or does anyone else think it is a little dangerous having gas leak onto the muffler?

ryder1 · Post by **ryder1** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:53 am

Fill in the necessary catagories....

http://www.scooterworks.com/mpgCalc.html

chancerbeans13 · Post by **chancerbeans13** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:58 am

I understand how to determine MPG's, but without having a visual point at where to stop, how do you know how much fuel you have used?

ryder1 · Post by **ryder1** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 1:06 am

Oh, aren't you filling up at the gas station with a pump that tells you how many gallons or fraction of gallon you put in the tank?

You must be filling up at home with a gas can you fill up at the pump?

Post by **ericalm** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 2:31 am

chancerbeans13 wrote:I understand how to determine MPG's, but without having a visual point at where to stop, how do you know how much fuel you have used?

The pump doesn't stop when the tank's full? Or are you obsessively topping off?

jmazza · Post by **jmazza** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 2:46 am

I get what the OP is saying- you start with a "full" tank- but how do you measure that? In my experience the auto shut-off doesn't work so well (shuts off very early, and depends on how far down the nozzle is). Then you go until the tank is empty and need to refuel to that exact spot in order to get an accurate MPG calculation. But, again, how do you measure "full?"

If you can't use the little ridge just down in the neck, there's not another great way to determine if you've filled the same amount and with, what, a 1.7 gallon tank, a little bit more or less will make a difference in the MPG calculation.

My solution? My scooter gets kick-ass MPG's. That's all I need to know!!

nissanman · Post by **nissanman** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 2:50 am

If it's not completely filled, it doesn't matter. After you take a few readings you'll get an average that will be close enough to what you're really getting. To be fair you don't really know that full is full on your car either.

jmazza · Post by **jmazza** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 2:59 am

nissanman wrote:If it's not completely filled, it doesn't matter. After you take a few readings you'll get an average that will be close enough to what you're really getting. To be fair you don't really know that full is full on your car either.

Yup, that's pretty much what I'm doing... my MPG's come out pretty close every fill-up so I must be getting it close.

At least on a car you can pretty much put the nozzle all the way in to the sleeve and then just go on auto shut-off which should be pretty much the same place each time. Plus you're dealing with a much bigger tank which gives more margin of error from fill-up to fill-up.

chancerbeans13 · Post by **chancerbeans13** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 11:56 am

Thanks jmazza, at least someone understands my pain

KRUSTYburger · Post by **KRUSTYburger** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 2:38 pm

chancerbeans13 wrote:Is it just me, or does anyone else think it is a little dangerous having gas leak onto the muffler?

um... how else do you get those cool flames spewing out of the exhaust? duh!

It's like BATMAN!

illnoise · Post by **illnoise** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 3:34 pm

Unless you're pulling up to the gas station the exact moment your gas runs out, and you're filling up with the exact same amount of gas every time, it's moot.

With such a small tank and such an inaccurate gauges (gas and odometer),there's not a perfectly accurate way to calculate your mileage unless you're using a GPS for mileage and keeping a log of your fillups.

I think the combination of the gauges, people equating one tank with one gallon, and general rounding and optimism are giving people some REALLY inaccurate MPG figures.

Who cares? you're getting much better mileage than most people, just enjoy the ride!

SScooterG · Post by **SScooterG** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 7:13 pm

Yeah my last fill up it said I got 105 mpg and this time it said 128

it can't jump that much in one week, can it? CAN IT??!

illnoise · Post by **illnoise** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 7:21 pm

SScooterG wrote:Yeah my last fill up it said I got 105 mpg and this time it said 128 :shock: it can't jump that much in one week, can it? CAN IT??!

I'll assume you're talking about a tank, not a gallon. There's no way you're getting 128 MPG. And it's hard to know, even if you put in the same amount of gas both times, maybe your tank was a little fuller than you thought the first time...

But it *can* vary that much. Wind, road surface, speed, tire inflation, stop-and-go vs. open road, and weight can all affect mileage much more than you'd expect. Carrying a passenger or lots of cargo or even gaining weight can severely affect your mileage. Maybe your diet is finally paying off. : )

A big guy like me riding around the city revving and braking from stoplight to stoplight with groceries could easily use 20% more gas than a waif riding an even 35mph on farm roads with no cargo.

Bb.

amanda_c · Post by **amanda_c** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 7:29 pm

My odometer has got to be inaccurate. I just filled up my St. Tropez for the first time at 80 miles. The needle was close to the red, and I was eager to brag about the cost of my first fill-up ($2.58, with premium at $4.81

).

The pump stopped when the tank looked about half-full, but after reading about that overflow canister / stalling issue, I'd rather fill up more often than risk stalling out on the road. It took just over 0.5 gallon. Does anyone have any idea what ratio of BSU to miles is? If there is one.

I know it gets great mileage no matter what, but I'd like to be able to give the people who keep asking me in parking lots, the gas station and at stoplights a fairly accurate answer.

SScooterG · Post by **SScooterG** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 7:40 pm

No that is per gallon. And my ride doesn't really vary tooooo much week to week. I do the same drive every day with the same set of obstacles usually. I might expect a 5 mpg jump, max. Last time I filled up my odometer was 857.7, I filled up last night at 995.4 miles with 1.06 gallons. It comes out to 128 mpg - it's very possible I didn't fill it up as much as I normally do since I still had a 1/4th a tank left, but it looked darn close to the top to me!

I calculated it again at 1.26 gallons (closer to what I put in there when I fill up) and got 109 mpg - not half bad anyway!

edit: and by the way, how did you know I'm on a DIET?! ... stalker

MikieTaps · Post by **MikieTaps** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:29 pm

chancerbeans13 wrote: PLUS!!!! Is it just me, or does anyone else think it is a little dangerous having gas leak onto the muffler?

I am pretty sure you need open flame / spark to ignite gasoline? Am I wrong?

illnoise · Post by **illnoise** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:34 pm

SScooterG wrote: and by the way, how did you know I'm on a DIET?!

How many people do you know that are trying to *gain* weight? I know 0.

Bb.

Post by **ericalm** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 9:09 pm

illnoise wrote:How many people do you know that are trying to *gain* weight? I know 0.

I was considering it earlier this week. I asked my wife if she'd be okay with me gaining a lot of weight, becoming a famous stand up comedian by making fun of myself, then going onto a reality show to lose the weight or getting gastric bypass and selling the story to People magazine.

She didn't really go for it. I was not excused from going to the gym. Sigh.

I do have a friend who used to take prescription pills to stimulate his appetite because he was so light. I never really had that problem.

SScooterG · Post by **SScooterG** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 9:53 pm

My neighbor did weight watchers, lost too much weight, and is now trying to gain it back. Also, there are those people in the hospital for eating disorders...they're forced to eat and gain weight.

pugbuddy · Post by **pugbuddy** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 9:58 pm

I ran my scoot out of gas and then put exactly 1 gallon in it. Ran it out of gas again: 124.02 miles! I haven't tested it further--I'm happy telling folks I get 120+ mpg on my scoot (I expect the average would be a bit lower but I'm ok with that)!

Modern Buddy

Determining MPG's

Determining MPG's

Re: Determining MPG's

Re: Determining MPG's