GAS MILEAGE

[JERSEYJOE]

Well I am keeping my VMAX after all. What if any are the secrets to decent fuel economy? last time I rode it I got about 65 miles and it was out of gas. This was on a groomed trail system and not balls to the wall.

[Exciter570]

I get a consistent 10-11 mpg trail riding my 97 with bender quads. I don't have any secrets just clean carbs and agressive clutching.

[Silver Talon]

When my dad first bought my sled back in 93 (used with like 400mi on it) the first year he got only about 60mi a tank, and that was being easy on it. Then they did jetting swaps that he was told would lose some power (kinda doubt that) but add gas milage. Now it gets just over 10 no matter how hard you ride it, or soft for that matter. The jet sizes that he swaped in are posted in the pics in my work in progress thread. ill go check in a second and post it. I would look into what you have now, and see if they are off from what they should be. It worked for my sled.


Edit: New jets are 133.8 and 47.5.

[JERSEYJOE]

Not sure what jet size but mine is an 800. Mostly sure we put in the factory stock jets. I remember reading that they were really fat out of the box though. We may have dropped it down. If I could get80 or 90 miles on a tank I would jump up and down.

[Master of Faster]

Properly jetted, decent track, and good clutching I think are the biggies, I got about 10 pretty consistantly with PSI quads on my 92, the pipes and clutching actually improved my mpg. The first thing I would look for would be dirty clutches not shifting properly, then make sure your carbs are in good tune (choke working properly, adjustments correct, float levels good)

[AL P]

what about gearing? not sure what kind a riding you do, but maybe changing the gearing ratio would be an option?


AL

[Ike]

The most what I get out of my 800 is about 150 kms. After that, it runs on pure hope and praying...

Ike

[JERSEYJOE]

GOOG GOD IKE THATS 100 MILES. I WOULD BE THRILLED WITH THAT. IS YOURS AN 800?

[vmax4rules]

Depending on trail conditions I get 8-10 mpg all day long.

[SideShow]

Wow: You guys are doing good with 8-10-11 MPG.

My first ride (two weeks ago) on my stock 95 800 with 905 miles in Municing, Michigan was 58 miles on the tank. And I suspect I really only rode about 35 miles. 5.8 MPG because I couldn't get my thumb to let go of the throttle.

My car is supposed to get something like 18 city 24 hwy but I only get 12 and 19. Foot has it to the wood too many times.

My motorcycle is supposed to get like 45 mpg but I getting less than 30 because of my damn wrist.

Maybe instead of jetting my carbs and buying some pipes I should cut off some body parts. Then maybe I'd be getting more miles out of a tank of gas.

I freaking love this machine. I wish it could get more milage out of a tank but not at the expense of the adrenline factor.

[JERSEYJOE]

I KNOW I FILLED UP TO THE BRIM AND RAN OUT OF FUEL AT 65 MILES. HAD TO BE TOWED IN BY MY SRX WHICH EASILY GETS 130 MILES TO A TANK. FUNNY THE SRX MAKES 135 HP AND THE VMAX MAKES 140. HOW COULD MILEAGE BE SO DIFFERENT? MY 6000 LB TRUCK GETS 17.5 AND 14.5 BEATING ON IT. IT'S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO IMAGINE AN 800 CC MOTOR USING FUEL AT THAT RATE. I LIKE THE SLED BECUAUSE IT'S DIFFERENT, BUT IT'S TOUGH TO RIDE WITH A BUNCH OF GUYS THAT EASILY GET OVER 100 MILES ON A FILL. TRUE THE VMAX TANK IS ONLY 8 GALLONS, BUT IT SHOULD GET AT LEAST 12 MPG IN MY OPINION TRAIL RIDING AT LEGAL SPEEDS.

[Master of Faster]

I always rode my Vmax-4 hard when I trail rode it, sometimes too hard, but thats another story, and I still got right around 10mpg, you guys who are only getting 5-6-7mpg really need to go through your sleds, I don't know how you could even trailride with only a 60 mile range. :2dontknow

JERSYJOE, 8 gallon tank? Are you sure thats correct? I always thought they were 10, I've gotten 100-105 miles out of a tank on my vmax before, of course if was running on fumes by then and I was lucky to make it to the station, but still I would have had to been doing more like 12-13 mpg and I kind of doubt that.

[JERSEYJOE]

I CAN'T THAT'S WHY IT SITS IN MY GARAGE COLLECTING DUST WHILE I RIDE MY OTHER YAMAHA'S. I WOULD AND WILL RIDE THE BIG MAX THIS YEAR IF IT EVER SNOWS. NOW THAT I HAVE THE SRX, VIPER AND APEX DIALED IN I AM GOING TO GO THROUGH THE 800. STARTING WITH THE CARBS, AGAIN, THEN THE CLUTCHES. I AGREE WITH OTHER POSTS HERE THAT THE MILEAGE IS LOST IN THESE TWO PLACES. I BELIEVE I AM RUNNING THE MAINS AND PILOTS THAT THE BOOK REFERS TO AS: STANDARD. I ALSO REMEMBER READING THAT THEY ARE REALLY FAT OUT OF THE BOX. SINCE EVERY 2 STROKE RIDER'S FEAR IS A MELTDOWN, HOW LEAN CAN I GO WITHOUT WORRY?

[Master of Faster]

I don't know about that, being my sled is a 750, I ran the 133.8s from Yamaha, but somebody here should be able to tell you a good jetting point for the 800, when you rode the sled did it seem to run good, or did it smoke alot? Ever foul plugs?

[vmax4rules]

I ALSO REMEMBER READING THAT THEY ARE REALLY FAT OUT OF THE BOX. SINCE EVERY 2 STROKE RIDER'S FEAR IS A MELTDOWN, HOW LEAN CAN I GO WITHOUT WORRY?

I ran my box stock 96' 800 with 141.3 mains and the needle leaned one clip with no issues at 500-2000' in elevation.

[JERSEYJOE]

Yes it fouled plugs on every ride. Mostly during slower speed running. Only on the PTO side. I kept thinking that the carb was flooding. Changed heedle and seats, set float height ect... Compression is all equal. Might be just to damm fat on the mains. I am guessing that I have 143.5's and 47 pilots

[Hank1948]

The best I have gotten is 78 miles to the tank, I would love to get better MPG, I ride with my buddy that has a T-cat and he gets around 100 miles to his, go figure a built 900 that gets 20-30 miles better than a 800.

Mine has quad pipes and clutching, Iam always going though my sled making sure everything is good, so I am pretty sure I dont have any one thing hindering my mpg.I think my mains are 147.5 but I not exactly sure,l havent looked at them lately.

[Ike]

GOOG GOD IKE THATS 100 MILES. I WOULD BE THRILLED WITH THAT. IS YOURS AN 800?

Yep. Stock 800 MountainMax. ´96. Longest distance with full tank before running out of fuel was 152 km`s. That was cruising around trails about 50 - 80 kmh. No WOT at all. Usually I fill her up at the 100 km mark though...

Ike

[dealermotorcycles]

Well with my `93 Max,I ran out of gas at 63 miles of trail.With the `96 Max 800,I did manage to get back to the gas station on fumes,and the clock had 70 miles on it.I was pretty scared when it was close to 65 miles and no gas station in site.In `94 Yamaha made clutching changes to help.I would like to find a 2 litre gas can for the trunk.Any ideas?
Mark.

[nasty]

You don"t ride them for fuel milage. So go balls to the wall

[Master of Faster]

Yes it fouled plugs on every ride. Mostly during slower speed running. Only on the PTO side. I kept thinking that the carb was flooding. Changed heedle and seats, set float height ect... Compression is all equal. Might be just to damm fat on the mains. I am guessing that I have 143.5's and 47 pilots

Something is deffinitely up if you're fouling plugs, I think 143.8 and 47.5 are the stock jets so you really should be ok there. Check to make sure the air screw is set about 2 turns out and verify where your needle is set at. The middle groove should be the stock position, I actually ran mine with the needle dropped by one groove but you would have to be sure that its running rich before you do that. I would also pull the reed cages out and check the condition of your reeds.

[JERSEYJOE]

THANKS MOF. I AM SURE THAT LAST YEAR I HAD THEE REEDS OUT AND THEY WERE FINE. LET'S TALK ABOUT ANOTHER POSSIBILITY: VENT LINES.

I REMEMBER THERE WAS A POST ABOUT RUNNING THE VENTS INTO THE AIRBOX SO THAT THEY WERE NOT SUBJECT TO BEING PRESSURIZED AND THEN CREATING A RICH CONDITION. DEAN MENTIONED USING A TEMPA FLO UNIT. AS FAR AS NOT BEING CONCERNED ABOUT GAS MILES, IT'S NOT THE $$$$$ AT ALL. IT'S JUST NOT BEING ABLE TO DO A DECENT LOOP WITHOUT FUELING UP EVERY HOUR. I LOVE THE SLED FOR BOTH IT'S LOOK AN SOUND AND I WOULD RIDE IT MORE IF I DIDNOT HAVE TO GET FUEL 3 TIMES A DAY

[Ken]

Just wondering what you are running for a track and how tight do you run it?

Did you ever check your choke to make sure that there is some play in the cable and they are not slightly open.

What conditions do you normally ride in, maybe something like a Tempaflow would be the answer. I know if I still rode my Vmax-4 on the trail that I would be going this route.

I've never got what I would consider to be good gas mileage with the Vmax-4's that I have owned. Probably averaged around 8mpg depending on how it was ridden. My 700 Viper gets double the mileage of the Vmax-4.

[Master of Faster]

THANKS MOF. I AM SURE THAT LAST YEAR I HAD THEE REEDS OUT AND THEY WERE FINE. LET'S TALK ABOUT ANOTHER POSSIBILITY: VENT LINES.

I REMEMBER THERE WAS A POST ABOUT RUNNING THE VENTS INTO THE AIRBOX SO THAT THEY WERE NOT SUBJECT TO BEING PRESSURIZED AND THEN CREATING A RICH CONDITION. DEAN MENTIONED USING A TEMPA FLO UNIT. AS FAR AS NOT BEING CONCERNED ABOUT GAS MILES, IT'S NOT THE $$$$$ AT ALL. IT'S JUST NOT BEING ABLE TO DO A DECENT LOOP WITHOUT FUELING UP EVERY HOUR. I LOVE THE SLED FOR BOTH IT'S LOOK AN SOUND AND I WOULD RIDE IT MORE IF I DIDNOT HAVE TO GET FUEL 3 TIMES A DAY

That deffinitely can happen, but I would think that would only have a noticeable affect at pretty high speeds which wouldn't explain your sled fouling plugs at low speeds. You can route the vent lines together and into the airbox which is a good thing to do anyways to gain some consistancy in your jetting (the newer sleds like the Viper are this way from the factory) but I don't think it is where your problem lies.

[JERSEYJOE]

I GUESS IF I INSTALLED AN EGT I COULD MONITOR THE EXHAUST TEMPS. THIS WOULD TELL ME IF I WAS RICH. THE CHOKE CABLES WERE CHECKED TO MAKE SURE THERE WAS SOME PLAY IN THE CABLE, BUT IT WILL NOT TELL ME IF THE CHOKE VALVES WERE SEATING. ARE TEMPA FLOW UNITS STILL AVAILABLE?

[AL P]

Joe, if ya had the carbs off, you could lightly blow air into that brass tube that extends deep into the float bowl, and see if you can easily blow air through it, if ya can, your choke plunger/s are`nt seating good.

not sure how odd this may sound, but just wrap your lips around it, and make sure your cheeks stay puffed out. LOL
sorry, could`nt think of any other way to explain my thought on it..LOL

[racer7x]

I ARE TEMPA FLOW UNITS STILL AVAILABLE?
Rich at richmotorsports.com is your guy....:4fzfk2: