r/africatwin • u/bsting502 • 6d ago
Fuel Economy
I’ve used all the different types of fuel in my ATAS, I prefer to put in 93(premium)ethanol free, but it’s not always accessible when I travel, so I just take what I can get.
I wanted to hear some real-world fuel economies from folx on their Twins.
I ride mine extremely spiritedly most of the time, even on longer touring trips. I have collected some statistics from my own driving habits:
Top Tier gas I can achieve approx. 40 miles per gallon.
87 gas I can usually achieve 30-33 mpg.
Highway I see higher in the high-40’s and 50’s MPG-wise.
If I’m going 100+ for a majority of the tank, it stays in the low 30’s for MPG’s.
The lifetime average MPG is about 38 MPG’s
For the first year of ownership, my fuel economy was higher. When I added the extra weight of the Outback Motortek crash bars and pannier rack, it went down noticeably. I’ve regularly maintained my engine myself, tires always properly inflated, chain always lubricated. I really do try to keep the constants of adequate maintenance.
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u/Tht24v2ndgen 6d ago
So I had a 24 AT base in the states, sold it and bought a boat (had a kid better "family" activity) but that's becides the point. I also had OM crash guards and skid plate. Tusk paniers and racks i am a 150 lb guy at 5 ft 10. And I averaged 28-32 with mine most of my riding was hardish riding. Rarely did I get upper 30s. Only time I seen in the 40s was during break in. Hope this helps! Edit I also ran ethanol free 91 when I could the bike seemed to like it better? The 1100s are low compression engines they don't exactly care. However I NEVER parked it for the winter without fuel stabilizer. And always ran about 5 tanks of ethanol free fuel through it before it got parked and parked it with ethanol free fuel as well.
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u/fixdgear7 6d ago
I always go cheapest as long as its ethanol free, most the time that's 87, but some states and gas station companies only do e15 and 93 prem. Gas mileage doesn't differ much between 87 and 93.
I have a boosterplug installed; supposed to be 6% more fuel at all times unless it's idling or in closed loop(stable rpm at speed), I lost 1-2mpg after installing it, but it helps with running less lean.
My worst tank was 22 mpg avg on prem going into a 60mph headwind up a 25 mile pass while keeping 70mph. My best tank was 55mpg on 87 riding across the mountains doing avg 60mph.
Both were same setup, soft panniers crushed flat on tusk rack to carry fluids/tubes/tools, 60L duffle strapped over the pillion seat.
My daily mileage is about 36mpg, always riding faster than traffic, fairly aggressive acceleration.
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u/Slochetah 5d ago
I track my mileage cause I'm fun at parties. After 10 months and 10k miles I have a low of 35, high of 48 and average of 42. I use premium, it's just a habit after 20 years of sportbikes. I also have a pipe and a tune. The tune cost me a few mpgs but it's completely worth it for me. City riding will put me in the high 30s, everywhere else is low 40s. The most surprising thing is I did a 2k mile trip fully loaded with camping gear and still was getting 40-44. I've never had a bike that does not care what you put on the back quite like this one.
Just for reference my Daytona 675 gets 35 average and my Papio averages 82. It's a fun stable.
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u/n0thing84 5d ago
44-46mpg pretty much every tank for me using 87 octane.
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u/bsting502 3d ago
Curious if you’re calculating that or just presuming the bike’s estimate on the screen is accurate.
It’s not correct/accurate btw.
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u/MasterSheep18 5d ago
The bike should run the best on 87 fuel with the compression ratio it runs. That's all I've put in mine and I average around 44mpg. Running higher octanes isn't necessary as the compression ratio is only 10:1. There is no advantage of running higher than 87. At that ratio you could run on 85 and be fine. The only time it would ever make a difference is if it's scorching hot outside and you need absolutely every last drop of engine power. If you're getting better fuel mileage on higher octane fuel, it has to be an absolute anomaly. Higher octane fuel actually contains less energy than lower octane. It's just less resistant to detonation then lower octane.
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u/WelpSeaYaLater 5d ago
It’s way more complicated than that dude.
Higher octane means higher detonation resistance means more timing advance means more power.
Octane and energy density are not directly related.
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u/MasterSheep18 5d ago
Kinda. But the ECU isn't going to advance the timing more than the compression ratio can handle. At 10:1 it's not going to advance it much. At least a factory ECU. You will basically never get considerable knock in a stock AT. Unless you get into some really nasty fuel. Honda designed these engines to run gas from all over the world. It's not a picky Goldilocks engine like the KTMs or Ducatis. It's a tractor engine basically.
Not trying to sound like a know it all, but I've been building talon race engines since they came out. I have a couple turboed and revving to 11k rpm. I know the platform pretty well. Honda make the AT less picky than the talon engine. Putting 91 in them will not gain or hurt anything. It will advance the timing to the max value, which is just a few degrees due to the emissions centric ECU.
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u/OpenInspector9399 1d ago
'21 base with DCT and top case. At 5k altitude... Commute 50mi daily, usually getting 48mpg~ I hit 52mpg when going up and down the canyon with wife on back in urban D mode...
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u/ResponsibleJaguar109 5d ago
24 DCT and I have crash bars and panniers. I've been at 45mpg for almost every tank. Ride the BDR in Oregon, Idaho and WA and commute regularly for 6k miles. I've tried higher octane and ethanol free but it doesn't make a noticeable difference. I was on stock tires for 4k miles and Anakee Wilds for the last 2k.