Gas mileage with Stage 1 upgrades

Does anyone have an idea what gas mileage will be on, say, a Softtail 88TCB after a Stage 1 upgrade, vs stock? Average mileage right now is 51 mpg. With Vance & Hines pipes, Ness Big Sucker and a rejet, what am I looking at? I'm figurig it will run richer to some extent, so I would expect some loss in fuel economy - certainly a reasonable trade-off for better performance.

done right it shouldn't be much different..assuming you ride your bike the same way. It may be set up a little richer but then the bike makes more power so you won't be twisting the right grip as much to make the bike go like it did before ..buuuuuuuttttt yyou may just find that you may be stretching the throttle cables a bit more because it's "funner" and that's a whole 'nother story.

02 wide glide/carb

stage one with slip ons...went on a trip from OH to Georgia and it was right at 50mpg at 70plus..the thing is you don't have to use as much throttle so long as you ride it the same way. It was noticeable right away on longer trips the right hand had a habit of wanting to twist as usual and I realized it was not necessary with the power increased. Now there was one tank.... it was around 45 mpg but we we won't talk about that tank of gas I have had the same results with all the HDs I've had. More power and ride it the same equals less effort on the bike...IMHO then there is that other tank riding stlye

Sleepy, SK, Sounds like a classic case of 'wristwistitis' to me!

yep..funny how that works out...

Yeah..some things never change.

I put a PowerCommander on my FJR in hopes that enrichening some might make the engine run slightly cooler (the heat of the Las Vegas Summer last year had my temp gauge showing a little higher than I'd ever seen it before). Kept the stock pipes as I hate loud pipes now. The engine heat though? That's not really a big concern with a water-cooled engine, even if it does have 145 ponies. What I've noticed that I really like is it's not peaky anymore at the throttle..much smoother delivery of power. My mileage did drop from about 46mpg to 43-44mpg while cruising a steady 80mph on the highway. I don't ride it any harder than before, but I'll take the smoothness it's given me. With a 6.6 gallon tank..a couple of mpg ain't nothing to worry about.

mileage

DaveFxst,

Before I put the stage 1 upgrades (V&H BigShots, Ness big sucker, PCIII), on my '03 Heritage I was getting about 41 mpg. But, that was during the "break-in" period, and I was ridin' her very gently. After the stage 1 install I am now getting 38 mpg. However, after the Stage 1, I've been ridin' her normally (not so gentle), so I can't say for sure that I'm getting lower mileage than before the stage 1. Perhaps if I rode nice and easy like I did during the break-in period, I'd get better mileage. But if better mileage was my main concern, I'd be riding a Honda scooter
The faster the machine goes, the thirstier it seems to get.

SISK

There's a fine line between genius and insanity - Cross it once and a while!!

Mileage

I have a 2003 FLSTCI with Vance and Hines Big Shots Long (Quiet Baffles), a Screaming Eagle Air Filter and the Stage-I Download with an SE Race Tuner. I had tons of Popping problems even after the dyno...the mileage went from a solid 51 to 43-45. I would not recommend the Stage-I. On my 05 Ultra, I went with V&H pipes and a Power Commander....much easier and the performance issues simply did not become an issue. Ditch the HD Stage I and go with the PC.

Jack

My stage 1 fuel burn....

My 05 FLSTNI : PCIII, SE Air Cleaner, Stage 1 ECU, V&H Drag Pipes w/ baffles and torque cones, custom dyno-tuned map.

Just got back from Bike Week and got an average of 47mpg going to Daytonna and coming from Daytonna. However, while in Daytonna I got about 25mpg It's funny how every traffic light felt like a race track christmas tree when we got around all those bikes.

-RCR