Gas mileage

[2K5GSX600F]

I am still breaking my kat 600 in (about 350 miles so far) but I am getting lower mpg than my car, only about 100ish miles to a tank. the dealer keeps telling me that it will get better after 600-800 miles. so I was wondering what kind of mileage others are getting?

[1BlueKat]

I can put around 120 miles per tank. A little better than 50 mpg, you are getting about the same. You should be getting a little better, especially during break in. I mean, you are not red lining or riding hard.

[Crackshot]

Yeah, I get just about 120 miles per tank too.

[woobie]

I usually get 160 miles before she starts to chug and I need to switch to reserve.

[zleviticus]

i get about 140 and have never switched to reserve...

I average about 45mpg... I hope your comparing apples to apples. The amount i have to fill up my bike in two weeks is more than the kat but that is apples to oranges. My truck holds 26 gallon and the bike 5.

[SlipKid]

Tank goes empty, I fill it. Mileage? Unknown...

If it's that important, I understand the old Honda Express gets awesome milieage! So does the Honda Rebel. You know, for a big bike...

[naskie18]

I usually get 120-140 to a tank, never had to go to the reserve. Seemes to average about 43MPG.

'95 Kat 750 with just over 4400 miles on it.

[The CyberPoet]

The worst I've ever gotten was about 98 before reserve (hot-dogging it everywhere, K&N/DynoJet jet-kit installed and R4 race oil), the best was about 204 before reserve (steady highway riding at 75 - 85, stock config, Castrol GPS oil). Typically I get around 125 - 140 before I start getting close to the reserve (i.e. - dropping down far enough on the fuel gauge that I feel I need to refill).

You may have three different issues affecting you:

(A) Fuel gauge inaccuracy. Are you saying you get 100 miles before needle is in the red, or before you actually have to physically switch over to the reserve setting to keep the bike going? How many gallons is it taking when you fill up?

(B) The California models have a 4/10ths of a gallon smaller tank than the standard 49-state model because of the extra space for the pollution control equipment (PAIR Valve specifically) and displacement by vapor recovery hoses. Cali: 4.9 gallon, standard 49-state model: 5.3 gallons

(C) There may be a leak in the bike's fuel system (such as a small nick in the fuel lines or a misaligned tank sender fuel gasket) which is letting it actively drip fuel out when it's parked that you're not noticing because it's still a slow leak.

The mileage should improve -- but 100 miles per tank is still not right, especially during break-in if you are following the manufacturer's instructions on how to do a break-in.

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[zleviticus]

good catch cyber he probably does have the ca model with the smaller tank.

[2K5GSX600F]

Right, I do have the CA model and I am around 100 miles when the needle goes into the red. not sure how much further it goes before needing to switch to reserve.

[The CyberPoet]

Right, I do have the CA model and I am around 100 miles when the needle goes into the red. not sure how much further it goes before needing to switch to reserve.

It varies from Kat to Kat, but my needle is basically more than 3/4's of the way through the red before I physically hit the reserve requirement (i.e. - have to change the petcock to get fuel back to the carbs). My last Kat it was about 1/8th of the way into the red when it hit the reserve requirement.

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[Matt]

Mileage is HORRIBLE on a new engine during break-in.

My Buell, my 750 Kat, my wife's 600 Kat and my buddy's Busa ALL had MPG of less than half what it is now. (all bought new, broke in per manufac. spec)

Don't even look at the mpg until you've hit 1000 miles or more. By 2-3K miles, it'll be as good as it gets.

[zleviticus]

for me i have never hit reserves and have had it to where the needle was far into the red..


Next time you get gas fill it up zero out you odometer. Then ride.. the next tim you fill up grab your odometer readin gnad fill it to where it was before. Grab the reciept and you will have a more accurate measurement of your gas mileage. If you ahve not done this yet. We do it for all of our cars. It helps us to know if something weird is going on with the cars and gas usage.

[Anonymous]

35-40mpg
And since my gas tank is just under 4gals (yeah, that DOES suck) I get nervous around 100mi!

[harrye]

On my new 2004 model Kat it took 3.28 gallons to fill it close to the neck when the gage just began to touch reserve (or red). So with a 5.3 gallon tank, it seems that 2 gallons is the reserve and 3.3 gallons is above reserve.

It seemed like like my odometer read 200 miles when the gage was back to about 3/4 tank (where it was when the bike was delivered. So maybe 3.3 to 3.5 gallons were used in the first 200 miles. But I am breaking it in by the book. Even shifting into 6th gear at 40 mph.

I didn't check your location, but if you are doing city driving with hills, maybe, and keeping higher rpm in lower gears as a safety measure (to accelerate out of trouble), your mileage may be where it should be.

If the engine runs right, sounds right, feels right, and you don't smell gas or see drips under your bike, then I'd say there is no problem. That reserve capacity per the gage is large.