A very Newbie Question - Fuel Consumption

[serialrisk]

Afternoon all

Recently started riding an S4Rs, so recently that im on my first tank of fuel.

the fuel light came on at about 90miles (i always reset the odometer, had no choice on a old ZX6R). I know ducatis are thirsty but i thought this was a little early.

I have only ridden country roads in 2nd ad 3rd gear and the odd bit of 70-90 on dual cariageways

A rough estimate is about 32mpg

Question is:

What kinda mileage should i expect until the fuel light comes on. Or at least what kinda mileage does everyone else get.

I take it the tank is 12.5l + 3.5l reserve - 15litres total?

[rollo22]

Spirited riding mine used to come on at 85 miles.
Cruising on Motorway would return about 50 mpg.
Check front sprocket size could have bearing on fuel consumption std=15
Standard pipes or Termis
ECU may need a tweak fuel air ratio and TPS reset

[gemantsdad]

Hi,I had a bit of a shock on my first ride out on my S4RS,stopped for coffee,pulled away from cafe light came on,turned back and filled up,10.78 ltrs trip showed 67.4 miles !! admittedly I had been stretching the wire a little bit,but after my old cb1300 which would do about 140miles with similar use it came as a surprise,with less spirited use I can get almost 100 miles from similar amount of fuel,It still makes you think a bit about your route,planning next fuel stop is a priority.

[Nickj]

Bear in mind that the motor was designed for racing, to take on the jap multi's in WSB. So economy wasn't an overwhelmingly important part of the design brief. The rest of the bike pulls parts from the top end of the sports bike series, worth some bragging rights.

Now you have about 30 BHP more than the Honda and ever so slightly more torque, probably better suspension and brakes that wouldn't be out of place on a full on race bike.

Heavier fuel consumption is the unfortunate price you pay.

[Rally]

On a track day, my RS's fuel light came on from a brim full tank at 43 miles and ran dry at 54. It worked out at just over 17mpg! Moral of the story; Don't thrash it.......

On normal riding 100 - 120 before the light came on. They are a lovely bike though. :D

[gemantsdad]

Hi Nickj,the Honda has about 10lb-ft torque more than the RS, mine had fullrace Akropovic exhaust system and a mapped power commander,so peak power was comparable,the big isssue with the RS is the small tank combined with the higher consumption,I know now what my poorest consumption will be,have now had a few rides out and can get about 47mpg so it allows me to plan a little better,its still good fun to wind it up though,Tony

[bluestoesonnose]

S4R has a bigger tank, 120 miles or so for a tank full of fuel

[gemantsdad]

what's the capacity on the S4R tank,mine is stated as "14L of which 3L is reserve" so that gives you 11L to use then look for fuel,or run out and push/wait for help,based on recent fill ups I could probably get 120 miles,

[bluestoesonnose]

From a poor and faiding memory the Testastretta bikes have 1.5 litres less than the 996 bikes.

The 998s engine is taller (I think it's something to do with the air box) and the tank capacity is descreased to suit.

[mintyhit]

I get around 50 - 60 miles until the light comes on on my S4RS - but this is mostly city riding. Spirited open road riding I get around 80 - 90miles until light.

[gary tompkins]

I think most members that have owned the S4RS struggle to get more than 90 miles to reserve

Combination of smaller tank and higher fuel consumption - bit of a pain in the arse when touring abroad

[serialrisk]

Cheers guys

Think i got a bit of shock. Was expecting to get nearer 40mpg/120miles before reserve. Gona make cruising round the scottish countryside interesting anyway!

[S4Rs MacK]

Regularly only get about 85-90miles from mine but TBH my first RS was the same when having a spirited ride. (Slightly less when riding with Rally, sorry chasing Rally). But bloody good fun though.
On a normal ride with my long haired general on the back I can get 100-120miles, but as you may have guessed, the rate of knots is somewhat less.(Most of the time).
Fuel consumption aside, I wouldnt change it for the world.

[J.P]

I take it the tank is 12.5l + 3.5l reserve - 15litres total?

I've urn out after just 12.5 litres in the past on my 998 S4R.
So you should use that for your mental calculations for distance.
12.5 litres (3.125 gallons) @ 32 mpg = 100 miles.

[Black Bob]

That's just diabolical fuel consumption.

Takes me back to a fun days riding I once had in France with a couple of 1098S firiends... I was on an S1000RR which didn't dip below 45mpg, yet they both drank fuel at the rate of 24mpg. On the same run at the same speeds.

Why are these 4-valvers so bad - what's the upside?

[Dirty]

Why are these 4-valvers so bad - what's the upside?

Nectar points and global warming :)

[Dukedesmo]

Why are these 4-valvers so bad - what's the upside?

Actually I've got a 916 and it gets better MPG than my M900...

[bluestoesonnose]

You have to remember that Vee Twin engines are never going to be as efficient as multis when you start to tune them. One of the reasons the WSB rules allow twins to be 200cc or thereabouts larger capacity than the fours.

The 996 and 998 are dumbed down superbike motors. However, they do produce a reasnonable amount of power and this has to come from somewhere. Pouring fuel in is always a good way to get more power (unless it's a two stroke) finding better ways of burning helps. The downside of all this is fuel consumption suffers.

[gary tompkins]

If you think that's bad..

My mate had a Kawasaki H2 750 and on a run down to Rye he filled up 4 times and still ran out coming home on the M20. I had to take my tank off (morini 350) and pour enough into his to reach the next garage. We worked out he was getting about 10mpg where as the morini did the round trip without hitting reserve. The H2 had a mechanical fuel gauge in the filler cap, and he said he could see it dropping as he rode along. Did sound nice on expansion chambers following the smokescreen along though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8KgpE93OHk