Fixed odometer + new trip reset nob = realization that.....

[SFSig]

So yeah... What the titles says.

 

To make a long story short, I recently fixed the broken speedo cable and while I was at it, I replaced the trip reset nob, too. All was well and right with the world until I realized that I was only getting in the realm of 17-19 mpg.

 

I always had my suspicions: I seemed to be filling up the tank an awful lot, but I do live and drive mostly in San Francisco, so "the hills and stop and go traffic must be killing my mpg" . I can smell gas with the engine running a lot of the time, but this is my first bike, so maybe that's just they way it is . The black soot building up on the inside of my exhaust should have tipped me off too, but....

 

Anyway, the trip reset nob has confirmed my suspicions.

 

To top it all off I just had a 12k service done at Munroe Motors - a reputable and knowledgeable shop.

 

After conducting some searches on this and other forums, I have some ideas that I'd like to bounce off you guys:

 

- It could be stuff related to the 12k service i.e. valve clearances, TPS, throttle body sync etc., but I would lean towards giving Munroe Motors the benefit of the doubt as they haven't steered me wrong yet... Not sure what clearance they set the valves at, though.

 

-temp sensors of different sorts could be the culprit, I suppose. I'm not sure about the air temp sensor, but I'm pretty sure the oil/engine temp sensor is just fine. The reason for this is 1. I do believe it has a brass housing that I keep reading about 2. I also do let my bike warm up prior to riding it and about 2 minutes into having start it, the revs climb drastically when I have the throttle enrichment lever activated. Am I wrong in my assumption that this is due to the engine temp sensor reading the higher temperature of the adjusting the engine accordingly? I haven't tested the accuracy of the sensors with a multimeter, but to be honest, I'm an idoit with that thing...

 

-fuel injectors. Maybe they need to be replaced? Maybe they're worn and allowing too much fuel to flow into the engine?

 

-fuel mapping. This is a used bike and so I'm unsure what sort of fiddling the previous owners did it electronic or otherwise

 

-accessories. It's got the MG Ti pipes and a aftermarket crossover (Mistral, I think). Perhaps the ECU was never adjusted to account for these accessories and so that's contributing to the low mpg?

 

-trip odometer is way off. In other words, I still need to verify that 1 mi = 1 mi, but by my estimates it not SO off as to think 2 mi = 1 mi if that makes sense.

 

That's all I can think of in my inexperienced mind. Taken individually, I find it hard to believe that one of those items could be responsible for me getting about half of what I would expect in terms of MPG. To be clear though, the bike runs wonderfully otherwise. I've got a nice strong consistent idle set at just below 1k RPMs (by Munroe). The power is great (although I don't have much to compare it to so it could be amiss I suppose). In general, I wouldn't think that anything was wrong with the bike, except that the trip odometer is telling me wacky info!

 

I'll be bringing the bike back to Munroe to look at some stuff, so if you guys have any suggestions on things to look for then I'd love to be able to pass that info along or try to check into it myself.

 

Thanks in advance for your input!!!

[Skeeve]

To make a long story short, I recently fixed the broken speedo cable and while I was at it, I replaced the trip reset nob, too. All was well and right with the world until I realized that I was only getting in the realm of 17-19 mpg.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that the trip odo is incorrectly calibrated from the factory. Do some noodling around here at v11lm and I'm sure you'll find the post where someone discovered that the trip odo reads in 2 klicks, while the permanent odometer correctly displays the miles traveled. The originator of that post checked his bike against fixed mile markers, which is how he made the discovery.

 

I imagine this is a non-issue on V11s for distribution in countries where they do everything in kilometers...

 

Still, you've got some pretty serious mileage woes, even adjusting for the wonky trip meter. First things first: check the valves and adjust the TPS; it could very well be that the TPS is set up for the stock ECU, instead of the (iirc, different) setting for the Guzzi Ti-ECU. Of course, I could very well be wrong about that, but it seems to me that most complaints of absurdly cr@p mileage have revolved around incorrect TPS settings.

 

Oh yeah, & clean your air filter!

 

Best of luck!

[richard100t]

If you can smell gas while the engine is running then something is definitely wrong somewhere. Fortunately its probably something simple. Check all the fuel lines to make sure they are tight & leak free. Does your bike run well? Does it cough or backfire a lot? Another thing to check are the rubber intake sleeves that attach to the throttle bodies. Your bike is almost ten years old, probably with the factory sleeves. If they are leaking that wont do your bike any good either.

Since your bike has the ti cans on it with the special ecu make sure its setup for whatever type of air filter you have as well. That is very important too.