60 mpg!

[skeeters_keeper]

When 40mpg in a B6 festy just aint good enough, its time for a 250 ninja.
Filled up for the first time since I started riding this morning, right at 60mpg, and thats with a newbie riding and not exactly being easy on it all the time :p I think I could hit 70+ cruising.

[V8Festiva]

Nate,

That little Honda, what year and size is that?

I think I have some parts from one like that along with the engine.

You can have it next time you are down.

The engine was very low miles.

Dean
Raleigh, NC

[skeeters_keeper]

Thats a CB100, I think a 1970.

My dad is fixing it up for a friend, his grandfather bought it new but its been sitting for a few years and he decided to put it back on the road. Cleaned the carb's, fixed some lights, the tank was all rusted out, removed as much rust as possible and then gave it a good epoxy tank coating. Its running and riding now! Only thing left to fix now is the speedo. Neat little bike but to small to take on the highway.

[festyxfi]

I hear ya on the two-wheeled MPG's!! Amazing is'nt it? I currently ride an 01 Honda XR650L that usually pulls 50MPG (because I have touring luggage hanging all over it) but my Suzuki DR350E use to get 60-65MPG....loved it! I also had a Honda CT110 that went over 100MPG's riden nicely.

Those 250 Ninjas are known for being igh geared and great on gas.

I drove my very well used 89 Festy round Canada recently, staying 60MPH or under the whole trip and was able to get 40-52MPG (depending on headwinds) this was even with hundreds of pounds of river rocks rolling around the back. So don't forget about out little rides....

In a pinch, an XFi will get over 60MPG, and keeps the rain off too.

Brenton

[nonamekid]

Cruising you should be able to get better than 65mpg with that ninja 250. I have a Yamaha YZF600R and I average about 50-55, and I am always winding that thing out. It helps that my commute is 30 miles. Once I get up to speed I am there for about 20 miles without stopping.

[TominMO]

My stock Festy got 46.5 last weekend, on the highway, windows up, no A/C (early in the morning). I was doing about 65 - 70 the whole time. Next weekend I will try a MPG run at 50 MPH, just to see what it'll do. The tires are pumped up to 35 psi. The rear tires/wheels are stock 155/80x12, but the fronts are 155/80x13 (from a later Geo/Chevy Metro) for a little higher gearing, about 4.5%, so lower RPMs by that much. There have been no handling issues with the mismatched wheels. The important part is that the tire width and height remain the same.

I correct the odometer error by comparing the mile markers for 10 miles. If it reads 10.1 for example, then it's 1% over, so I subtract a mile for every 100 when calculating fuel mileage.

To calculate speedo error, I run it at 60 MPH indicated on the speedo for one mile, then see how many seconds it took. If it took 62 seconds, then I know it was actually going about 58 MPH.

[neanderpaul]

Yeah I was all over that honda 100 when I was there. I'd love to have that little thing.

[GenevaDirt]

The rear tires/wheels are stock 155/80x12, but the fronts are 155/80x13 (from a later Geo/Chevy Metro) for a little higher gearing, about 4.5%, so lower RPMs by that much. There have been no handling issues with the mismatched wheels. The important part is that the tire width and height remain the same.

I correct the odometer error by comparing the mile markers for 10 miles. If it reads 10.1 for example, then it's 1% over, so I subtract a mile for every 100 when calculating fuel mileage.

To calculate speedo error, I run it at 60 MPH indicated on the speedo for one mile, then see how many seconds it took. If it took 62 seconds, then I know it was actually going about 58 MPH.

The tires are not the same height. The 13's are 62.8 in circumferance and the 12's are 68.4.
It throws your speedo off by about 2.8 mph. I am running that size tire on my car and at any given time the speed on the gps is approximately 3 mph different. Just an FYI

[skeeters_keeper]

53mpg is my best in the festy. 55mph and loaded down (we were moving from PA to VA).

I'm not forgetting the festy's thats for sure, I've still got 4 of them, but now I have something to ride while the festy's are down for upgrades that are less economy-minded... turbos don't usually help MPGs

Tom - stock festiva tires size is actually 145/80/12. Sounds like your doing the math right though! Once you know how far your speedo is off, it can be adjusted by pulling the cluster and adjusting it from the back. I run mine against a GPS, make adjustments, try again, make adjustments. I'm runing 185/60/14's falken zx912s @ 45 psi and after adjuster my speedo that way its dead on.

[FB71]

Nate,

Festivas came with two different tire sizes, depending on if it was an L (145R12) or LX/GL (165/80R/12)

[festyxfi]

Overlord...I didn't know that!! different size tires?

I learn something everyday here....

[nonamekid]

I correct the odometer error by comparing the mile markers for 10 miles. If it reads 10.1 for example, then it's 1% over, so I subtract a mile for every 100 when calculating fuel mileage.

Very bad way to correct an odometer. Mile markers are rarely 5280 apart. Sometimes they are 5500 feet, sometimes they might be 4800 feet apart. There is a place that has three mile post markers within 1 mile of each other. Mile markers are reference points for the road compared to when they were originally built. When we design roads up here we don't even call them mile post, we call them reference points. For example mile post 197 would be called Reference Point 197, or RP 197. Some roads have resets for stationing between mile markers where the stationing may jump back 300 feet due to different projects at different times.

[TominMO]

53mpg is my best in the festy.

Tom - stock festiva tires size is actually 145/80/12. Sounds like your doing the math right though! Once you know how far your speedo is off, it can be adjusted by pulling the cluster and adjusting it from the back.

53 MPG is pretty darn good! I want to try it at 50 mph, although that is not too reasonable a speed on the hwy, just for the bragging rights to my SUV-afflicted friends.

Yeah I know stock tire width was originally 145mm.

Great info about adjusting the cluster--I didn't know that was possible.

"Very bad way to correct an odometer. Mile markers are rarely 5280 apart."
The hwy I use has mile markers every .2 miles, so I am pretty confident they are accurate enough.