New Lightning owner with a dumb question.

[jeff m]

This looks like a great forum you've got going here.

Just bought a 2009 XB12Scg. I'm dating myself here, but the last bike I owned was a Kawasaki KZ900, also purchased new.

I'm just breaking in the new one with just 160 miles on the odometer so far. (Can't wait to get off work to put some more miles on.)

It's been a while, so I've got some catching up to do on all the new technology. I may be asking some more dumb questions in the future.

I got the Buell because I loved the way it rode, and I wanted something different from the typical Japanese crotch rocket. I also like to buy American to the extent possible.

Anyway, I thought I'd check in and introduce myself.

Here's my fist dumb question: Am I going to be disappointed with the range between fillups? With just 3.8 gallons of gas will this be workable for longer cross country rides? The low fuel light came on with just 95 miles on the odometer even though the salesman claimed the tank was topped off when I took the bike (I did not verify that). I added 2.85 gallons to get to the bottom of the filler neck which works out to about 34 mpg for a combination of riding in traffic and on the highway. Should I expect this to improve as the engine breaks in?

Wasn't riding it too hard, just varying rpm and load as per the break-in process recommended.

 

[Midnight82]

I usually get 120 miles before my fuel light comes on and I have the open airbox delete, breather reroute and exhaust.

Once you get used to riding your new ride, I'm sure you'll find the sweet spot. When I first bought mine I was getting 38 MPG, now I can pull about 51 MPG

 

[ADAMLEE]

Breaking it in gets lower fuel miliege, so don't fret about that.

Give it some time and it will smooth out. It's no touring bike so you'll usually get under 150+ miles per tank.

 

[RT Performance]

I tour with mine i want off to strech have a drink and a smoke every two hours.So the small tank is a blessing when i reach 100-120 miles i know it is time to take a break.
Since the good mountain passes are 12 hours from me where the buell true colors really shine i am gonna be making that trip agian soon

 

[LeFox]

 

[jeff m]

Thanks guys! I'll give it some time to break in and see how it goes. Since I really like to step off the bike every couple hours, it's not a problem. I knew it didn't have particularly long legs when I bought it, but I'm hoping that I can improve somewhat on the mpg on the longer hauls eventually.

 

[Stevenc150]

to the Forum. Congrats on your new purchase. Throw up a few pics, I love seeing the newer blacked-out Buells.

 

[jsg]

Welcome to the madness For fuel millage well my 09 was doing about 37 mpg up until I hit 5k mi and now it much better I didn't calculate it but I went from 185 km between fill up to aprox 210 km

 

[RT Performance]

my 9 has knocked back as high as 67 while commuting averages mid 50's and i ride on the hard side[cool]

 

[jeff m]

Here's an update. Second fill up was 2.82 gallons for 103 miles, which gives 36.5 mpg. That's a slight improvement, so I hope the trend continues for a while as the motor breaks in. That was mostly city riding. I imagine it'll do better out of town.

 

[xtremelow]

I dont think I have ever gotten less than 45mpg on my either of my Buells and I have been riding for 3 years on Buells, note both of my bikes had over 4,000 miles on them so they were both broken in.

 

[hula Buell]

Welcome to the forum!!! Does anyone ever wonder if one type of gas gets better mileage than other oil companys fuel ? Try it you may be surprised.

 

[Stevenc150]

Always used Chevron, noticed recently I do better with Shell in the bike - no difference in the cages.