KZ's and Fuel Mileage.

By JWKZ750: Yep. As a rule though, I ALWAYS run my bikes on reserve. Perhaps tomorrow I will just leave the petcock in the ON position to I know when I hit reserve.

Why? The purpose of the RES is to minimize getting stranded. If you always ride around on res, it will be just a matter of time before it happens.

As for the range, you should do a test ride on a full tank. note exactly how high you fill it. ride the bike for an hour, then refill to the same level & calculate the mpgs. You should also know the tank capacity. I would guess a 750 Twin would get good fuel economy & I would also guess it should go over 100 miles easy on a full tank.

My kz11000 gets about 35-40 mpg in the city. I get 120 mi in without getting to the reserve

martin_csr wrote: By JWKZ750: Yep. As a rule though, I ALWAYS run my bikes on reserve. Perhaps tomorrow I will just leave the petcock in the ON position to I know when I hit reserve.

Why? The purpose of the RES is to minimize getting stranded. If you always ride around on res, it will be just a matter of time before it happens.

As for the range, you should do a test ride on a full tank. note exactly how high you fill it. ride the bike for an hour, then refill to the same level & calculate the mpgs. You should also know the tank capacity. I would guess a 750 Twin would get good fuel economy & I would also guess it should go over 100 miles easy on a full tank.

Hey Martin.

Thanks for your response. Im back in the city now from the far reaches of Long Island (where the beaches are AWESOME! A few are top 10 rated in the world!).

So the bike was AMAZING on the road. NYC is a competitive city and if there are no cops around, its impossible to drive slow. Added to the fact there were two old-timers racing me on modern bikes, and I was doing about 95-100 much of the way, the fuel economy was FANTASTIC! 70 miles only used up 1.25 gallons! What a bike this is!

Before the trip, I never really got this bike above 5k rpm. Its seems the twin LOVES the 5k - 7k range and REALLY comes alive closer to 7ks. I know its not a KZ900 or KZ1000 but MAN this bike MOVES! Below is a photo of the beach and my bike parked near the beach.

Nice machine. I didn't want to offer a mileage estimate for fear of being way off and causing you to be stranded in BF. 56 MPG. Not bad. With my mods I was averaging 30-5 MPG. Crappy compared to the dependable 42 hard HWY riding. I've been determined to wean this thing of the juice it guzzled for so long. Last trip I got 41.26 Dual overhead cams lets these bikes scream at high RPM.

I miss the beach but on the west coast they are toxic at best anymore. I grew up in Malibu and Santa Monica. Clambakes, grunion hunting, beach combing was a way of life. All that is gone now. Out here we have plenty of sand but very little water to play in.
Steve

SWest wrote: Nice machine. I didn't want to offer a mileage estimate for fear of being way off and causing you to be stranded in BF. 56 MPG. Not bad. With my mods I was averaging 30-5 MPG. Crappy compared to the dependable 42 hard HWY riding. I've been determined to wean this thing of the juice it guzzled for so long. Last trip I got 41.26 Dual overhead cams lets these bikes scream at high RPM.

I miss the beach but on the west coast they are toxic at best anymore. I grew up in Malibu and Santa Monica. Clambakes, grunion hunting, beach combing was a way of life. All that is gone now. Out here we have plenty of sand but very little water to play in.
Steve

Santa Monica and Venice Beach are two of my favorite places in the world! I actually may be spending Winter out there. Sad to hear about the water condition. Not much is as good as even when I was a kid.

ON the flip side of the great gas mileage I got with my Kawa today, my 1973 Honda CB 500 gets about 25-30 to the gallon so it all evens out lol

I had a 71 CL 350 Honda and rode it for three years until I got Bossie. That little bike kept up with the big boys and I had a little hideaway at the top of Las Flores CYN I'd hang out at on the weekends. I'd pick up a tuna melt and two tall coors at the cafe on PCH to spend the day with. It was a stand of pine trees the FD had planted. Had to ride through the Manzanita bushes that were tunel hiking trails. I took Bossie up there a few times until I moved out here.
Even as a kid I remember red seas, fish die offs and the tar globs from the rigs off shore. It wasn't all good. Fishing boats, poker in the galley. sand crabs and all the rest, good memories. Haven't been out there 20 years. Maybe it's better, I hope so.
Steve

SWest wrote: I had a 71 CL 350 Honda and rode it for three years until I got Bossie. That little bike kept up with the big boys and I had a little hideaway at the top of Las Flores CYN I'd hang out at on the weekends. I'd pick up a tuna melt and two tall coors at the cafe on PCH to spend the day with. It was a stand of pine trees the FD had planted. Had to ride through the Manzanita bushes that were tunel hiking trails. I took Bossie up there a few times until I moved out here.
Even as a kid I remember red seas, fish die offs and the tar globs from the rigs off shore. It wasn't all good. Fishing boats, poker in the galley. sand crabs and all the rest, good memories. Haven't been out there 20 years. Maybe it's better, I hope so.
Steve

My first bike was a 72 Honda CB 350F. A great bike but TOO LIGHT for the highway. While on it I found i would get blown into other lanes by the wind. But it was quick and could do 100MPH easy.

This was it. I gave it away..



Tuna melt....one of my favorite things!

I like the 350 fours. Rented one. My friends had 900's so I had to get one. Never looked back. Don't get me wrong, I like most of the old Jap bikes. If I could I'd have one of each. :woohoo:
Steve

SWest wrote: I like the 350 fours. Rented one. My friends had 900's so I had to get one. Never looked back. Don't get me wrong, I like most of the old Jap bikes. If I could I'd have one of each. :woohoo:
Steve

I have two 70s hondas, 1 Kawasaki (I eventually want to another, either a KZ900 or 1000, from 77 or 78 ONLY) 1 yamaha XS650.

What are suzukis like?

The Susies were pretty good. They had a DOHC twin and I wondered why Kaw ran the SOHC twins. I was impressed with the GS 850-1000's and the XS 650's and 1100 Yamer's were nice bikes when they came into my bay. I was disappointed they didn't have cam bearings like the 900/1000's though. The roller bearing lower ends on these things make them bullet proof. I picked up a KZ 550 a while back and it had six gears. I DON'T HAVE SIX GEARS.:ohmy: I sold it, I should have kept it for Kayla.
Steve

With my KZ1000 it's no more than 100 miles per tank, at 110 miles I am literally push the thing. I have a Pingle race petcock, no reserve here.

TheTrout wrote: With my KZ1000 it's no more than 100 miles per tank, at 110 miles I am literally push the thing. I have a Pingle race petcock, no reserve here.

Thanks for responding. It seems my tank threshold is 100 miles per tank, give or tank. Id hate to have to push your bike. Way too heavy. Im also slightly annoyed that my twin KZ750 weighs MORE than my 72 Honda cb750