79 miles per tank of fuel 83 KZ1100

Ok you read the title ...I got 79 miles some highway some city from a full tank. I just bought the bike and it runs really good so no complaints there. No pouring black smoke out of pipe when going down the road. Plugs also look decent. Bike has Pingel petcock that is shut off when not running. Im going to guess its about 4 gallons capacity. When gas guage read e I thought no way ... well its right ask me how I know.. I have not checked jetting in carb although previous owner thought he put 120 mains. Bike has stock carbs with pods and Star header. I got to say I while riding it I'm no where near the redline.. Only thing I noticed is at 70 mph its at 5500 rpm. seemed a little high to me but most people on forum thought it was ok. Like I said bike seems to start, idle and run great but 80 miles a tank seems a tad bit off.. Not looking for a million miles a gallon but thought 79 was kind of low. I'm only on 2nd tank of gas both have had sea foam in them since bike sat a short time without running. What are you guys getting out of your similar bikes ? My previous 76 KZ900 punched to 1000 Andrews x2 cams and 29 smoothbores did better than this one. Thanks

I'm not driving like a +88 year old, but if I average something around 45mph-65mph, my 77' KZ1000A1 will go about 140 to 160 miles before I have to flip to reserve. When it does, I start looking for gas ASAP.
The fill up usually takes about 3.1 to 3.3 gallons of gas.
Although I have seen better then 55MPG, I still conservatively figure my MPG at 40-45 max so I don't end up doing "the biker's walk of shame".

Guess ill run a few more tanks of fuel through it to double check mileage numbers. Yea the walk of shame sucks.

Ok bike started missing today at 83 miles. Glad I was within eyeshot of gas station, Came home checked plug gap , compression ,tire pressure... All good. I still need to check jetting as I haven't had bike long so I'm not sure what jets are in the mains. Plugs looked dark so I'm going to say its a bit rich. While looking through owners manual it says the gas tank capacity is 5.7 us gallons. Now I don't know what kind of magic gas they put in there to get 5.7 gallon capacity but im getting 3.0 gallons from empty. It does have the pingel petcock so I'm not sure if I'm not getting all fuel used but I'm not hearing any in tank sloshing around. With Star header and pods where is a good starting point for jetting ? I read mains are 120 from the factory. Gas mileage is 28.9 miles to a gallon . My escort does better lol.

If the best you can do is put in 3 gallons, it probably has an LTD tank. They were smaller. As for mileage ?

On the HWY I'm getting 100 miles before I go to reserve. 33mm carbs and a little rich. I should get 130 miles. The other day I got 93 miles but that was street/open road. I tend to use the power a lot. Good for the soul.
Steve

It is good for the soul. My last bike 76 900 punched to 1000 andrews x2 cams 29 smoothbore carbs , pods , v&h pipe did way better than this bike. I can't imagine running rich which I'm sure it is , could kill the mpg this much. Im not so much concerned literally about mpg as Ive had multiple kz.. From 900 to 1100 & can't figure out where it's all going. Lol. My last 1100 shaft, an 82 had a Vetter full windshield and got about 40 mpg.. Basically same bike. Although it was 100% stock.

Im saying this again. 30-35 mpg is the most I have ever got out of any 900/1000 or 1100. I don't know what magic people are using to get 40+ but I've NEVER gotten that. Your gas mileage sounds right to me.

With my stock 28's I was getting 42 MPG dependable.
Steve

I guess the one thing I haven't thought of is the red 55mph on the speedo. When this bike was made 70mph speed limits were a thing of the past I drove about 30 miles today from full never going over 60mph.. I was getting passed by everything with wheels but rpm was 4k and gas gauge has barely moved from full. I'm going to ride some more highway tomorrow at 55mph just to see if there is a difference. I checked float level in all four carbs.. Was maybe a little low in one but nothing major. The way this thing drinks gas I was almost sure float levels had to be high. Well if the rain holds off tomorrow I'll finish off that tank and check mpg then. Jetting next.

etbike3135 wrote: Im saying this again. 30-35 mpg is the most I have ever got out of any 900/1000 or 1100. I don't know what magic people are using to get 40+ but I've NEVER gotten that. Your gas mileage sounds right to me.

I just refueled today after 157miles on the OD.... how accurate is that? No idea.
It took exactly 3.3 gallons to take the level about a 1/4" under the fuel neck.
So, if the OD is 10% low, like my speedo seems to be all the time, I think I am getting about 157/3.3= 47.5mpg X .90 = <43mpg.
Still follows the rule I've lived with for 37 years in this saddle.... 130-140 miles... look for a gas station, hit reserve, find a station in the next 10-15 mins!!. LOL

And I've had the opposite experience. My kz900 punched to 1015 with 10.5 to 1 with Andrews x2 cams and 29 smooth bores did the 140 miles before reserve. When I filled up today it was 25. But Im also pretty sure none of my prior kz were at 5500 rpm at 70 on speedo.. Which we both know is likely about 65 for real. At the end of the day if that's what it gets it's ok but my 99 escort currently gets 30... I'm going to run gearing through some calculations. I checked briefly on a gear sight tonight and with my bike and tire it said I should be close to 80 mph at that rpm..