Just what is special about a thumper?

[afk40]

spikerbud.. how big is yer tank, ye said in one line ye wir gettin 69mpg then the line below that ye said 70 to a tank ???? a think maself, two up wi luggage a think yed be doin good if ye wir gettin 45/50 tae the gallon.. a think yer kidding yrsel on at 69mpg....

[sbikerbud]

spikerbud.. how big is yer tank, ye said in one line ye wir gettin 69mpg then the line below that ye said 70 to a tank ???? a think maself, two up wi luggage a think yed be doin good if ye wir gettin 45/50 tae the gallon.. a think yer kidding yrsel on at 69mpg....

Usually i get 50-55 mpg commuting, which gives me 85miles before reserve (about 1.5 - 1.7 gallons).

I planned the motorway fuel stops to refuel at the services approx 70 miles apart because i didn't fancy watching the trip meter rolling past 80 miles as the sign for the next services said "Services 20miles".

I brimmed the tank each time i stopped and sad as i am, worked out the mpg.

First leg gave me 59ish mpg over 70 miles (including getting out of birmingham).

The max comfortable speed of 60mph meant i was in the left lane almost exclusively and slipstreaming trucks for most of the journey. The throttle needed to be barely open.

The second fill up took approx 4.8 litres at around the 72-73 miles on the trip mark. Giving me 68mpg (theoretical range before reserve of 102 - 115miles)

The final 70odd miles through the lakes got me 62mpg.

Now I was quite impressed with this so decided to up the distance between stops on the way home

The return journey was into a stiff head wind, the first leg i did was 86 miles and the bike took 7.5 litres (1.65 gallons) or 52mpg.

This was too close to reserve for me to want to risk it again so i reduced the distance between fill ups again.

The second section was shorter at 52 miles (putting me back on approx 70miles between services) and took only 4.2litres or 56mpg (ish) due to slip streaming again, as for the final leg......i don't know because i came straight to the house and have yet to refill it.

The FMX tank is too small to take chances with unfortunately. You could (as i did at one point) have a theoretical tank range of over 100 miles to reserve or alternatively just 85 miles to reserve and only 100 miles before the tank runs dry.

With the posibility of services being closed, out of unleaded etc, you can't risk running to the limits of the non reserve distance and not being able to make the next services another 20 miles away. Hence the tank range of 70 odd miles (safely)
Sitting by the side of a motorway for 2 hours waiting for the AA sucks, been there, done that.

[afk40]

ok... ye won yer case....

[El Vencejo]

@sbikerbud

Good real review and you still love the bike

I believe in "warts and all" comments rather than the "rose-tinted specs" view. Singles have lots of faults, but also lots of character, never bland.

[sbikerbud]

@sbikerbud

Good real review and you still love the bike

I believe in "warts and all" comments rather than the "rose-tinted specs" view. Singles have lots of faults, but also lots of character, never bland.

Yes, i still love my bike.
I wish it was smoother, bigger tank and had more power, but then i suppose that is another bike altogether.

I wouldn't give up the "doff doff doff" sound or the punchy feeling at lower speeds. 50-55mpg commuting is cool too (the vfr i used to own was lucky to get 35mpg commuting, i do miss the V4 power and sound though)

the single is the first bike i've felt really comfortable with, it's unlikely to get me into serious trouble as going fast is an effort, its light(ish), good vision from the tall seat, handles well.

It has a less serious feel than the bigger, heavier, more powerful bikes i've owned, it's more fun and for me, thats what bikes should be about

[jasonbc]

spikerbud.. how big is yer tank, ye said in one line ye wir gettin 69mpg then the line below that ye said 70 to a tank ???? a think maself, two up wi luggage a think yed be doin good if ye wir gettin 45/50 tae the gallon.. a think yer kidding yrsel on at 69mpg....

I know my xr400 gets roughly 45mpg, a mate of mine swore his drz400 was getting 70mpg ( some people, math, & figures )

We did a road trial together both tanks were full at start we both did the same route and topped up at the same time i put in £4.20 he put in £4.11 so both bike were doing the same mpg as near as dammit and he was still adamant that it was doing 70mpg which was impossible. tried explaining to him that we did same route and used same fuel load did the same distance and he still wasn't convinced. Prooved it to him with the math and he still didn't get it in the end i gave up

[sbikerbud]

the maths is simple enough.

litres taken to fill tank / 4.54 (lt per gallon) = gallons purchased

mileage on trip / gallons purchased = mpg

easy on the fmx, you can never purchase more than 2 gallons, keeps the sums nice and small

[jasonbc]

the maths is simple enough.

litres taken to fill tank / 4.54 (lt per gallon) = gallons purchased

mileage on trip / gallons purchased = mpg

easy on the fmx, you can never purchase more than 2 gallons, keeps the sums nice and small

sums are easy at best of times its only litres purchased / 4.54 as you say
to convert to gallons. then miles / gallons = mpg

[afk40]

I did a 25 mile jaunt at serious motorway speed yesterday then another 40 at a slower pace. around the 60 mark... ma tank was full at the start, when I filled it up again, it took £8.23... an covered 66 miles...... thats not great but half decent...around 40 odd to the gallon..... but spikerbud a have to say this wi an appology about yer MPG... as I remember maself goin up north wi a friend.. we didnt go over 60mph most times was around the 50 mark.. we filled up all the usual, an both filled up again after around 80 miles... i worked it out at 73mpg... on a xt 660x........... so appologies/////////// john

[davsato]

ive got an XT600E which ive supermoto'd. (pic in my album or at the beginning of the yamaha section, not ridden it for a while its in the garage with bent forks after a crash a few years ago, i'll get round to it eventually)

with a big single you get noise, grunt, vibes, if any other bike made as much noise and vibrated as much as these you would hate it, but for some reason its what makes a thumper great. i think out of any engine configuration singles have the most character.
also they are generally cheaper and easier to maintain, being low tuned (unless its orange) usually air cooled, mechanically simple and theres only one of everything. a spark plug for my XT is about two quid, plugs for my GSX600 were six quid EACH and there was four of them.