Some more "Newby" questions

[Middle aged macam]

Do "Alps" have rev limiters? I ask because earlier today I was doing a multiple overtake in a crawler lane going up a steepish hill, fourth gear I think, may have been third. I glanced down to make sure I was not too illegal as the area has been known to sport cameras from time to time. The tacho was indicating well into the red zone and almost out the other side! I felt no engine retardation at all. ?????

Also what sort of tank range can I expect? I havent had the bike long enough to gauge average fuel consumption. I have used half a tank this week, general commuting stuff and 110 miles shows on the odometer. Is this about right? 200 miles per tankful?

Regards
Tom

[jarl]

The fuel gauge on the alp is pretty poor. 200 miles/tank is pretty standard, I tend to get less than 0.1 l/mile- 16 litres normally does me for 170 miles. (filling up at 170 means I never have to panic about petrol stations)

And no, I don't think there is a rev limitter. I've taken mine to 8.8 on an overtake as you describe, the fact you got yours higher suggests that if there is a limitter it's probably not at an engine speed indicated on the tacho! (and you were probably in third gear, as 8.5k is about 85mph in third)

[SKID]

I've got an XL700 and can confirm that mine has definitely got a rev limiter.

I too was thinking about the MPG just the other day and looked into it and for commuting, most of the miles I've done on my new bike since I've had it, it is getting roughly 45 MPG.

It's a shock for me as my last bile used to get 55 to 70 MPG depending on how it was ridden.

[lerak68]

45 MPG? Are you sure SKID? My XL 700 does 56 - 59 (UK)MPG (20 - 21 kilometre/1 litre).

[deskjetian]

My XL 700 does 56 - 59 (UK)MPG

same here.

[SKID]

45 MPG? Are you sure SKID? My XL 700 does 56 - 59 (UK)MPG (20 - 21 kilometre/1 litre).

I'm going to keep an eye on it but this is my 'commute' MPG as I haven't done much long distance stuff yet.

My commute is 4-5 miles to and from work. "hardly worth it" I hear you say but in a car it'll take 30-40 minutes, on a bike it's 10-15

[StumpyFingers]

Skid, with the miles to and from work you are getting about right.
The engine will take a while to warm up so the FI is using a rich mixture.
It would need to run at least 10 miles each way to get economical consumption.

[SKID]

Cool, that's stopped me from worrying about it as all I had to go by was my last bikes MPG to compare as my last place of work was 14 miles each way and was fast in places.

Anyway I'll soon start putting in some longer runs to see just how good it is an the real proof of the pudding will be when I do TLD in 2011

[pdsquire]

No rev limiter on the 600 or 650. When I got my 650 I was riding it as if I'd stolen it back from South Wales and having spent half an hour in the twisties I was on a dual carriageway at a shade under a ton. In fourth gear. It must have taken me five minutes to realise.

No ill effects noted 10,000 miles later...

My MPG is reliably rubbish but I live in central London and like to get a move on when, rarely, I get out of it. I rarely see 180 from a tank though the fuel gauge is way out: it's still got some miles left when it's gone right through the red, crossed the bottom line and is touching the letter 'E'!

Both my 100hp ZZR and 1100cc Pan use less fuel. It's scandalous, but I would forgive my Alp almost anything for the pleasure it brings!

[ABC]

There is quite a difference in fuel consumption on the 700 Alp between town use in places like London with its unavoidable frequent stops for lights, jams, etc. or very short rides generally and long open road rides. People getting 55mpg or more will do a lot of out of town riding but for those that do wholly busy town journeys, it drops right down to maybe 45 mpg or even less.

Obviously it depends how you ride it but whichever way you do, it is probably where you do which largely explains why people report such variations in consumption.

My riding has been a mixture of the two over the six months I've owned it from new with much more out of town than in. Having kept a record, it has managed an average of 12.3 miles per litre, equivalent to about 56mpg. But within that the variations on each tankful have been between about 11.5mpl and 13.5mpl (52-61mpg). I'm a laid back rider, rarely getting the revs anywhere near the red and I don't do dirt, road only. The mere thought of getting a micron of mud on this two wheel machine of such coruscating pulchritude fills me with horror.

On the open road then, the practical maximum tank range, ie. not risking running it dry, in my riding style is a bit over 200m. In heavy town riding, I wouldn't trust it more than 160m. Rev tarts will achieve less.

What is surprising as others have said is how poor generally the Alp is in this regard compared with other much larger bikes. I got about the same consumption out of my BMW 1200 RT and my Harley Road King 1450. My modern low consumption one litre car does about the same as my Alp, 45mpg in town and well over 50mpg on the road.