MPG and adding an extra tank?

I've got a 2005 Rocket III with a Kenna sidecar. I have a rectangular auxiliary 5 gallon tank mounted to the sidecar frame. And an external fuel pump to pump the fuel into the main tank when it runs low. Total fuel capacity is now 11 gallons. Not sure how you'd mount something to your Escort, but I'm sure any good fabricator could figure it out.

Steve, my two bits......at this  stage of  your  sidecar  experience, don't  bite off more than  you can  chew. Currently,  your Goldwing  1500 rig will  go 150 miles, or close to  it, between  gas stops, or...petrol stops. That is far enough,  and then take a 10 to 15 minutes  break....fueling up, bathroom  break, grab a snack, walk around  a little  bit.

In the  "days of yore", I  used to  have auxiliary fuel cells  on every  motorcycle I owned,  because I have been  a member of the  IBA (IronButt Association) for 40 years now,  so all my bikes carried  11 gallons  of fuel. Today they  can carry 11.5 gallons. 

Back to  today.....I  have chosen to  not carry  auxiliary  fuel, as I  find it more comfortable to  stop every  125 to 150 miles, do all those things  I listed above, then get back on the  road.

One important thing to  learn  when riding.....know  when to  stop.....so that you can  refresh,  and ride farther.

Miles

Ok now i know what is considered normal in terms of MPG etc, one more box ticked. Your comments on distance make sense. Riding is improving as i relax more and feel what is happening rather than a just a tight grip. I was able to get a show chrome removable backrest so that will give me a more upright posture which always suits me. Lucky to find one i think =) It means i can remove it to mount up then slot it in behind me; should improve handlebar reach too.

Iron Butt is that the same as Hard Arse =)

Best to you both

Steve

My 2020 RGL with the Twin Classic loaded down drops about 10 miles a gallon . Seems to be the same no madder how I drive it.

Average is 31-33 mpg. I am going to try removing the sidecar windshield on my trip to UT . I am betting that will reduce a lot of drag.

Have sidecar off right now and getting 42Mpg plus. That is riding relaxed and not aggressive.

Getting older and wife likes to stop every couple hours. So it is not a big issue. I would like another 60 miles or so range.

Smitty

Funny enough i was thinking about removing the windscreen. I actually removed it a few days ago to clean up underneath the edge before refitting. Great minds?

Steve

Just to add to this topic. has anyone fitted a mini sidecar screen in place of the full size one? i do not really need a full size one its just me and the dog =) Right off to the poison factory (chemo) YUCK!!!!

Steve, hope today is an easier one, at the Poison factory.

On the windshields....I have a tendency to Cut Down the height of the windshields on most of my sidecars, as my monkey (wife) wants to see OVER the windshield, and not look through it. So I do the cut down myself, then install a edging trim piece from Saeng TA, that acts as though the windshield is 3 to 4 inches taller, and moves the airflow higher coming off the windshield.

This windshield trim is NOT cheap, but....I have it on every motorcycle windshield we own, and it is easily reusable, simple to install, easy to remove it, and reinstall it on a different bike.

Been using this Saeng TA windshield trim for more than 30 years.

ALL motorcycle riders, and sidecar monkeys should be looking OVER the windshield, and not through it.

https://saeng.com/product/quiet-and-smooth-air-pocket-motorcycle-edging-wind-deflector/

I rode our 2008 H-D Ultra Classic for many years before adding the sidecar, so I have a pretty good feel for the change in mileage.  I used to get somewhere between 41 and 43 mpg, depending on load and wind.  With the sidecar, that dropped to around 37 mpg, so I lost roughly 5 mpg on average. 

One thing I notice is that the mileage goes WAY down if I run over about 50 mph.  The aerodynamic drag of the sidecar really builds up, and the bike has to work a lot harder to push the whole works through the air.  At around 45 mph, the mileage is almost 40 mpg, which isn't too bad.

This has offered me the "excuse" of taking back roads and just cruising along enjoying the scenery, rather than taking the highway and just getting there.  It's all about the journey after all!

Over 70 MPH bites into the fuel. Over 80 the fuel gauge becomes an odometer.

Going to echo Miles' time/distance rather than focus on MPG.  You really shouldn't consider the MPG with a sidecar on because SOOOOOOO many factors go into that result, especially speed and headwind.  My Royal Star/Hannigan Astro can get as low as 16 and as much as 26.  As a result, I do carry a small fuel bottle and added a 6 gallon tank to the back of the bike with a gravity feed.  I can do that because it's carbureted not FI.  I can now reliably go 150 miles before needing fuel instead of worrying at 60 miles.

Steve - low 20's sounds too low to me especially if you're talking about Imperial gallons.  An Imperial gallon is 160 oz while an American gallon is 128 oz.  If I'm getting 30mpg on my rig riding around in Montana, I would expect to get 37.5mpg in the UK.  What kind of gallons are you using?

In comparison, you have a GL1500 with a single-wide sidecar.  I used to have a BMW K1200LT with a double-wide sidecar and I averaged 36mpg (U.S. Gallons), with my worst tankful being 33mpg.  I also had a GL1800 with a double-wide sidecar and that rig averaged 33mpg, with my worst tankful being 26mpg when I did a "spirited" climb from Emmett Idaho to Stanley Idaho (twisty with about 4000 ft of elevation gain). So, low 20's?  No, that's wrong.

Pic from Stanley, Idaho ---->

Also, when we change around the wheels and tires on our rigs, the bike odometer is no longer reliable.  If it was even reliable to begin with.  When doing MPG calculations I always go off of the GPS on my bike.  Every time I fill the tank I reset the tripmeter on my GPS to zero.  But before I do that, I take the gas receipt I just got and write down the trip mileage since the last fill-up.  At the end of a week long trip, I'll have a handful of receipts stuffed into my tankbag.  All I have to do is lay them out at the computer desk and enter the numbers into my "motompg" spreadsheet.  I've got numbers going back all the way to 2010 when I did my first sidecar trip (27mpg from Phoenix to Tacoma on a R1150GSA with a single wide sidecar).

So, are you recording your mileage by GPS, or by odometer?

Awesome lots of replies awesome, thanks everyone.

Only American gas in Kansas, Drone =)

I was asking the question about mileage more as an indicator of anything being wrong rather then anything else. So its good to get a cross section of answers. I was over 70 for a few miles, bit windy but steady but more likely to be around 60 plus out and about and yes simply enjoy the ride and the sounds that go with it.

Thanks for the info Miles i will investigate. The current sidecar screen has trim round the top. Any reason that the carbs may need to be balanced?

Chemo went as well as it ever does, treatment 4 so the effects stack up. It occurred to me this morning that the trick is not to 'fight' cancer but to accept it. Any kind of anger does nothing at all. A suggestion for your good lady and it could easily apply to you. Ask her to place her hands anywhere on her body and simply ask for the healing she needs. No conditions no directions no focus needed "just ask" and relax. We simply do not know enough to request exactly what might or might not be needed. Bedtime is good "self healing" is known to improve sleep. Another piece of my history =)

Time to get some tracing paper and investigate a shape that works for the escort screen, useful that i can cut away some of the crazing in the screen.

Thanks again peeps

During the east coast area fuel shortage awhile back. We found gas station with NO gas. We encountered some with only 87 octane and about to run out.

I had put 2 2 gallon gas cans in sidecar trunk. We manage to get by without using them but it came close twice.

Running out of gas is not fun I choose not to.

I can echo what @smitty901 said about  carrying  additional  fuel, in a proper  container,  and generally  I place it in the  sidecar  trunk, in one of the  typical  red plastic  fuel containers,  and.....place  that  into a larger  plastic  tub, just in case....

I have carried  what I  will  call "emergency  fuel" when on a long ride, Coast to  Coast,  Seattle to  Murray,  Kentucky to  visit  Dave Hannigan,  etc. There are just  those  rare moments when you  stretch the  distance,  depend on a particular  location  that you have  used before to be open....and find it closed, etc, that the  "emergency  fuel " comes in handy. 

Fortunately,  87 octane  doesn't  scare us Honda sidecar  pilots, as that is  our octane of  choice,  or....old stale Pepsi, or cans of Red Bull, because  it gives us "wings".