I have a 90 FLHTC with a HD sidecar with a 89" S&S motor and a S&S G carb with a thunderjet. I only get 24 to 25 MPG. What do you other HD owners get with your rigs? I had it dyno tuned but it didn't help much. Any ideas?
I have a 2003 FLHPH with a side car. With it I only get 32-36mpg in the city with 37-40mpg on the highway. I'm running a HD 88 fuel injection motor with stander 5 speed. But in the city if I get on throttle I easily drop into the 20's
i have a 96" - if im getting on it ill get less than 25 - if i drive 55 - 60 ill get 35
to
Get a bigger gas tank ha ha......
I am thinking of getting rid of the S&S carb and putting on a stock CV carb. I never had great luck with the S&S carbs that I have owned.
I would put on a bigger or auxillary tank if I find one I like!
yeah my milage is in the low thirties I have a 07 ultra, I guess it is asking too much for great milage with a side car, fixing to go to car tires have no idea if that will help or hinder.
I have a 2001 factory setup. I get 30 at 70mph or pushing a headwind and 33 t0 35 at a more relaxed 60mph.
have a 2002 fth ultra with harley car only get 32/34 had a 1993 flt with harley car got 36/38 93 had carb 02 has fuel injection .mark goff mention car tires someone know the size and brand where you can get them ? I get poor miles for the rear tire harryho
I have a 2004 Ultra Classic 88" with a 2007 TLE sidecar. At a steady 65 mph I can get 35-38 mpg. Any faster than that and it's down around 30-32. Without the sidecar it would get 40-42 all of the time.
If you change from your S&S carburetor to a stock CV, you should get closer to 35. The S&S carburetor is a performance item, especially with the Dynojet. They are not noted for fuel economy.
2005 flhrci/tle.....25 to 35 mpg depending on conditions and load....
I wish I could get 32-35MPG. I have an '02 Ultra with S&S cam gear, Big Bore, SE heads, 6-speed and SERT. Last dyno was 100HP and 108 at the rear wheel. I get 26-27mpg no matter what speed I run...which is 70mph most of the time. I've tried everything we can think of to increase the range. With a 5.3 gallon tank I'm looking for a gas station at about 125 miles. At 135 miles the "pucker" factor starts to sit in. Really frustrating on long rides/trips.
I recently bought a SAC bag and am looking at a custom 2 gallon tank to fit in this bag to carry on the luggage rack of sidecar for those "just in case" moments.
Also I'm considering pulling the 6-speed out of the bike and putting the 5-speed back in because you'll never use it with the sidecar. And really don't use it riding solo that much..don't run the higher speeds where a 6-speed would help. And I've said for a couple years now that the only good thing about a 6-speed is being able to say you have one. Have considered changing the gearing but I ride my Ultra solo (without the sidecar) quite a bit so really don't want to do that.
o~o
Originally written by Texan on 3/18/2008 10:39 AM
I wish I could get 32-35MPG. I have an '02 Ultra with S&S cam gear, Big Bore, SE heads, 6-speed and SERT. Last dyno was 100HP and 108 at the rear wheel. I get 26-27mpg no matter what speed I run...which is 70mph most of the time. I've tried everything we can think of to increase the range. With a 5.3 gallon tank I'm looking for a gas station at about 125 miles. At 135 miles the "pucker" factor starts to sit in. Really frustrating on long rides/trips.
I recently bought a SAC bag and am looking at a custom 2 gallon tank to fit in this bag to carry on the luggage rack of sidecar for those "just in case" moments.
Also I'm considering pulling the 6-speed out of the bike and putting the 5-speed back in because you'll never use it with the sidecar. And really don't use it riding solo that much..don't run the higher speeds where a 6-speed would help. And I've said for a couple years now that the only good thing about a 6-speed is being able to say you have one. Have considered changing the gearing but I ride my Ultra solo (without the sidecar) quite a bit so really don't want to do that.
o~o
Well, I'm no Texan but it's easy to tell what your problem is with fuel mileage. Cams, big bore, SERT, all are performance upgrades. Performance equals poor fuel mileage wherever you live. All of those hp and torque values are fine for a solo bike. I suspect, though, that they work against you when pulling a sidecar where low speed torque with low throttle openings are best.
The fuel mileage that I get with a stock 88" machine is marginal at best. I have no doubt that if I were to make the modifications that you have, my fuel mileage would dip below 30 mpg as well,, at least with the sidecar. I do know of owners who claim that the performance upgrades have increased their mileage but I have no personal knowledge with this.
The bottom line is that with Harleys and, I suspect other brands, you can't have it both ways when pulling a sidecar. That's why I just leave everything alone. I saved some big money on parts, too.
Good luck.
Originally written by gnm109 on 3/18/2008 1:01 PM....The fuel mileage that I get with a stock 88" machine is marginal at best. I have no doubt that if I were to make the modifications that you have, my fuel mileage would dip below 30 mpg as well,, at least with the sidecar. I do know of owners who claim that the performance upgrades have increased their mileae but I have no personal knowledge with this.
The bottom line is that with Harleys and, I suspect other brands, you can't have it both ways when pullimg a sidecar. That's why I just leave everything alone. I saved some big money on parts, too...
Sorry to hear you ain't a Texan but I will still talk to ya. LoL!!
I can tell you that I did realize a mileage increase on my bike when running solo. I'll get 48-50MPG solo. I think the whole mileage thing with a Harley is how you ride, how you crank the throttle. That's just like rear tires. I get 12,000-14,000 miles out of a rear where some of my riding buddies only get 8,000-10,000. You would think that the increase in HP would work just the opposite...allowing the bike to drag the sidecar down the road easier due the increase in HP!!
And from reading the other post on the board and a couple others seems I'm getting just about what several others are. ?????
You know this being said I wonder what kind of mileage other bikes get??
o~o
Originally written by Texan on 3/18/2008 11:18 AM
Originally written by gnm109 on 3/18/2008 1:01 PM....The fuel mileage that I get with a stock 88" machine is marginal at best. I have no doubt that if I were to make the modifications that you have, my fuel mileage would dip below 30 mpg as well,, at least with the sidecar. I do know of owners who claim that the performance upgrades have increased their mileae but I have no personal knowledge with this.
The bottom line is that with Harleys and, I suspect other brands, you can't have it both ways when pullimg a sidecar. That's why I just leave everything alone. I saved some big money on parts, too...
Sorry to hear you ain't a Texan but I will still talk to ya. LoL!!
I can tell you that I did realize a mileage increase on my bike when running solo. I'll get 48-50MPG solo. I think the whole mileage thing with a Harley is how you ride, how you crank the throttle. That's just like rear tires. I get 12,000-14,000 miles out of a rear where some of my riding buddies only get 8,000-10,000. You would think that the increase in HP would work just the opposite...allowing the bike to drag the sidecar down the road easier due the increase in HP!!
And from reading the other post on the board and a couple others seems I'm getting just about what several others are. ?????
You know this being said I wonder what kind of mileage other bikes get??
o~o
The modified cams won't permit the low speed torque at low rpms. That causes the engine to run less efficiently at the rpm levels that a sidecar ordinarily encounters. This leads to lower mileage. Just my opinion.
As to tire mileage, I doubt you will see more than 6,000 miles out of a rear tire with your sidecar. I presume that your reference to 12,000 to 14,000 miles would be on a solo bike.
If you tell me you can get 12K out of a rear tire on a rig, well, such a miracle simply hasn't happened for the last 2,000 years. (smile)
"I wonder what kind of mileage other bikes get??"
1974 R90/6 with Dnepr sidecar
-- around 32 mpg loaded (the sidecar and bike are loaded, not me)
-- 35-38 mpg empty sidecar with windshield down
I suspect if I had a more aerodynamic and slightly lighter sidecar I could touch the 40's unloaded. The bike could probably use a tune-up but I figure if it's running don't fix it.
m
