2016 Vulcan S ABS. Small (aftermarket) windshield, Viking Bags, 1-up (no passenger). Radiator guard, LED (aftermarket) small driving lights.
State highways and backroads (no freeway cruising at 70+ mph), average 54mpg.
I guess I should have noted my other equipment which is all Kawasaki: soft saddlebags, rear soft case.
My ~2000 miles was local the first 600 miles, and the rest mostly all superslab highway.
I am stock, no windshield or anything, owned since 1200 miles. I have gotten from 37mpg to 62mpg. I get in the 60s when riding with slow people (55-60mph) 37mpg was from running 90mph+ the entire tank. Normal riding I am around 50mpg (mix riding mostly around 75-80mph).
iv noticed on my bike (about 4000 miles into riding it) that on highway when your engine is warmed up you can get consistent 70mpg as long as your willing to limit your top speed to 60-65 mph that last hurdle of going to 70 and even 80 the wind resistance jumps up quite a bit.
this is a fun article to read Mpg For Speed - Fuel Efficiency Vs. Speed they have a little table for air resistance on reported mileage. granted they specify for cars but i dont see why motorcycle manufacturers wouldnt use the same kinda marketing strategies...
the long and short of it is factory mileage stats are usually for a vehicle at 55mph. the pertinent info is that between 55mph and 80mph you lost 28% efficiency out of your engine due to exponential wind resistance as you go faster and faster. using fuelly's combined fuel averages for vulcan S across 4 years of tracking... it averages to 49.75mpg over 63k miles.. using this websites fuel mileage graph and imputting the price of the gas you use and the avg highway miles you drive in a day... you can see that at 55mph you might be getting that average... but at 80mph it decreased to 35 mpg... now i suspect that at whatever mileage average kawasaki does post those stats for the decrease is probably the same because at 80 i got 40mpg with a head wind so i suspect that the mpg numbers from kawasaki are probably for 75mph at operating temp with no headwind.
TL;DR if you can stand to take longer to get somewhere ride at 65mph(70mpg) or slower and get much greater gas mileage then 40-50mpg on a three hour ride when i had to go through a town at 45mph with a engine at temperature i got damn near 85 mpg( in non stop'n go traffic).
Mine is an 09 900. Bought it used this summer. It is totally stock with a short WS and I am 220. I have never been out of town but we have streets with up to 50 mph limits I check it every time and have consistently got 47 and change.
Kawasaki windshield, soft top rear case, corbin seat are my changes. I usually get between 62 - 64 mpg.
One thing to note, is that I'm 5'3" and on a bad day, weigh ~120 lbs.
It's good to see the different ranges - thanks for asking.
I only have around 150 miles on my Vulcan S so far, but have been getting 50-54 MPG for both city and highway riding. I have a National Street Shield EX windscreen and Viking Odin saddlebags with no other mods that would change wind resistance or weight. I weigh about 225.
My average atm is 23.9km/L.
Large Viking bags and 90+kg rider burning it through windy mountain roads like a bat outa hell every day means the consumption is pretty high but I have seen much better mileage on long hwy rides.
The extra $5 per week fuel is well worth the smile I get with the throttle cranked. Most people here spend about that on each coffee every day!
PS
Forgot to add, I have a large SlipStreamer Stealth Visor from very early on and noticed about a 30km per tank drop in mileage after I installed the TB exhaust later. The stock setup was extremely efficient but there were many other factors that made me give up the fuel efficiency.
Reason why your mileage went down with the TBR is because you enjoy ripping on it more. This is like me and my car...when I had a V6, I did. I now have a V8 and I drive it like I stole it. Daily. Why? Well, cause it's a V8 lol. On paper they get the same mileage.
46 MPG 43T rear sprocket Stock tire size. Cafe ABS. Arrow Rebel Exhaust.(was same when running Danmoto) Boosterplug. Tank bag sometimes tail bag . Run the snot out of it.
2017 vulcan s-Tall windsheild,plastic saddlebags,&rear rack/I weigh 145lbs,20 miles highway&10 miles city daily\OF COURSE I BELEIVE THAT THIS GAS HERE IN SOUTH FLORIDA IS MOSTLY ETHANOL!?! 28,300 APPROX.MILES ON BIKE/55.2 AVRG.MPG....
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Kawasaki Vulcan Forum
712.7K posts
67.8K members
Since 2008
A forum community dedicated to Kawasaki Vulcan motorcycle owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, Vulcan 1500, Vulcan 2000, Vulcan 500, Vulcan 1600, Vulcan 900 and all other Vulcan motorcycles.