[travelingaaron]

Hi folks. I wanted to have a place to track what I am doing with my new bike and how it is performing. I have had over a dozen emergency room visits due to head injuries so my memory leaves a bit to be desired. Therefore, having a place to put the info as it happens seems ideal.

I have been following some of the threads on here for years, i owned a 650 vstar at one point and seeing the mpg of the 250 ninjas around made me a bit jealous. Finally had the opportunity to get a new bike and decided to go that direction. I liked the fuel injection and single cylinder style of the Honda CBR250s while i was watching the progess of people on their ninjettes. When it came time to buy the 300 was out and I liked a lot about it.

Some people may prefer the recumbent seating position, I personally do not. My old cruiser used to make my back hurt quite badly. I fractured my L3-L4 while in the military and it never healed properly, the tucked riding position relieves the stress that cruiser styling causes. My only issue now is that I have no padding for the tank yet and my upper back hurts from trying to save some pain in my sternum from resting on hard metal. This should be fixed soon.

Right now I've got close to 700 miles on it after leaving the dealership with 1.5 on it. So far (due to the tiny tank) I have 4 fill ups on fuelly with an average of 74mpg. I haven't been trying to get good numbers either though. I got my break in service done at 600 miles and it seems to run a bit better now. My last fill up, includes some mileage driven post-servicing, saw me at 78.7 mpg! I was looking forward to finding my baseline, i had no idea it would be so high. I don't see there being much difficulty finding 110+.

I am fairly small at 5'9" and 160lbs. tops in full gear. This bike is the perfect size for me though. I can flat foot both feet at a stop, though just barely. I enjoy tucked riding as it takes strain of my wrists, both have been fractured in the past. I tuck almost all the time which probably helps my fuel economy. One issue I have out here in the high plains of the rockies is wind tossing me about on the highway. I am not sure I will rush into a ton of aero modding (full fairings and boat tails anyway) since i don't want to make it any easier for these winds to toss me sideways. I have no issues doing over 80 (75 mph speed limits out here) into a headwind so aero mods aren't my main concern anyway.

Where I do plan to start is gearing. A 15t sprocket up front will likely be my first mod. I think first runs out too soon and often look for a 7th or 8th gear. Lowering the rpms at highway speeds should help quite a bit. Depending on results I will determine if I should get a smaller back sprocket also. I like the idea of going with higher quality, lighter materials in the drivetrain to reduce loss between engine and tire. I am looking into a better quality chain with out o-rings and a chain oiler to keep everything smooth as well as lightening it up even more.

I also plan on working on my hypermiling techniques now that the bike is broke in. We will see where it goes. After I see the numbers on hypermiling + drive train upgrades, I will then consider where to go with the aero. The only things I have considered so far are adjustable handle bars so my hands aren't as high up when I am tucked, and rear fender elimination is being contemplated. I may do some tuft tests to see if the rear fender is as much of a parachute as it looks like.

Stay tuned, I will try to detail the changes as much as possible as I go along since I always enjoy those type of threads better myself. Thanks for reading, please know I welcome any and all suggestions or ideas.