Quote:
Originally Posted by sendler
There was definitely something odd going on with the fill ups this year. Many of the known competitors were up 20-30% over last year with the exact same bike.
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All vehicles get lower economy in cold weather. There is more wasted energy in heating up the incoming air.
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The Hayes streamliner is looking good this year with the new tail. I'm surprised he didn't win. He always wins. But I don't understand why his fuel capacity is so small that he has been seen to dump fuel into his tank from a pop bottle at the mid way break. I wonder if he has done anything to improve the handling? Seeing the way that thing shakes in truck wakes in downright scary.
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1. I don't see how there was anything odd about the fillups other than everyone is on their honor to fill to the same level before and after. This was my first thought about my own ride; either I somehow filled more to the top before starting than I did when I returned or at any fill up I've ever conducted, or something different or better about the Shell gas near the hotel, which I used both before and after. I even used the same pumps as I was the 2nd one in and went right back to the same spot and filled the same way to the same level. The better or more energy-dense gas theory falls through, because my next tank, with the same fuel, from the same pump, running around the Mansfield area, netted me around 78 mpg. The idea that I somehow got more gas in the tank than I ever have before theory also falls through, because on the way home I experimented with this; vented until I got to the tippy top, and my mpg was from 77-80, which is back to normal.
2. I vaguely have an understanding about the factors that cause worse fuel economy in the winter time, but this is significant. All vehicles I've had lose mpg in the winter, maybe 4-5 percent, but I've never had one that loses 12%. My diesel car doesn't lose that much, and the winter blend fuel is much less energy dense than summer; not so much difference with gasoline blends. On my first tank going up to the Vetter event on the CTX700, I started with a cold engine and it was 57 degrees outside. I was going a little faster than in the event and I didn't tuck, but that still can't explain how the same vehicle that got 97 in the event, 80 in regular summertime commuting, got only 69 on this cooler ride. Fred knew the answer. I don't understand his explanation, but I think he's on to something. He's got something that regulates his water temp he says and he told me that his doesn't vary that much. In fact, that's how I started the conversation. I asked him if he loses much mpg in cold weather. He said no.
3. Yeah, I saw Fred's streamliner squirrel around a few times, like when his tires would contact the yellow paint or something, but most of the time he was steady. Of course it was very calm out that day. He killed the engine once at an intersection and had to catch back up to get in his spot up front. I think he said that he was inadvertently in 2nd gear or something like that. It took him a little bit to get it started. He was still cranking when I passed him. His wife says that's the same bike that does the Bonneville flat runs, except they replace the saddle boxes with a tail. No gearing change or anything she said. Same configuration except for the tail. And he has another one that is turbo charged, but the one in the Vetter events is the non-turbo charged version that has topped out at 130 mph or so.
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