Terrible fuel economy... brand new bike

Hey guys, my wr250r just had it's first servicing done. I've noticed lately my fuel economy is pretty bad... I'm getting about 60miles or so until my gas light comes on with a full tank. Most of my driving is "town driving" long roads not a lot of stop and go traffic... is this typical of a bike still in it's break in?

Sounds low. I was getting 150kms before my light came on. 2011 WRR. Now, with lower gearing and a programmer I am getting about 110kms before the light.

To be honest I bought my bike with 189 miles and only rode it twice before I installed an IMS 3 gallon tank. With the 3 gallon tank my light comes on around 150 miles, I get between 62-67 mpg depending on how hard I ride. Lots of highway commuting miles.

shep546 wrote:

Hey guys, my wr250r just had it's first servicing done. I've noticed lately my fuel economy is pretty bad... I'm getting about 60miles or so until my gas light comes on with a full tank. Most of my driving is "town driving" long roads not a lot of stop and go traffic... is this typical of a bike still in it's break in?

No its not typical. There must be a problem. On a well running bike you have to abuse the heck out of it to get mileage like that.

Yeah - 40 miles per gallon is very low.

Something isn't right.

Bike is totally stock I assume?

Bike is stock, I don't beat on it... I just filled it almost to the top and reset my trip meter I'm gonna keep a close eye on this tank and if my light comes on early again I'll take it back to the dealer to see whats up.

Make sure your odometer is reasonably close to correct.

Your odometer isn't reading in kilometers, is it?

Edit:
Actually, scratch that - measuring kilometers would show a higher value on your odometer. :)

I would get somewhere about that fuel range (probably five or six miles more) on my 2008 WR-250X that was ridden like a sport bike on the street.
If I were to ride it with smaller throttle openings as in only using it to commute from point A to point B, the fuel range would have been better.

shep546 wrote:

Hey guys, my wr250r just had it's first servicing done. I've noticed lately my fuel economy is pretty bad... I'm getting about 60miles or so until my gas light comes on with a full tank. Most of my driving is "town driving" long roads not a lot of stop and go traffic... is this typical of a bike still in it's break in?

If you filled it up after the low fuel light came on, how much gas were you able to jam in there? Maybe it's just the low fuel warning being triggered too early?

Was the bad fuel economy measured with the original engine oil and not the oil they put in at the first service? Wondering if there was a swap to a 50 weight oil that could be affecting economy?

Also wondering if the tank was filled all the way. There would a difference between how much fuel a straddled bike (fully upright) versus, say, a link lowered bike leaning on a sidestand at a low angle would both take.

Hope you find the issue!

I changed my CO from 0 to +4 recently. After making the change my bike seemed to respond much better, the front wheel would easily lift up just by using the throttle in first gear. After driving around for a while I put gas in it and it took 1.1 gallons and I only put 52 miles on it.
Prior to the change I was getting about 66 miles to a gallon.

if i remember right i would get 100 miles or so when my bike was stock before the fuel light came on

I just picked up a 2013 with big bore pipe and programmer. First tank gave me 36mpg when filled per owners manual. I emailed Thumper Racing today for suggested settings.

Coop wrote:

To be honest I bought my bike with 189 miles and only rode it twice before I installed an IMS 3 gallon tank. With the 3 gallon tank my light comes on around 150 miles, I get between 62-67 mpg depending on how hard I ride. Lots of highway commuting miles.

Same here, stock gearing & pipe, desmog