Quote:
Originally Posted by Bertrand
only fill as needed- no need to hump weight for the sake of it.
And there's always the half litre in my multifuel stove bottle 
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That's the problem with huge tanks; all that weight sitting up high. If you filled it up because you needed the range the bike would be unridable for a couple of hundred miles. Most of the time I'd only half fill mine and then try to guess how much was in there. Guessing badly is how I ended up running out.
14km /litre is about 40miles per gallon (old imperialist brain  ) which I would have thought pretty poor for a DRZ. Chris's 20/22km (55-60mpg) would be closer to what I would have expected. There's loads of things other than riding too fast that could be affecting it, engine tune being the obvious one. How long since it was last serviced? Was that just a 'short' service (oil and maybe filter only) or the real thing, covering everything in the book?
Other stuff that I've found kills mpg /kpl is a big screen and /or loads of luggage. On my CCM600 fuel mileage would drop 10% just by putting panniers on.
Riding in the winter makes a big difference, probably through a combination of wearing bulkier clothing, windy days / wet roads and (air cooled) engine never really warming up. Put all of that, engine, luggage, weather etc, together and I've had my 125 go from nearly 100mpg on good summer days down to 55mpg on dark wet winter ones on the same road.
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