I have only ever had the 650, never a 1000

That is a surprising figure for a K7-model, you sure it is the twinspark version? If yes, then you must really be hammering it hard, because I´ve never got it to use so much. Not even 2-up on the German autobahn, where I normally keep 140-150 kms per hour (87-93 mph)on the meter, feels to me, with our load, that´s about the highest speed the engine is happy with (unless you alter gearing).

I believe it is possible the consumption could jump, if you really went 110mph, because that´s very close to its top speed, and this type of bike is not very aerodynamic, with a lot of luggage it is even less so.

Bloody hell, when I saw your Strom in Mitta Mitta I felt sure it was a 1000, :confused1: but of course with your panniers obscuring the capacity stickers and the pipe rack acting as a pseudo second exhaust I now see why.

Thanks, :thumbup1:

I've kept my records up to date on the ipod touch (App: Roadtrip Lite) , since I bought the bike new 6 months ago.

After 14,000 klms my average is 22.5 klms/litre.

it is still raining here. wishing to see the sun soon. drop me a line for a beer next time.

Corrected.

Think I will stick to my Enfield. at 50-65mph I get 100Km per 3 litres which is 96MPG imperial :)

I have a 22 litre tank to fit sometime soon.:)

It is not so much that bikes do badly compared to cars (although I still find it surprising, regardless of aerodynamics that an engine half the size and a chassis a 6th of the weight can't produce significanntly better consumption...), but rather bikes doing badly compared to bikes.

Modern bikes are not, on the whole, returning a good economy as they should given the improvements made in technology, efficiency within the engine etc...

Yep, it is the twin spark, but I am usually heavily loaded and for some reason I always seem to ride with a headwind, no matter which way I go. It may be a combination of factors on top of that, including fuel quality and right hand grip :)

No, mine must be one of the last single spark strom's. But it will sit at 110mph all day if you want (appart from up hill of course) and I have had it down below 40mpg on more than one occasion, not that often though as I dont want to kill the bike or loose my licence!
Sitting at 90MPH it normally does 48mpg... this is all on long motorway journeys and I would be suprised if many bikes were much better on fuel on that kind of journey... ??

Coming back from Ireland to UK a couple of years ago I pulled in to refuel after 250 mainly motorway miles (75-80 mph) because the last bar on the fuel gauge had been flashing for about 15 miles.
I was very surprised that it only took 17 liters to fill her up, especially as it has a 22 liter tank!

It has been my experience that fuel tanks lie.
My last BMW supposedly had a 22 litre tank, but I could never put more than 18 litres in it with a fair bit of running in reserve,
My Enfield forces me to switch to reserve at about 230 miles and even after some miles of reserve I have yet to put 12 litres in the tank.

The odd thing is an 18 litre refill on the BMW does not get me any further than 10 litres on the Enfield :)

I think there are several reasons for this:

1. Aerodynamics as mentioned
2. Higher revving engine
3. Higher power to weight ratio often encourages uneconomical riding styles e.g. rapid acceleration-deceleration and hard braking...

On a pure efficiency measure, then engines are probably on a par with petrol car engines, less a bit for the higher revs...

my DL650 '08 (twin spark)
 

Is about 10% more fuel efficient than my '05 in everyday use.

I last checked the '08 in France, solo, with luggage, over 1000 miles, and got 70.5 MPG (UK figs).

very happy with that.

fuel burn
 

ride a DL650 AK8 - 40K kms. mostly loaded to 90% GVW. 22litre tank.
87 or 91 octane fuel

4-5k rpm (70-90km/h) burning 4.2 - 5.2 litres/100km +- 15% of ride
5-6k rpm (90-110km/h) burning 5.2 - 6.7 litres/100km +- 65%
6-7k rpm (110-130km/h) burning 6.7 - 7.2 litres/100km 20%

rode the Dempster hwy in Aug. first 363km=16.2 litres = 4.5l/100km
magnificient ride! no rain, no traffic, no problems. world class scenery!