Oh dear

That'll teach to go and boast about 'fine' weather I've yet to ride through. Thanks for all the lovely support for the big Mpumalanga ride, but it sheeted with rain almost the entire time, except for the way in and then the way back, oddly enough. This curtailed our peg-scratching around some of the region's passes and forced me to watch England versus Sri Lanka on the Saturday (not a preferred pastime). The trouble was that by the time a small break in the weather came on Sunday afternooon I was too shit-faced to even swing a leg and sit up straight. Naw, back to the SBK with non volume on the set. Bummer.

I won't bore you with the details, but the Panzer (BMW R1000RS) said goodbye due to a kaput alternator in Belfast (about halfway) and my mates GPZ750's clutch decided it had had enough about 10 kays from our destination.

Only the Teacat performed faultlessly throughout.

A things I did notice however that I'd like the forum's opinion on.

I managed to work out a brim-to-brim consumption figure. At 200kms exactly (but I mean on the dot) the fuel reserve light came on and I filled up with exactly 16 litres. This works out (yes, exactly) at 8l/100kms. For moderate cruising and only mediumly loaded, does this square with the consumption figures of other Cat users in similar riding conditions?

I image that 200kms equals 160 miles in HRHspeak.


Zed

200 km is about 120 miles. That is far lower than most people get - mine counts in km and I normally get at least 260, often 280 and it can nudge 300 before I fill up. Your fuel consumption equates to a British 35.5 mpg, which is pretty poor - I would expect 50+, perhaps down a bit if really pushing hard.

What would explain this then? All other aspects of the bike feel spot on.

Only managed 200 kms to light on once (think I stretched the accelerator cable that day ), it is usually about 320 kms (5l/100) depending on riding style - yesterday I estimate I would have got over 380kms (4.2l/100) before light on ( a lot of near constant 50 km/h group riding).

Fuel consumption would be a bit heavier due to the Gauteng altitude, but this should have been negated when you went into the Lowveld. I would have thought 6l/100 more realistic (that's what I used to get on my 650 turbo in Josie) .

Sorry to hear you had bad weather, I've only 'seen' parts of it in heavy cloud and rain.

zedhead wrote:What would explain this then? All other aspects of the bike feel spot on.

Have you ridden the bike at lower altitudes, If so did you notice a big difference?

Plugs, air filter (more important at the higher altitude), carb balance, has the sprocket size been altered?

mine reads in Mph and I get 54 - 59 mpg, about 200 to 220 miles per tank depending on how mad I am xx

but I do the oil and filter, and air filter every 2 K, plus do tyre pressure before every ride, bit anal I think !!!!!!!!!

As SteveCat pointed out though riding at altitude will make a big diffference to fuel consumption.

This is obviously going to take some further investigation. The only non-standard item I can see on her is the Yoshi can, which shouldn't really make that much of a difference to consumption.

Sprocket seems standard (42T rear I think, but I'll have to check). At 120km/h the rev counter is just shy of 6 000 rpm in top. Does this the same for everybody else?


I must say I didn't notice that much of a difference riding her at lower altitude, which may provide a clue, if only I knew what that clue pointed towards.


As I said I've only had her since Xmas last year and I don't have much else to compare her to performance- or consumption-wise and I've never really pushed for top end etc. This gets me to wondering whether I'm getting all the performance I should be getting if my consumption is so way out.

Cheers guys.

zedhead wrote: At 120km/h the rev counter is just shy of 6 000 rpm in top. Does this the same for everybody else?

That's about right, my way of checking that I'm in top gear is to compare the position of the speedo and rev counter - speedo just a bit higher than rev counter.

Might be worth checking that it has been re-jetted for Jo'burg.

Incidentally for UK/Intl readers, the altitude we are talking about is 1 mile above sea level

Average height above (mean) sea level in uk is 315 feet.

Ben Nevis is 4409 feet (UKs highest peak).

Jo'berg (according to google) is 5500 feet (approx), so the air is going to be quite rare (pardon the pun). For a normaly aspirated (carbed) engine I'd imagine that'd make a real big difference. Be a bit like a gasping asthmatic.

Like steve says see if the jetting has been altered to adapt and compensate for your wee corner of the globe.

In the absence of any other concrete evidence I'm going to have to go along with the change-of-altitude explanation as the prime reason my dramatic change in consumption as it makes the most sense. What I'm going to do however is gas her up on Saturday morning and take her an exact 200km-long route I know and see what she does then.

Zed

How have you been getting on Phil, any improvements?

Sorry about late replies. I unfortunately took a big shunt earlier in the month (on the Zed and not on the Cat) that left me with a broken fibula and dislocated shoulder. All very painful and humiliating. Some anonymous bastard rear-ended on the exit from the highway and sent me and my classic Kawasaki bouncing down the road for a good few metres. I looked in my mirrors and saw he was all over me, dodged to the left but he clattered me and down I went. Swine didn't even stop.

It was like being picked up by an elephant and slammed into the ground with explosive force. Fortunately I was wearing all my safety gear; the injuries could been have so much worse. A cheap pair of MX-style knee guards I bought last month saved my left patella for sure, my shoulder pads limited injury to a dislocated shoulder (v sore, posterior) but I suffered a variety of alarming abrasions. Spent the night in causality morphined out of my gourd and woke up the next morning to giant cast on my foot and my shoulder back in place.

The Zed you can drop down a hole. Nothing was spared. The cops have opened a hit and run docket but I don't think much will come of it. I didn't get a good look at the perpetrator (my glasses smashed to smithereens on impact) and unluckily nobody witnessed it, none that have come forward at any rate. Also the CCTV camera under the fateful underpass was "not in operation".

So, that is my sad tale. No two wheels for along time to come. Johannesburg, commuting, motorbikes and me thinking I'm being all righteous and stuff by saving petrol and dodging long queues of cars hasn't worked out as I expected. Now I glance longingly at the Yamaha all parked up and nowhere to go and wonder if I'll ever climb on her again. I'm in no mood to sell her because she is definitely the nicest looking thing I've ever own and I know I'll never find another quite like her again.

In fact while we're on the TCat and fuel consumption, the last time I filled her up the odo was passing 245kms and the reserve light hadn't come on yet, so suggestions that altitude plays a huge role in thirst seem to be bearing out.

Go well yáll. I still lurk on the forum every day.

Bent Zed

Oh dear that is terrible news. I trust you were treated in a Netcare type hospital rather than Jo'burg Gen/ Helen Joseph type, and you'll be on the mend really soon.

I'm afraid I wouldn't hold out any hope with the Police.

I thought you were very brave commuting, I hated riding around the place and hence only clocking 1 000 km's in 10 years.