Re: what's your gas milage, 80 mpg here quite happy
 

You get used to it after a while (the 70 mph thing.) I was pretty clenchy (well, "terrified" would be more accurate) when doing anything more than 50, but eventually, you realize that the bumps are not going to kill you, the curve is really more gradual than it looks and is easily navigated, all of the cars are at least going in the same direction, the wind is not going to knock you over, the truck is not going to suck you into its vortex. You do have to pay close attention to blind spots, suddden lane changes, and, especially, drunk drivers, but you have to do that at any speed on any road.

Of course, there are days when I forget some of the above and get a litte anxious again. But more often than not, I kind of get into to it and have to force myself to keep my speed "down" to 75. (I have ticket issues and we are on high enforcement given the state is close to bankruptcy.) If there were no legal consequences, I am pretty sure I would enjoy, on occasion, zipping down the 4 lane at 90-100.

Re: what's your gas milage, 80 mpg here quite happy
 

The motorcycle weekend next weekend at Camp Living Stones is at the town of Englewood, TN. This is about 60 miles NE of Chattanooga.
I looked at a Tennessee and it is about 320 miles due east of Memphis. Far too long for most riders.
Weather looks good, I'm going. It will be me with the GZ and all the Harleys, I guess.

Chris, retired, Atlanta

Re: what's your gas milage, 80 mpg here quite happy
 

Here is my theory on the going 70+ on a motorcycle, it is "Fun" as long as you are going 70+ for a minute or two just to see if you can (or if your bike can), but is no longer "Fun" when you are forced to go that fast for miles and miles on end for fear if you don't you will get squashed by the big shiny hunks of steel going Mach 1 down the freeway (no matter what certain people driving tanks on two wheels say).

Not only that, I don't find blasting down the road as fast as I can go on a long trip to be fun anyways, if I need to get there in a hurry I will ride in a car, my longer distance motorcycle rides are to get out and relax, be alone on the open road and jam out to some good tunes, not try and break the Land speed record.

Re: what's your gas milage, 80 mpg here quite happy
 

Well said Sir! :cool:

Not that barreling down the road at 90 so you can get to the bar sooner........and pass out sooner......is ALL bad........ :roll: :biggrin:

OK, WELL MAYBE IT IS ALL BAD.

Re: what's your gas milage, 80 mpg here quite happy
 

that sounds about right to me, i just get worried i'm gonna piss people off if i'm driving the speed limit on my bike.. most main roads around here have a speed limit of 45-50 mph and every one likes to go about 5-10 mph over

i prefer to keep in the 45-50mph range and enjoy my ride if there is no traffic i sometimes only go 35 just so i can take in a little more scenery along the way.

Re: what's your gas milage, 80 mpg here quite happy
 

This is what I have for people that get pissed off because of that, first of all, they do know how to pass me I assume, so if they don't pass me that means they must not have an issue with how fast I am going, and if they do well then :fu: them.

Re: what's your gas milage, 80 mpg here quite happy
 

I weight 210 and i rarely go over 55 on the highway. .... I seem to get better mileage around town than I do if I'm cruising on the highway.[/quote]

Is that cruising or not? I still seem to get better mileage if I have less highway miles than in town miles, maybe just me, but even 55 mph is pretty "revved" up.

Re: what's your gas milage, 80 mpg here quite happy
 

well 55 does seem kind of revved up but you don't really need to shift in to your final gear till somewhere between 40-50 mph it might just sound worse than it really is. any one want to confirm that to be true, inquiring minds want to know

Re: what's your gas milage, 80 mpg here quite happy
 

Yes. While one shouldn't "beat it to death" by running it up to the rev. limiter all the time, you do need to get used to rev'ing it a little higher than your initial comfort zone.......to get anything near max. performance out of it. There even is a little "power band" there as you approach the upper RPM limit.

That is one of the things that the 16T sprocket helps with; it sounds and feels more "comfortable" at cruising speeds......keeping in mind the aforementioned recommendations and drawbacks.

Re: what's your gas milage, 80 mpg here quite happy
 

Thanks Easy, I may give that 16T sprocket a shot when I am ready for a new chain since I've always heard you should replace both sprockets when you put a new chain on anyway.