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fuel mileage bad

marknett

Active Member
my bike 2012 dyna switchback with stage 1 intake and D&D fat cat with louvered baffle is still not getting the gas mileage I was hoping for. here is my factory settings and my changed settings after talking with Matt at dobeck.

We lowered the green/blue to .5 in case we were loosing fuel there . As I ride it, if any decel popping occurs , I will start easing it back up until it clears.


What do you think? :newsmile036:
 

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What mileage are you getting? That would help us understand better. How many miles on the bike? Your right wrist is maybe the setting that needs adjusted.......
 
in the pic it shows that i'm getting at best 36 at worst 34. I have ran complete tanks on long and short rides without any heavy wrist action. the bike has a little over 2000 miles on it and when stock and brand new the first 3 tanks got 34 , 36 ,38 . I added the tuner at that point. I say stock but it was stage 1 with vance and hines slip on from the dealor with stage 1 download.
 
My new FLHTK also has a little over 2K miles on it, and is completely stock. I get 35 mpg every tank full. And this is with the lean factory settings. When I add a tuner and make it richer, I'm sure my mpg will decrease. The Harley website says these bikes get 42 mpg. I'm not expecting 42, but at least high 30's would be nice. But it is what it is. Not much I can do about it, but ride it and not worry about the mpg's but the smiles per miles. Set the tuner so your bike runs the best it can and don't worry about the mpg's.
And while increasing the volume on the stereo does absolutely nothing for my mpg's, it does make the ride that much more enjoyable :bigsmiley11:
 
when stock and brand new the first 3 tanks got 34 , 36 ,38 . I added the tuner at that point.

When the bike was brand new and was screaming lean (at cruise closed loop) you were getting about 36 MPG. You added the tuner, richen up the mixture across the spectrum, for the most part your not running a stoich A/F ratio any longer, you now probably have more power, the engine is probably running cooler, and your still getting about 36 MPG.

I must be missing something. Your problem is that you expected to also get better fuel milage along with all of the above?
 
the bike was breaking in and mileage was getting better every tank. I talked to one guy who has 2 switchbacks and get 44 to 46 on both (stock) . I was hoping to get better mileage than I am getting and trying to figure out why I am not. I understand dumpimg fuel to cool bike will use more fuel . but the bike should of had a better starting point on mileage.
 
Then I was missing something. Your actually asking why your fuel mileage was low from when the bike was new. I agree with you. Getting 36 MPG when the bike was new is pretty low, especially for combined highway. I am at sea level and running open loop for the entire fuel map. Not a single map cell is in the 14's and I can easily break 40 mpg when on flat highway.

Fuel economy is driven (by a large degree) by spark advance mapping. You may want to check that dealer factory downloaded stage 1 map that was installed and make sure it's right. The dealership's stage 1 download includes spark advance maps. It's too late now, but it would have been better to combine the tuner with the stock factory maps. At least then you would know what the foundation was. Right now you don't really know what you have loaded in the ECM. (You always could go out and buy a SEST and over-write what is in there now)

By chance are you running 87 octane fuel?
Did the dealership give you the file name that was written to the ECM for the stage 1 download.
Is the 2012 Dyna throttle by wire.
 
First off I don't have a Dobeck as yet. Which unit do you have,Gen3/ Gen4 ??I have the Dobeck Inst. sheet for the Gen4 on hand and the Green shows to be Idle/low speed mode. Yellow to be cruise mode.It may be different on your model.Maybe Bubbie will chime in soon. He's quite familiar with these units. I'm waiting on Dobeck to release the Gen4 for my 2012 UG.Haven't heard anything as yet.
tourbox
 
run super premium gas only . I have the gen 3 and according to what matt at Dobeck told me , green is idle cruise , yellow is accelerate , red is wide open throttle

GEN 3 EFI Controller - ATVs, UTVs, Motorcycles, Snowmobiles
The website says the same thing

Then I was missing something. Your actually asking why your fuel mileage was low from when the bike was new. I agree with you. Getting 36 MPG when the bike was new is pretty low, especially for combined highway. I am at sea level and running open loop for the entire fuel map. Not a single map cell is in the 14's and I can easily break 40 mpg when on flat highway.

Fuel economy is driven (by a large degree) by spark advance mapping. You may want to check that dealer factory downloaded stage 1 map that was installed and make sure it's right. The dealership's stage 1 download includes spark advance maps. It's too late now, but it would have been better to combine the tuner with the stock factory maps. At least then you would know what the foundation was. Right now you don't really know what you have loaded in the ECM. (You always could go out and buy a SEST and over-write what is in there now)

By chance are you running 87 octane fuel?
Did the dealership give you the file name that was written to the ECM for the stage 1 download.
Is the 2012 Dyna throttle by wire.

The 2012 dyna is not throttle by wire
He didn't give me the download file name but I will call and see if they have it on record.

Always run super premium
 
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Running high test premium fuel means that the ion-sense knock retard feature is probably not kicking in and retarding your spark advance which would hurt your fuel mileage.
Just curious,, what's your average altitude where you ride. The Switchback is a 103 correct?

Reason I asked about the factory download was because I have seen a dealership download the incorrect stage 1 map to a new bike. Friend of mine that has a 103" had a stage 1 map downloaded to the bike that was actually for a 96". I would have thought the ECM would reject it but it didn't. The maps were correct but the VE was adjusted for 7 cu/in less.

Just my opinion but I just don't see a tuner improving the fuel mileage on a bike that does not have some type of pre-existing issue. Even if changing fuel pot settings was to "correct" a problem, you would still have an underlying issue that was just being masked or hidden by the tuner.
 
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