MPG & Getting to Reserve

[stagewex]

Just a general question about both.
Yesterday I left work (Manhattan/NYC) early to meet a friend upstate for dinner/ride and a Car Cruise-In at Bear Mountain, one of the last ones of the Summer. Blasting along at around 60 to 70MPH my bike suddenly lost all power and dangerously slowed down in fast traffic. I thought I was running out of gas but it happened so quickly that thoughts of "how the heck am I getting home" and "how much is this going to cost to fix" were flying in my head as I put the petcock on reserve. I'm also trying to avoid all the other nutty drivers as I thankfully coasted into a roadside parking lot.

First thing is that my generator light is clearly on so I know I have juice. I look down and see that my clear fuel line filters are empty/dry. Huh... I know I switched to reserve?? Well I didn't, in my haste to get to a safe place on the side of the road I mistakingly only made it to "off". Put on reserve, tickled the carbs once and she kicked right back on and I was on the road again, stopping at the first gas station I saw. Whew. So...

Is this normal for a vintage Beemer. I don't mean running out of gas but it is so, so very immediate, no telltale warning like on the other 30 motorcycles I've owned in my lifetime including other BMW's. When running out of fuel to switch to reserve there are those tell-tale signs that the engine is missing/gulping the last fuel. This bike basically has no mercy, so very immediate. I'll have to be more conscience of that fact as my mileage goes up vs. fill-ups. I'm running a Karcoma petcock from a /5 rather than the original Everbest.

On to the milage. 157 miles to reserve give or take a mile or two pulling 220lbs. When I filled-up yesterday it took exactly 3.5 gallons and I have a 4.5 fuel tank. That's about 44-45MPG but I think I should be getting better like 55+ according to the owners manual. What are you guys getting? 1969 r60/2 US Model, 23,653 miles.

In addition and this of course is subjective, I'm running Premium gasoline, mostly Mobil or Shell 93 octane. Bike runs great but I have not really tried the other (87 & 83) blends available in my area. What do you guys use? There is in no option locally for me to buy non-ethonol fuel.

My P-Touch reminders to myself that I'll temporarily affix to my handlebars as a reminder. Gett'in old sucks HeeHee.

[Darryl.Richman]

When you're on the freeway, you've got the throttle open pretty wide, so it will suck the last of the gas from the float bowl quickly. Usually one side has a longer hose, so the left cylinder will run dry first, so you should get some warning, but it won't be very long.

I have a 1961 R60/2 and I run regular in it. The gas here in California is *always* 10% ethanol. I usually get 42-44mpg. That's the same gas mileage my 1981 R65 gets.

[schrader7032]

I get around 175 miles to reserve on my '69 R69S...equates to about 50 MPG. I'm running the premium as my compression ratio is high. I would think that you could run a lower grade on the R60/2 as it is not as high compression. Spending for the premium stuff is only wasting money.

I have the clear filters and I begin to watch them as I get over 150-160 miles. I've never had it shut off violently, but I usually begin to feel those situations I've come to realize that things are getting close...them I'm ready for it when it does happen.

I don't have a trip meter on my R25/2 plus the odometer is in kilometers. After each fill up, I go home, compute the MPG, and project when the next fill up will be (in kilometers) and then round down to a nice number. I put a piece of blue painter's tape on the gas cap and write down that project kilometer reading. If I get to the kilometer reading, I BETTER be looking for a gas station. Usually, I'm too chicken and hit the station well before I reach the number on the piece of tape. I'm too chicken because I've run out of gas once. I learned the lesson on that particular tank...there isn't a saddle between the two halves of the tank like the R69S...I was dry when that happened. Funny, it still takes a lot of energy to push a small 250cc BMW!! Fortunately, I was saved by a nice girl who took some pity on me and went and got me a small amount of gas to get me to the gas station.

[miller6997]

My experience on my sport-tank R69S is that there is not much warning. It hasn't happened to me in a long time, but I can recall cruising along and suddenly there is that sickening bup bup bup uuuuuhhh sound and you have to grope for reserve and/or grit your teeth and head for the shoulder. I also have the later Karcoma petcock, which at least is easy to put on reserve.

I consistently get in the forties for mileage: mid-forties for leisurely riding and low-forties for steady high speed travel. I have never had mileage in the fifties. (For comparison, my F800GT is consistently in the low sixties!)

[iagins]

Not much warning on my 67 R50/2. Gets an average in the mid-50's as far as mpg is concerned.

[Octane rant on]
Using premium gas in an R60/2 is just flushing $$$s down the carb. Octane is basically a measure of how combustible the gas is (not how much energy is contains). In a high-compression engine using low-octane fuel, you get pre-ignition (aka "knocking") when the fuel ignites before the piston is in the correct position. By using higher octane fuel, it takes more cylinder compression to cause ignition, which solves the problem. A low-compression engine like a /2 doesn't normally pre-ignite using lower octane fuel. So the rule of thumb is to use the lowest grade fuel that does not cause pre-ignitiion. Regular-grade works fine in my R50/2 and should work in your R60/2. If not, go to the medium grade.
[Octane rant off]

Ira Agins
Santa Fe, NM

[stagewex]

Thanks guys, so I'm getting that not much warning is kinda normal. And premium fuel is not a necessity.

I'm planning a trip this weekend to the NY Air Show in New Winsdsor, NY with a side trip to the Motorcyclepedia in Newburgh (5 miles away from the Air Show) so should be putting around 300+ miles on the bike so I'll be able to have a couple fill-ups.
I'll try the middle-blend (I think that's 87?) and if no problems then down to just regular 83 octane for a go at it. The previous owner told me he always used Premium or the bike would "ping" so I figured so should I. But he really didn't ride it that much, just 2 tank-fulls of gas in the 3 years he owned her. She was a bit of a garage queen in her most recent life. Now she's out running like she should be.
A mechanic friend of mine who has worked on the bike with me also told me that high-test was a waste of $$ for this engine.

On the MPG I think I can do better. Whe you guys refer to "Sport Tank" do you mean the 4.5 that I have... the one with the tool box on the side?

I would love to hear the "bup bup bhp uuuuuhhh" (great description BTW) and I will listen for it at around 156 miles.

[butch housman]

"Back in the day", before ethanol, I would consistently get 44 mpg from an R69US. I would expect u might get a little better than that from the R60 but then there's the lower BTU of the blended gas so u may be in the ball park w/ mid forties. I would be surprised if u get very far into the 50+ mpg range.

U may be able to get better mileage by leaning out ur carbs one notch & probably not notice too much difference in performance but it's NOT a good idea. Lean = HOT!

W/ a 6.5 gal. tank I used to try & fill by 150 or 200 miles max & that gave me a very comfortable pad. If u will just fill every 100 miles or so u'll be fine.

Be happy abt the reserve, my RK is fuel injected so there is no reserve & the gas gauge is definitely not linear so w/ a 5 gal. tank & 38 mpg I try to fill at 100-125 miles....150 max !

Needless to say ur riding habits & location contribute to ur mpg in a big way. I never get over 40 mpg in Kentucky & always get above 40 in Ohio...hills vs. flat.

Ride on Dude !
b

[schrader7032]

There were basically two tanks. The stock tank was 4.5 gallons and the sport tank was the larger 6 or maybe it was 6.3 gallon tank. Personally, I think the smaller tank looks best with the rest of the bike. My bladder doesn't really benefit from all that extra gas in the tank

[nedhoey]

This year I installed a new production Everbest on my 1968 R69US. I couldn't resist. My original began to leak way too much and I had to replace it with a Karcoma. I wondered about leakage, as in not if but when it would start. The originals had a cork gasket for the lever; I didn't know if these new ones were different, but it didn't matter to me since these were new and looked exactly the same as the originals.

Well, it seems they replaced the cork with rubber. At least that's what it seems like from the feel of it. It is very very tight and has a sticky movement. I guess they were determined to solve the leak problem. So to get to the point, while I'm happy to have an original style petcock, I'm not looking forward to the next time I'll need to switch to reserve fuel while riding. I'm not at all sure I'll be able to flip the lever around while seated. So lately I'm buying gas sooner than I used to. Haha.

[butch housman]

Where did u find a new Everbest ? Vech has instructions on his website on how to rebuild an Everbest. I've done it twice & never had a leak but it's a hassle & the last time & this last time it didn't flow well. I got tired of screwing around w/ it & replaced it w/ a Karcoma. Altho not original the Karcoma is a better petcock, works easier, no issues.
b