It came together. I'm off to ABQ.
IronButt Association rides, reports, and product evaluations.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Friday, June 26, 2015
2015 IBR Rally Prep
Friday 6/23/15 0830.
I've worked for months to get the ergonomics of my bike fine tuned and get in lots of saddle time. Now, with slightly more than 72 hours to the start of the 2015 Iron Butt Rally, my planning has gone amok. Here is the current status of my bike.
Yes, those are parts lying all over the garage floor and no bike in the picture! I took it in last week for a major tune up so it would be ready. They found a bad switch which caused the starter motor to engage intermittently. Not starting when you want is pretty bad.
This is what I hate about Triumph, parts ALWAYS have to come from the UK. Parts are supposed to come in this AM and (supposedly) I'll have my bike back this afternoon. It will take me several hours to get it back together. Then I have a 12 hour trip to Albuquerque, NM. I'm okay as long as I get there in time to finish check in on Sunday.
Nothing like being well rested and unstressed for the start of the rally.
I've worked for months to get the ergonomics of my bike fine tuned and get in lots of saddle time. Now, with slightly more than 72 hours to the start of the 2015 Iron Butt Rally, my planning has gone amok. Here is the current status of my bike.
Yes, those are parts lying all over the garage floor and no bike in the picture! I took it in last week for a major tune up so it would be ready. They found a bad switch which caused the starter motor to engage intermittently. Not starting when you want is pretty bad.
This is what I hate about Triumph, parts ALWAYS have to come from the UK. Parts are supposed to come in this AM and (supposedly) I'll have my bike back this afternoon. It will take me several hours to get it back together. Then I have a 12 hour trip to Albuquerque, NM. I'm okay as long as I get there in time to finish check in on Sunday.
Nothing like being well rested and unstressed for the start of the rally.
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Triumph Trophy SE Fuel Economy
When I first got the TTSE in June of '13 I was extremely happy to find that it was quite miserly with gasoline. Even on Nevada two lane highways (read as high speed) it stayed at 40+ MPG.
That all seemed to go amok about a year ago. I have experienced wild fluctuations in fuel economy. From as high as 50MPG at leisurely paces to as low as 30MPG for no apparent reason. I have tried to analyze all possible causes of these anomalies.
Bad gas, ethanol, gas brand, headwinds, temperatures, speed, you name it I've considered it. All of these factors can and do impact fuel economy but I couldn't seem to isolate any one factor as the major contributor. If anything, it appeared to be temperature related where lower temperatures yielded worse MPG.
I finally found out why there was a change in MPG, about a year ago I got a new custom seat made! Now this may sound ridiculous but bear with me. I had them raise the seat so my knees would have less bend. A recent discussion on Facebook got me to to considering windshield height. The TTSE has an electrically adjustable windshield and I normally keep it just below my line of sight.
On a recent trip I discovered that the TTSE is EXTREMELY sensitive to windshield height (obviously if Triumph did any wind tunnel testing they either didn't test with varying windshield heights or they didn't optimize for that). With the windshield fully down I was able to average 46MPG over a 700 mile trip with a moving average of 70MPH. By watching the instantaneous fuel consumption readout from the ECU, I was able to determine that raising the windshield by as little as 1" would drop 4 o 5MPG off of my reading!
Therein, was the root of my problem. I raised my seat about a year ago and the windshield height accordingly. That also explains why the cold weather was a high candidate for the problem. When it's cold I raise the windshield to stay warmer.
If you have an adjustable windshield take this into consideration if you are trying to maximize your range.
That all seemed to go amok about a year ago. I have experienced wild fluctuations in fuel economy. From as high as 50MPG at leisurely paces to as low as 30MPG for no apparent reason. I have tried to analyze all possible causes of these anomalies.
Bad gas, ethanol, gas brand, headwinds, temperatures, speed, you name it I've considered it. All of these factors can and do impact fuel economy but I couldn't seem to isolate any one factor as the major contributor. If anything, it appeared to be temperature related where lower temperatures yielded worse MPG.
I finally found out why there was a change in MPG, about a year ago I got a new custom seat made! Now this may sound ridiculous but bear with me. I had them raise the seat so my knees would have less bend. A recent discussion on Facebook got me to to considering windshield height. The TTSE has an electrically adjustable windshield and I normally keep it just below my line of sight.
On a recent trip I discovered that the TTSE is EXTREMELY sensitive to windshield height (obviously if Triumph did any wind tunnel testing they either didn't test with varying windshield heights or they didn't optimize for that). With the windshield fully down I was able to average 46MPG over a 700 mile trip with a moving average of 70MPH. By watching the instantaneous fuel consumption readout from the ECU, I was able to determine that raising the windshield by as little as 1" would drop 4 o 5MPG off of my reading!
Therein, was the root of my problem. I raised my seat about a year ago and the windshield height accordingly. That also explains why the cold weather was a high candidate for the problem. When it's cold I raise the windshield to stay warmer.
If you have an adjustable windshield take this into consideration if you are trying to maximize your range.
Thursday, June 4, 2015
The Missing Gallon (Triumph Trophy SE)
Ever wonder how big the gas tank really is on a Triumph Trophy SE? I know I have. The manufacturer lists the Fuel capacity at 25 L (6.6 US gal). I've never come close to putting that much gas in the tank.
Since I do a lot of long distance riding fuel management is very important. I have an auxiliary fuel tank to extend my range and only buy gas when I need to. My theoretical capacity is just under the
Iron Butt Rally™ maximum of 11.5 gallons. My aux tank is 4.8 gallons so coupled with the stock tank I should have 11.4 gallons. I've never managed to put more than 10.5 gallons in it and I was worried about running out of fuel at those times.
Here is some background discussion about the Trophy's instrumentation. The on board computer shows some interesting information. You can display lots of information but the ones I want to focus on are distance to empty (DTE) and gallons consumed (GC). I've been displaying GC for the last 40,000 miles and have found it very useful and accurate enough that I trust it. Rarely has the displayed GC varied by more that 10% of what the fuel pump said I had put in. This error could possibly be explained by temperature variations in the fuel.
The low fuel light comes on at 1/4 tank at which time the DTE moves to the forefront of the display. The low fuel light and the DTE have no correlation. Depending on what kind of gas mileage you are getting the DTE can be anywhere from 40 to 80 miles when the low fuel light comes on. The DTE will count down and reaches zero (0) exactly as the last fuel indicator bar goes dark.
After 60,000 miles I decided to conduct an experiment. I have developed enough confidence in the GC display to trust that it was accurate enough to test my tank capacity. I was returning from a 7000 mile journey and was trying to stretch my range so I could get home without a final fuel stop.
My low fuel light came on and the GC reported that 4.4 gallons were consumed. I watched the DTE count down to zero and logged the odometer and the GC. GC now reported that 5.4 gallons had been burnt. I motored on and ran out of gas 40 miles later! GC now said I had burnt 6.2 gallons. I had FINALLY found that missing gallon.
Since I do a lot of long distance riding fuel management is very important. I have an auxiliary fuel tank to extend my range and only buy gas when I need to. My theoretical capacity is just under the
Iron Butt Rally™ maximum of 11.5 gallons. My aux tank is 4.8 gallons so coupled with the stock tank I should have 11.4 gallons. I've never managed to put more than 10.5 gallons in it and I was worried about running out of fuel at those times.
Here is some background discussion about the Trophy's instrumentation. The on board computer shows some interesting information. You can display lots of information but the ones I want to focus on are distance to empty (DTE) and gallons consumed (GC). I've been displaying GC for the last 40,000 miles and have found it very useful and accurate enough that I trust it. Rarely has the displayed GC varied by more that 10% of what the fuel pump said I had put in. This error could possibly be explained by temperature variations in the fuel.
The low fuel light comes on at 1/4 tank at which time the DTE moves to the forefront of the display. The low fuel light and the DTE have no correlation. Depending on what kind of gas mileage you are getting the DTE can be anywhere from 40 to 80 miles when the low fuel light comes on. The DTE will count down and reaches zero (0) exactly as the last fuel indicator bar goes dark.
After 60,000 miles I decided to conduct an experiment. I have developed enough confidence in the GC display to trust that it was accurate enough to test my tank capacity. I was returning from a 7000 mile journey and was trying to stretch my range so I could get home without a final fuel stop.
My low fuel light came on and the GC reported that 4.4 gallons were consumed. I watched the DTE count down to zero and logged the odometer and the GC. GC now reported that 5.4 gallons had been burnt. I motored on and ran out of gas 40 miles later! GC now said I had burnt 6.2 gallons. I had FINALLY found that missing gallon.
Well, it's nice to know there is a reserve but I can only see using it in an extreme situation. When your gas gauge says empty, the DTE says ZERO, and the low fuel light is screaming at you it's difficult to have faith and believe that there is more gas in the tank. [There's a song about have faith and believe "Desert Pete"]
It's a shame that Triumph couldn't have been more accurate with their instrumentation. I'd sure like to see it like my BMW K1200LT. The low fuel light came on when the DTE was at 40 miles based on current fuel economy. It was NOT tied to the fuel gauge. Once it went below 10 miles it turned to dashes. Not ideal but better than the Trophy. I have to stare at a bright yellow low fuel light for up to 100 miles which can translate to 1 1/2 to 3 hours.
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