[dsn_klr650] fuel consumption (one for the phd's and pe's)

[Dash Weeks]

At 03:43 PM 6/26/2000 +0000, Mike Reaves wrote:

>This should start a good thread. I have this bike (say a KLR) that >burns 1 gal of per hour (gph) at 50mph. Lets also say for arguments >sake that it takes 10hp to maintain a steady speed of 50mph. Way is >it when I change to a larger jet in the carb the milage goes down? >Now know the typical Harley tuner says "because your burning more >fuel", duuhhh... But if I still require 10hp to do 50mph then the >burn rate should stay the same. If I'm burning more fuel then I'm >making more hp and I need to back off (reduce throttle opening) to >maintain 50mph. Of course I know that the bike is now more fun to >ride hard and I have the 'normal' reaction to twist even harder but >if I'm just cruzin down the 'slab then burn rate should be the same. >right??

All other things being equal, I'd say that you are running richer, thus not optimally combusting the gas in the cylinder. Thus wasting gas that wasn't required for the same HP thus reducing MPG. More fuel doesn't always equate to more HP, it has to be balanced with more air to get the HP gain. So you are just essentially spilling gas out the tail pipe for the same HP when you are running rich. But then again, I'm not a PhD or a PE so I'm not qualified to answer, forget I mentioned it. laterZ Dash