Gyrobob
Serious Thumper
Offline
Posers ain't motorcyclists
Posts: 2571
Newnan, GA
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The primary factors for mileage are drag, engine tune, and driving style.
Additives and Ron Popeil gizmos don't do squat. In fact, they are more likely to hurt mileage than help it.
For drag, make yourself as aerodynamic as possible, and keep the tires pumped up. With a Savage-style bike, we have the drag coefficient of a barn, so all you can do here is NOT do things like high bars, huge windshields, bags, foxtails, fat passengers, etc. If you want to look cool and lessen your aero-drag, build a RYCA CS-1 and put a mini-fairing on it.  Once you get above about 40 mph, aerodynamics is HUGE. A Savage is very draggy.
For engine tune:
-- Run it a little lean, but richer than the factory setup.
-- Use clean paper air filters. K&N/oiled foam/little cones/etc., are fine for folks who want to spend money for partially filtered and choked up air, but the hot set up is to use a quality paper filter and change it often.
-- If you really want to get anal about this, take the head off and have the passages tidied up with a three-angle valve job, etc. Look up “extrude hone” for the utmost in intake and exhaust clean-up. This gets more horespower AND better mileage.
-- Use an exhaust system freer flowing than stock (but not TOO noisy), and don't forget to rejet the carb for the lowered back pressure.
-- Use a name-brand spark plug, check it every few thousand miles just to make sure it is staying light brown and fairly clean. Keep the spark plug lead in good shape.
-- Install a paper fuel filter. Any gorp in the carb is very likely to degrade mileage AND power. Often, today's gas is lousy with muck, alcohol, water, wrong octane, etc. If you use a filter that has a clear housing, you can see if the sediment level is starting to get harmful.
-- Don't use midgrade gas. It is always the most stale of any of the grades, and the most likely to have muck in it. These bikes only need regular, anyway. Mid-grade and premium do NOT have any more power, in fact, they have less energy available per gallon than regular grade gas because they have more additives for detonation control. If any regular-gas vehicle you have starts in with detonation (pinging), something is wrong -- get it fixed, don't use premium.
For driving style, just use a little common sense. Accelerate moderately, keep to the speed limits (when it is safe to do so). Try to keep a steady throttle hand. Simple stuff, but a pretty large factor.
So, what would I recommend for the average Joe (stock LS650) who doesn’t want to mod his bike too much but who needs to stretch his gas dollar? Keep it tuned up, use regular gas, use the stock low bars (or even lower non-stock bars), no bags(use a backpack or tankbag), maybe install a small windshield tilted back (or small bullet fairing), keep the tires at recommended pressure, and ride it gently. Boring, eh?,.. but I’ll bet I could get 60-70 mpg this way on my commute from Newnan to the ATL airport. 10 miles city roads/20 miles I-85.
The conundrum here is that you can either have good mileage or fun. A driving style that maximizes mileage means you ride your bike like your grandmother would drive her Camry.
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