Comments on: V-Strom Gas Mileage Study

By: Mike Gritten

Mike Gritten — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 22:20:35 +0000

I have recently purchased a “new to me” k8 DL1000. My wife and I rode the Okanagan Ride for Dad this last weekend and got the following results. We did the entire ride on one tank and the odometer was showing 333.3 km when we finally gassed up. I run Regular Unleaded (87 octane) and took 19.1 liters ((4.92 US Gallons). This computes to just a tick under 42 mpg. The odometer is reading 38,580 km as of lunch today. It appears to be stock as far as engine/pipes/efi are concerned.
I weigh in at about 220 lbs plus gear and Carol is 120 lbs plus gear. We had overnighted in Kelowna the night before so had changes of clothes, a laptop PC, and street shoes in the panniers and top box. I do NOT drive slowly and we were running at a steady 140 kph several times during the day. We spent most of the time driving between 110 and 120 kph.
If I just look at my commuting during the week (solo about 30 km each way with only 5 km of city driving in that mix) I get 38 or 39 mpg.
I am intrigued by the variation in reports here. I find my Vee milage is very comparable to my GL1100 goldwing back in the eighties – not great, but certainly acceptable given the improved performance of the big Zook.

Mike in Kamloops, BC, Canada

By: Glen

Glen — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:43:37 +0000

Have a DL1000 bought new in 2003. Now has about 90,000km (55,000 miles). Could originally go over 320km (200 miles) on tank of gas and bike would surge in traffic due to lean factory setting on FI. Dealer remapped ECU for richer setting at low speed so bike runs much smoother in slow traffic but now only goes about 280km (174 mi) before empty. Probably good compromise in long run.

By: DFFECHSWU

DFFECHSWU — Tue, 18 May 2010 12:58:18 +0000

Just to clarify, I have a 2007 V-Strom (DL1000).

By: DFFECHSWU

DFFECHSWU — Tue, 18 May 2010 12:56:52 +0000

I live in Melbourne, FL and primarily commute a few miles per day to/from work.

Around town, I average 34 mpg. I don’t hammer it, but since the bike runs rich until it warms, I think that’s where some mpg loss could be occuring. The mileage I get seems to be in line with what has been relayed in other forums (stromtrooper.com).

The first highway trip I took was to the Leesburg Bike Fest and got 49 mpg. I suspect it would have been 50+ mpg if I didn’t have to go through some stop-and-go traffic.

By: Phaedrus

Phaedrus — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:14:43 +0000

My 2009 V-1000 averages 43mpg over the first 2000 miles withing a wide range of conditions: city driving (in Mexico), back roads as well as sustained highways speed, +90mph. Importantly, I changed almost immediately the front sprocket from 17 to 16 to get better response at slow speed as 1st was plain too long forcing excessive clutch use. The bike feels better overall. I was coming from a V-650 that has shorter gearing overall

By: tom cartwright

tom cartwright — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 01:25:00 +0000

3 tanks of gas in my Wee got an average of 55 mpg

By: Corey

Corey — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:12:21 +0000

I wasn’t surprised. Suzuki only claims 40MPG for the 2009 http://suzukicycles.com/en/Product%20Lines/Cycles/Products/V-Strom%201000/2009/DL1000.aspx

Did I mention I really like accelerating?

By: bigboy292000

bigboy292000 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:46:03 +0000

Wow, that’s weird… I would not expect the big V to get that low of a MPG? I know it’s apples and organges, but I just completed amost 2000 mile weekend ride (http://www.stromtrooper.com/showthread.php?t=43640) on my Wee and got 52 mpg average, and that is blasting 75+ on highways for hours?

By: PanicStop

PanicStop — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 03:42:01 +0000

Wow, my mileage over the last three tanks I have averaged over 40 mpg…