Keeping a log of your fill ups and calculating mpg

humes

Colorado Motovlogger
May 17, 2020
106
136
43
Denver, CO
www.instagram.com
I ride a
2012 Ducati Monster 696
Hey guys ... a buddy of mine records his gas fill ups every time he is at the pump, and I decided to start adopting the practice.

1590894875092.png


These are the current columns I have. The mileage (or km's) / date mix is a nice record of the type of mileage I'm putting on the bike throughout the riding season, while the mileage / gallons mix is a great way to average out your miles (or km's) per gallon.

My bike only alerts me when I have 1 gallon left in the tank, so to know I'm averaging ~48 mph with my current sample size is helpful. For example, I rode a bit over 20 miles after the light came on today, and it matches nicely with the 3 gallon fill up on a 3.6 gallon tank.

One of the other perks of doing this that I can see is that if the bike starts to run poorly, I may see that reflected in the average mpg between fill ups. Obviously I have to factor in the context of running the bike hard, city riding, etc. that could also be the cause.

Anyway, thought some of you might find the practice useful, too, or have other ideas/opinions on such a "log".

Best,
~ Humes
 

Meifesto

Semi-Suicidal Dutchie
Jan 5, 2013
1,802
1,608
113
The Netherlands
I ride a
Yamaha XT660R
I do keep the receipt, with the idea to maybe once check it out.
But never really do xD

I know what he does on average a bit, and know that certain ridestyles means i won't get 240km out of a tank xD
 

WheelyPerd

Everywhere @WheeliePerd
May 18, 2017
579
520
93
34
South Africa
I ride a
Triumph Tiger 800 XCx
I personally use Fuelly, also has a phone app. I find it really useful, shows graphs, avg miles per tank, etc. You can track services and tyre purchases as well.
 
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HippoDrone

Admin
Jan 2, 2017
7,683
7,006
113
West Sussex, UK
I ride a
1984 Honda CB100-N
2012 Moto Guzzi V7
2017 Suzuki GSX-R750
2020 Beta 390RR
2022 Aprilia Tuareg 660
I used to use a phone app,can't remember what one.... but I kept on forgetting to fill it in and never installed it on later phones.
I guess it could be kinda interesting to have a record of mileage from different tyres! :)
 
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Meifesto

Semi-Suicidal Dutchie
Jan 5, 2013
1,802
1,608
113
The Netherlands
I ride a
Yamaha XT660R
If there was a phone app that could read the receipt and fill it in automatically, that would be amazing.
So date and litres tanked (maybe even price).
Then manually add kilometres (or miles) ridden and that is it...

Then maybe, yes.
 

WEB

L Plate Member
Feb 14, 2020
255
370
63
35
I ride a
Triumph Thruxton + Harley Lowrider
If there was a phone app that could read the receipt and fill it in automatically, that would be amazing.
So date and litres tanked (maybe even price).
Then manually add kilometres (or miles) ridden and that is it...

Then maybe, yes.

Invent one!
 
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SighBored

@thesighbored
Jan 18, 2015
2,662
1,235
113
Malaysia
www.thesighbored.com
I ride a
2012 Kawasaki ZX-6R
I just use the trip meter. Reset it every time you stop to fill up, and make sure you fill it up full. When the trip meter gets close to the range, you know it's time to pop back in for a fill up.

I'm not concerned about how my km/L (mpg) is, I never believed nor cared about how great someone can make their mileage go at the brink of running dry, because doing so stresses your fuel pump out, those pumps ain't cheap to fix or change, so I rather have my tank filled up before reaching critical levels and keep my pump happy.
 
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Madlad

Absolute Madlad
Apr 24, 2020
104
94
28
Canada
I ride a
2014 Yamaha R6
A neat idea! Might be good someone who only has a fuel light and nothing else (like me lol)
 

WheelyPerd

Everywhere @WheeliePerd
May 18, 2017
579
520
93
34
South Africa
I ride a
Triumph Tiger 800 XCx
I just use the trip meter. Reset it every time you stop to fill up, and make sure you fill it up full. When the trip meter gets close to the range, you know it's time to pop back in for a fill up.
I've heard this called the poor mans fuel indicator, but uhm both my Ducatis had no fuel guages. Its only my Triumph that has a fuel guage.
 
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Moto Mengy

Motovlogger from PA, USA
Mar 23, 2020
1,115
1,709
113
51
I ride a
2018 Honda Goldwing Tour DCT
I've done this for all of my bikes from time to time just to measure what MPG they are actually getting, but I don't do it always. My Goldwing tells me what mileage I'm getting and it's accurate from what I've measured, so I don't even bother tracking it manually now.
 
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SighBored

@thesighbored
Jan 18, 2015
2,662
1,235
113
Malaysia
www.thesighbored.com
I ride a
2012 Kawasaki ZX-6R
I've heard this called the poor mans fuel indicator, but uhm both my Ducatis had no fuel guages. Its only my Triumph that has a fuel guage.
My understanding is that the bikes that generally don't come with fuel indicators are performance (or race) orientated bikes, because in the track you are more concerned about other input like RPM/gear position/etc than looking for the fuel bar.. LOL..
 
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LoneWally

All Season Rider
Aug 29, 2017
810
809
93
Leicestershire
I ride a
2007 Hartford HD125L, 2013 Honda CB500X
I used to somthing an app but I have a terrible memory and forgot to fill it out. The thing I like about my CB500X is that the computer does tell me mpg in real time and on the trip.
 
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MMVNJ

Wannabie Member
Jul 28, 2020
55
78
18
50
I ride a
Indian Scout
I have the Fuelly app, but don't always use it. My bike doest have a gauge either, but I just go off of trip distance. I know when I get to 100 miles on a tank, I should start thinking about finding a gas station. The low fuel light is supposed to come on at .7 gallons left, and so far its been accurate, but Ive only had it come on twice.
 
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lupin

2016 Solar Bear Champion.
Jul 5, 2015
2,257
1,454
113
49
Australia
www.imlupz.com
I ride a
FZ1N
I work it out from time to time. Normally when I make some sort of change to the bikes to see what its done.

Other than that I really don't care.
 

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