How accurate/inaccurate is your mpg display??

BakerBoy

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My speedo and odo are both off by approx 4%,, and I expect that the mileage computer is affected the same way. If it was just the speedo that was out,, I would not be to concerned. But now I am considering a Speedohealer to correct all three read outs. It is kind of like my headlight aiming motor,,, which gave up recently. I hate having things on the bike that don't work,,, Cat'
FYI, this topic has been discussed in a number of places, but a quick summary: Honda has lost a class action suit for having the odometer click off miles too quickly and warranties expiring prematurely. Since then, Honda odometers across all their products are pretty accurate (typically within 1%)--the ST odometer is accurate even though the speedometer shows higher than actual indicated speed (typically 6% too high). If you use a speedohealer or similar to correct for the optimistic speedometer, the odometer will tally miles at ~6% under actual mileage since they're both fed from the same signal off the transmission. Likewise, the mileage gage will now indicate ~6% lower fuel mileage than actual.
 
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Thanks for the input,, BB,, that old suit against Honda goes back to the '80s and was even true on their original Civic's. Makes one wonder why they would continue to produce speedo's which read low for another couple of decades. I have checked both my odometer and my mileage computer,, using pump volumes and gps distances. Both read low by just under 4%. About 1% of that error is attributable to my rear tire size. Funny,, that my '80s vintage bikes also exhibit a 3% speedo and odometer error,, and of course those are mechanical. Maybe the best approach to error correction is to adjust one of the readings to actual,,, and not worry about the the other two. I would not mind my speedo being precise. Distance and fuel consumption I usually check manually, as mentioned above. But since I am always flirting with speed limits +,, and don't always mount my gps,,, that would likely be the best choice for me,, Cat'
 

dduelin

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To have both the odometer and speedo off the same amount would be unusual for the ST1300.
 
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+1,,, even variation between tire builders is significant. On widths,,, I have seen a Bridgestone -5mm off nominal,,, while the Dunlop with same spec was +5mm. Cat'

P-Metric tire sizing is nominal with quite surprising differences between sidewall numbers and actual dimensions.
 
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+1,,, even variation between tire builders is significant. On widths,,, I have seen a Bridgestone -5mm off nominal,,, while the Dunlop with same spec was +5mm. Cat'
agreed, years ago I was compiling circumference data on various ST tires with the same nominal sidewall size. Its been too long to remember for sure, but I want to say there was 2-3% variation in any given size. I would run a length of tape around the circumference of the tire, remove it, and measure its length on a table. I think what motivated me to measure them was difference in ride height and speedo accuracy.
 
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Rock Spring, GA
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My mpg display has always been 3-5 mpg lower than my actual calculated mpg. I have calculated as high as 53mpg and my low was around 45mpg. It does seem to get better mpg at higher travel speeds, like running 65mph and higher. I did not think that would be the case with the 5 speed tranny but it is. When I first got the bike I was really disappointed with the mpg but once I started calculating it instead of going by the display reading I was much happier. The most gas I have ever put in was about 6 gallons and I generally fill while straddling the bike to the bottom filler ring. I try to use non ethanol premium gas but sometimes get the crappy ethanol blended stuff. My Harley fluctuates more with the gas choice than the ST but I still prefer to use the straight gas in the ST also.
 
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Optimistic is: odometer reports 100 miles but actually traveled only 98.6 miles. GPS is highly accurate. So is cross checking against 50 or 100 miles of interstate mile markers.
I find similar readings. However this small 1.4% difference is likely attributed to diffence in rear tire diameter due to wear or tire brand. The speed readings I find to be off by substantially more, in the other direction, at about 5-7%. high.
 

SupraSabre

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Most here have one ST1300 to go by for mileage accuracy. I've had five to look at.

The '05 & '04#1 were/are typical for the early ST1300s of being off MPH, like7%.

Both of my '10 & '04#2 (now sold), have cop speedometers on which are close to being accurate. Above 55MPH, it starts to go about 2MPH off, as you're up to about 80MPH.

The '12 on the other hand is pretty accurate through all the speeds, although, depending at times it might be off a mile or two.

The odometers I found on long trips (2,500 to 4,000 miles) to be off a bit compared to my GPS, I had with me at the time of the trip. For the whole trip, there could be 100 miles difference between the GPS and odometer.

Since Honda had unlimited mileage on the ST1300 for the warranty work, the Odometer reading really didn't matter too much for that.
 

Coop

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The fuel consumption display tends to read about 3 MPG less than what I calculate based on what's on the trip odometer and the gas pump. Leave your OCD at home; that's just how it is.



The Conk is a different bike from a different era. The ST is designed and built for eating highway miles at 60-65 MPH, and that's where it drinks the least gas. Prior to 2006, when they started putting [-]saltpeter[/-] ethanol in the fuel, 50 MPG under those conditions was attainable; these days that figure is a few MPG less. The further you get from that ideal, the worse it gets, and high 30s in around-town and back-roads riding isn't unusual.

If you're still on your first or second full tank, you and the bike have probably not become fully acquainted yet, and that will factor into it as well. My advice would be to spend some time with it, get to know where the engine does its best work, spend less time worrying about the absolute number and spend more time on maintaining a grin.

--Mark
Having 10k will impove things too.
 

ST Gui

240Robert
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How accurate...
Don't know. Never checked. I seldom look at it except to know if it's under or over three bars. Over means I'm good for awhile and under means it's time to fuel and get a bite to eat or something to drink.
 
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My dash usually says around 38-40mpg....My calculator says 39-42mpg...depending on type of driving and kind of gas...I never have got 44+ mpg on a full tank...and I drive pretty tame.
 
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