Holy moly MPG

Joined
Mar 23, 2026
Messages
19
Age
66
Location
Duluth
Bike
ST1300
Last week I spent a few days in Denver area visiting Cousin Barney (real name undisclosed to protect the ignorant) with daily trips to nearby mountain routes. Day one we took 285 into busy but curvy and pretty much all uphill. Continuing on over whatever pass that gets to and eventually turning off to eat lunch in Woodland Park. Then we twisted and turned back to Denver on 67. Boy Howdy, that's pretty exciting for a small town boy from the Upper Midwest!

Now getting to the point of the post, we pulled into whatever the locals call Kwik Trip to gas up for the next days assault on the Rockies. Here is where it gets interesting. Because I can't do anything without applying unnecessary brain power I pulled out the phone (okay, phones brain power), did the math, clearly got it wrong so did it again and lo and behold I did not get it wrong. 67 lovely miles per expensive premium gallon. Laughing I flashed the screen at Cousin Barn and he grins back displaying a 72 on his phone. You high elevation people must get pretty annoyed heading down the hill when visiting the rest of humanity.
 
Hmmm...never occurred to me to use lower octane. Odd considering I lived out there for several years. Of course that was in the eighties. No digitally controlled fuel delivery back then. So next time don't be such a doofus, I guess.
 
Last week I spent a few days in Denver area visiting Cousin Barney (real name undisclosed to protect the ignorant) with daily trips to nearby mountain routes. Day one we took 285 into busy but curvy and pretty much all uphill. Continuing on over whatever pass that gets to and eventually turning off to eat lunch in Woodland Park. Then we twisted and turned back to Denver on 67. Boy Howdy, that's pretty exciting for a small town boy from the Upper Midwest!

Now getting to the point of the post, we pulled into whatever the locals call Kwik Trip to gas up for the next days assault on the Rockies. Here is where it gets interesting. Because I can't do anything without applying unnecessary brain power I pulled out the phone (okay, phones brain power), did the math, clearly got it wrong so did it again and lo and behold I did not get it wrong. 67 lovely miles per expensive premium gallon. Laughing I flashed the screen at Cousin Barn and he grins back displaying a 72 on his phone. You high elevation people must get pretty annoyed heading down the hill when visiting the rest of humanity.
Nothing is for free. Yes with fuel injection one get better milage at alt. but one will be down on power. the computer will see less air and dial back the fuel to keep the mixture correct, so you don't run rich. Just the opposite in the flat lands. where abouts does Cousin Barney live in the Denver area.

Sounds like you guys rode over Kenosha Pass and turned onto highway 77 Terryall Rd and past Terryall Res, on to Lake George, back on Highway 24 to Woodland Park then 67 north again to Pine Junction and 285

https://maps.app.goo.gl/gwPz7DsjfARL5mCX6


PS Don't need to run Premium in the ST1300. I ran my ST on Reg Gas for 12 years no issues. Half of that time was on the flats of West Texas, Wichita Falls.
 
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Nothing is for free. Yes with fuel injection one get better milage at alt. but one will be down on power. the computer will see less air and dial back the fuel to keep the mixture correct, so you don't run rich. Just the opposite in the flat lands. where abouts does Cousin Barney live in the Denver area.

Sounds like you guys rode over Kenosha Pass and turned onto highway 77 Terryall Rd and past Terryall Res, on to Lake George, back on Highway 24 to Woodland Park then 67 north again to Pine Junction and 285

https://maps.app.goo.gl/gwPz7DsjfARL5mCX6


PS Don't need to run Premium in the ST1300. I ran my ST on Reg Gas for 12 years no issues. Half of that time was on the flats of West Texas, Wichita Falls.
Yep, that was the route. Cousin Barney sez 67 is boring. I thought the road was a hoot. To him it is not scenic enough. Spoiled with countless canyons and overlooks, I suppose.

Oh, the power mpg inversion principle. With all the power an ST1300 has coupled with more cruising than shredding corners I never even noticed the loss of power.

I would love to not run premium. First couple of tanks I put in were 87 octane (regular in these parts) with no known issues, but got spooked with opinions suggesting it was not a good long term plan. Maybe I should quit worrying so much.
 
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Yep, that was the route. Cousin Barney sez 67 is boring. I thought the road was a hoot. To him it is not scenic enough. Spoiled with countless canyons and overlooks, I suppose.

Oh, the power mpg inversion principle. With all the power an ST1300 has coupled with more cruising than shredding corners I never even noticed the loss of power.

I would love to not run premium. First couple of tanks I put in were 87 octane (regular in these parts) with no known issues, but got spooked with opinions suggesting it was not a good long term plan. Maybe I should quit worrying so much.
Yes one can get spoiled here and take this all for granted Like I did until my job took me to Wichita Falls Tx for 11 years. Retired and came back here / home. I have ridden most of the paved roads here in Colorado and alot of the dirt roads, and I will never, ever get tired of them or take them for granted again.

Just a side note if you really want to ride great roads try the European Alps. There you can really get spoiled for life.
 
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