My MPG is too High CTX700

[gregsfc]

That's right; my last three tanks are driving me batty on my Honda CTX700! At or about 79, 81, and now 83; the last two included some miles riding to and from and during a charity ride; some of which the 81 figure was pure tailwind riding north to the event. But the 79 was pretty much just commuting miles; starting with a cold engine twice per day, and this goes up against a bike with a big chunk of riders reporting an average of 67, and another big chunk of riders reporting 69 (sort of statistical modes; not median or mean)--mode is more of what I look at (where are the biggest bars, as this takes out all the ultra urban and aggressive riders from the statistics. History tells me that this bike will crash in mpg during cold weather, I mean way down; not like a typical 6-7 percent loss, but more like a 15% loss, and so once I get this previously-retired vehicle through an entire year, it'll likely fall to a 75-76 average like it did before, but it's still going to be way above most riders.

Yes; I've got an ideal commute; yes I've avoided the common mistakes of most riders who opt for convenience and appearance and therefore, add lots of drag with accessories, as I just strap a milk crate or similar to the pillion seat, which should add near zero drag and could possible reduce drag as an extension of my lower body. The only other modification I've got is a Madstad windscreen, instead of what most riders opt for, which is the Cee Bailey, but from the CTX forum, I cannot confirm that the Madstad actually has an mpg advantage. The only other notable point is that I normally fill up with pure gasoline, but on the E10 tanks I've run through, I've not really noticed much of a fall off in mpg, if any. Yes, I ride pretty conservatively, but I'm not hypermiling. I shift normally around 3000 till I reach third gear, and then I'll upshift at or about 3400, as the bike seems to operate more smoothly that way. Additionally, I am absolutely an anti lugger, and keep my RPM in steady-speed riding in town up to at least 2800.

So what's the deal??? I'd like to think that part of the reason I do so well on the mpg front is the vehicles that I choose to ride or drive are smart choices and would love to think that I'm part of a group that has made a good choice in practical, but efficient vehicles, but my super-high results, compared to others' makes it appear that I'm either exaggerating or modifying or hypermiling. I'm doing none of that, but I'm getting 24 in a gas-powered, full-size pickup rated at 19/26, 22 combined and a mode on here at or about 17 mpg. And for my bike, I'm getting 77 versus a vehicle that's rated by Honda @ 64 and has it's two biggest mode figures at 67 and 69, respectively. I've checked my odometer several times against a couple of GPSs. My bike comes out around 2% over represented consistently, and so I always multiply my mileage result by .978 before entering in fuelly. And my truck comes out 1.8% under represented, consistently and so I'll multiply by trip miles by 1.015 just to be conservative.

But I'm still kicking pretty much everyone else's butt; I don't like it, but it's as accurate as I can report it, and it's conservative, as I try to err on the low side.

Any thoughts or suggestions. I'm a small guy at only 5'8 with a short torso, relative to my height, at least for a guy; I weigh only about 145 pounds. I never idle unnecessarily; don't keep extra weight in the vehicle. Try not to do a lot of short trips and keep my speed on the highways not much above the speed limit, but I'm definitely not a hypermiler.