My 85 1200A, does it need work?

[Guest]

Last week I picked up my '85 Goldwing 1200A, 45K miles on it. It feels strong and runs well but I'm thinking it should get better mpg, it's about 38mpg after adjusting for 10% spedometer error. I thought it was getting 42mpg but today I found via my gps that I was only going 55 when the spedo says 61.

I put in new plugs and am currently running seafoam thu it and keeping the rpm up to see if that will improve the mileage. I did notice a bit of smoke coming out the exhaust this morning so I am hopeful of some improvement.

At lower speed around town I can hear the exhaust sounding like it has hesitations rather than a smooth humming but I don't actually feel any hesitation so I'm not sure if there are issues or or not. It starts right up instantly with a touch of the starter and idles fine so I'm resisting the temptation to order the stuff to do a sync test, at least until I finish off the can of seafoam. I'm just using 1oz per gal as stated on the can.

I was looking forward to 50mpg on this wing but having read a number of forums it doesn't seem that anyone gets better than about 45, does anyone here get that? Any comments about the exhaust sounding like hesitations but not actually feeling any? I have already run a couple tanks with seafoam, there may have been some slight improvement on the exhaust sound, has anyone else had this experience?

I'll do a couple more fill-ups before I bum out too much over the mpg, I've ordered the shop manual in case carb removal over the winter seems necessary.

[neoracer]

if you are getting 42mpg by the speedo you are doing good w/o having to go on a long trip

best i've gotten was 43.5 avg on a 3200 miles trip.best single was 48mpg

nothing wrong with your bike,you wont get what the harley baggers get with the 6th speed

enjoy the ride and welcome

[Guest]

I average 40 mpg and have a heavy wrist....

is you speedometer accurate? I thought I was getting 42 until I check w/gps.

[Guest]

I have to say that I've been using the bags heavy. Big reason I wanted a wing was the cargo capacity, its a 30+ mile round trip to town to get stuff or go to the marina. I carry stuff like computer, bags of ice, beer, fish, groceries, I wind up quickly to well over 4000 to shift and weigh over 200 lbs and was carrying a passenger for some of the miles too so mpg is what it is and I'll try to resist spending a bunch of time and money to pick up a couple more mpg. My Butt Buffer should arrive in time for the weekend. Next month I may get out on an interstate with it, I-75 is only 150 miles from here.

[Guest]

Your fuel economy sounds about right. We are not lightweights and I do like the interesting things that happen above 3200 rpm torque wise. Seafoam is a good idea, but not a steady diet. Suggest occasional use, and a couple of ounces in the oil just prior to changing will amaze you. Sounds like you are enjoying your Wing.I know we are thrilled to bits with ours.
Shiny side up, Patrick

[bluewing]

I average about 46 mpg with very little hwy driving but I am from Canada and this is imperial gal. It sounds like your bike is running about normal, enjoy it.

[KnoxSwift]

I average 40mpg after GPS adjustment and I drive fast. This is using my 60 mile commute to test which is mixed local and highway.
I also haul around alot of stuff too.
So far my best was 43mpg but again just commuting no big long haul interstate rides yet. October will be my first vacation and long ride.

For the hesitation I found a shim for the jet needle got rid of it and didn't effect my gas milage, actually made it a bit better I think. I tend to tool around local roads low in the RPM's so I think the shim helped me there. I custom made my shim and it was a 3mm washer which the thickness was sanded down to .25mm. BUT before you shim or do anything like that check your sync first...

[Guest]

I average 40mpg after GPS adjustment and I drive fast. This is using my 60 mile commute to test which is mixed local and highway.
I also haul around alot of stuff too.
So far my best was 43mpg but again just commuting no big long haul interstate rides yet. October will be my first vacation and long ride.

For the hesitation I found a shim for the jet needle got rid of it and didn't effect my gas milage, actually made it a bit better I think. I tend to tool around local roads low in the RPM's so I think the shim helped me there. I custom made my shim and it was a 3mm washer which the thickness was sanded down to .25mm. BUT before you shim or do anything like that check your sync first...

Very interesting about the shim, I am envious of your skills. I ran to town on some errands this morning and parked/started several times, one time I had to give it a bit of throttle to start so I think some carb work may in my future. I'll wait until the season is over before I start tinkering as long as it keeps running as well as it does. Do you think a soaking would be the best starting point? With speedo correction the bike has little over 40K miles so would a full rebuild be overkill?

Of course I've still got seafoam in the gas so once I go back to straight gas the picture should clear up a bit, I am going to use up the can which still has enough left for 3 more gal which will be added by tomorrow.

The Service manual just arrived so lots of interesting reading coming up. I already checked the maint schedule for the carb sync and see it is recommended to check every 8K miles.... Do you subscribe to the budget vacuum tester method using long tubes filled with 2cycle oil? I will probably not be able to resist buying gauges at some point but the budget method is an interesting read.

[Guest]

I used Seafoam in my 87 when I was resurrecting it. It did the trick but didn't solve all the problems. Pulled the carbs and rebuilt them before I put in on the road and found lots of solids in the bowls and jets that Seafoam wasn't going to fix...



Once I took care of this stuff, it snapped out of the occasional funks it got in when throttling or just cruising.

[Guest]

I used Seafoam in my 87 when I was resurrecting it. It did the trick but didn't solve all the problems. Pulled the carbs and rebuilt them before I put in on the road and found lots of solids in the bowls and jets that Seafoam wasn't going to fix...
Once I took care of this stuff, it snapped out of the occasional funks it got in when throttling or just cruising.

After lots of reading on various wing sites I have convinced myself that a carb sync should be done. The Honda service manual recommends a sync check every 8K miles and there is no indication in the bikes service notes that it has ever been done... so I have the Carbtune sync kit ordered. The bike has tons of power when you open it up, the front end gets way light under WOT excel and felt like it came right up off the pavement once the other day when I took off heading down the highway, so I am not too worried about gunk in the jets or bowl, etc. Once sync is established I'll just resign myself to whatever mileage I'm getting .... at least for the rest of this season.