Awful Fuel Mileage on '08 Nomad

[Pitchinguy]

When most of your riding is around town where you're constantly stopping/starting & running thru gears between lights, your mpg's are gonna be a lot lower. My 011 Nomad gets 28-32 mpg around town. On the road at 55-65 mph & I get 43-44 mpg. Superslab'n at 70-80 mph cuts mpg's back to 38-40mpg. Around town mpg's are terrible though. My 05 1600 Classic wasn't as good as my 1700 milage is. It was prolly 5-6% worse.

[markclark57]

I think there's some unanswered questions here. Since you got the Nomad second hand, there's some more info needed.

• what type of exhaust system
• is there a modified intake
• is there a fuel processor +/- how is it set up

My '06 with the fuel processor set to the wrong spec.s and full open exhaust I was getting +/- 26 mpg. Repaired the exhaust and mapped the fuel processor and I now get 35+ mpg with combined city/hwy and more horse power. Have a good Tech. that knows Nomads give it a "look see" and you might be surprised.

[Nimbo]

Hmm, doesn't look like there are any modifications to the fuel system. Exhaust says "Kawasaki" on it so I'm assuming it's stock.

I've run a couple of tanks with sea foam but no difference.

Before making any modifications I would like to try to improve the mileage with stock gear. I just can't believe it came out of the factory guzzling like it does.

I'll give cleaning the throttle body a shot (Lord only knows when I'm going to be able to put any real miles on it with the weather we're having here in the Northwest).

I'll also do some searching around the forum for info on fuel processors. I'll consider it when I've tried all options with stock gear.

Nimbo

[Ramakill]

Before buying my '08 Nomad I was looking at several different bikes to upgrade to from my 900 Custom. I was aware of the relatively low fuel consumption, but considering it's weight, engine size, large screen etc., it's not too bad. I expected a lot less per tank than the 900, but was pleasantly surprised with the 44 - 46 mpg, I have got from the last two tankfuls.

The only other bikes I found close to the comfort and standard features of the Nomad was either the HD Heritage Softail or Road King, but could not justify the extra $10,000 - $15,000 I would have had to put down for a HD badge on the tank.

Sure the HD's might be better on fuel than a 'Nad but I figure all that extra cash in my pocket would buy a lot of fuel over the years ahead, plus any "extras" for it.

Ride safe!!

[seacliff]

A stock Nomad will average 30-35 in town. On open roads at 55 from 40 -48. On open roads above 65 back to 30-35.

My Nomad is stock and as I said 30-35 is all she will give in town.

[davidjmurphy]

My 2011 nomad is giving me between 51-52 MPH,2 up riding both secondary and highway. I always try to ride the speed limit. I don't pay much attention to the gas light. I try to run it as low as possible so I can get a handle on range. I had 192 miles on a tank and still had some gas left. My calculations were based on my bikes computer. However a Canadian gallon is stightly larger than a Us gallon.US ga.3.87-CND gal.4.54 Maybe that has something to do with it. My 1500 Vulcan didn't get that kind of mileage.

[ringadingh]

I had a best of 202 miles on my 1500, the light comes on when you still have a gallon left. The tanks only hold so much regardless of Canadian or US gallons, and you should be able to get over 160 miles without a problem.
High winds,speed, ans cold weather riding take a big toll on fuel mileage as well as a dirty throttle body.

[brote]

I have a 2008 Nomad and I have averaged 39 mpg over the total miles. The best MPG has been 42.3 and the worst MPG has been 33. I am completely stock from the Dog Bowls down to the complete baffle system. Look over the TB and get it clean as a whistle, as Ring said it can really hurt your mileage. Check for the Fuel Processor also and don't forget to let us know what you find.

[dank]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is spark plugs. My 1600 was one of the good ones on mpg: 40-42 consistently on back roads, 38-40 on the freeway at 70, about 36 mpg at 75+. The second year I noticed the mileage dropping off. Changed to new plugs (It was around 35,000 miles) and mpgs jumped back up 3-4 mpg. Only other things that had that significant an impact on my mileage were winter gas, which knocked 3-4 mpg off (So both together wold be 6-8mpg) and headwinds, which give me an all time low of 26 mpg one day in South Dakota.

So I suggest replacing your plugs. Not expensive, your bike's mileage is high enough to warrant it, and it may really help. Won't gain you 10 mpg, but it may be one piece of the problem.

[blowndodge]

I would pull the plugs first to see if the bike is running rich. If the plugs look very dark brown your running rich and killing the mileage. This could be a mal-functioning ECU. Any FI lights on in the speedometer dial??

Do you have an aftermarket fuel processor overiding the ECU?

Possible gas leak somewhere? Someone might have pulled the canister and not plugged the lines?

[davidjmurphy]

Talking about the price of gas,how about furnace oil. Today I paid 1.0390 a litre .Can't forget the tax . Man I'm depressed now! Thank God its been a mild winter

[Nimbo]

@Brote - I don't know what a fuel processor looks like. I should be able to see it fairly easily right? Any photos of one installed?

[mobandy78]

Nimbo, check under the seat or behind the side cover on the left side (as your sitting on the bike). It will be a small black or silver box with wires coming out of it. It may say TFI, Cobra, or PowerCommander on it somewhere. Possibly have some LED lights on the face.

[johnb]

I usually get around 175 miles before the fuel light comes on. Averaging around 30-35mpg with a lot of city stop & go riding (mostly stop & slow). Average around 38 or so on the highway. Probably could do better if I wasn't so heavy on the throttle and kept my speed down around the limit on highways.

[Caddyman]

I haven't really gotten to check the mpg of my 2003 1500 Nomad since bringing it home to Ireland but I can definitely say I was getting about 45-48 mpg when in Canada and the States in Aug/Sept and my riding buddy was getting about 40-42 mpg on his 2009 HD Softail Deluxe, all highway riding. I know this as we checked it almost every time we filled up