Fuel consumption??

[joe1267]

Can anyone give me an idea of what fuel consumption should be like on my JDX8? I took a 24 mile trail ride thru about 8" of fresh snow today. I ride in the hilly area of Berne NY and it was an amazing ride. Snow was coming down hard,trees were covered and I was the only one out. Got stuck a few times, but the old girl performed without a glitch. When I got home I was amazed to see that I had gone thru 3/4 tank of gas. Is this normal? Checked the plugs when I got home and I am still a bit rich for trail riding. Can't wait for the weekend as it is supposed to SNOW everyday this week!!

Joe

[jdsledsrgr8]

I have often wondered about this too as I have tried to fine tune my 440 cyclone. I have put a little over 200 miles on it since rebuilding it. I have been running 91 octane fuel with 100:1 Amsol Saber synthetic oil ratio. I get just shy of 40 miles on 8 gallons of gas. That is groomed trail riding. I still do not know if that is normal, good or bad. I would be curious what others say.

[400brian]

There are a lot of variables.

With my '74 X8, on the Vintage Challenge the last 2 years, each leg is around 40 miles. I have used 2 1/2 - 3 gallons on each leg.

Tod ( stymie ) has done far better than that with his 440 Cyclone.

Running on hard pack trail is going to take far less fuel than running out in soft deep snow.

[harleysportster]

One other thing to consider is the over-all speed of the snowmobile. The faster you go and are able to maintain the speed, the clutches shift up which will give you more miles-per-gallon.

[S_Kyle]

I have never got over 8 MPG on my 77 440 LF, never checked the others. Although a friends 74 400 with the Bendix carb gets great fuel mileage, and a 300 with a mikuni burns a little more than twice the 400.

[joe1267]

Thanks for the input guys. Good to see I am not the only one who goes thru TONS of gas.

Harley Sportster, I understand that the higher speed will give me better MPG, BUT a ton of the trails I ride are tight with a great deal of whoopty doo's in them which makes high speed travel very challenging on this old sled. PS, what year Sporty do you ride? I ride a '77 Ironhead...Joe

Brian, I understand that the deep stuff will eat up more snow for sure, but I never seem to get more than 5mph or so with either of my sleds....

[400brian]

If your JDX8 has the original carb, you might benefit from switching to a WRA-31 Walbro.

[harleysportster]

Joe,
I ride a '86 Sportster, the first year of the Evolution engine. It has wire wheels and drag pipes.

[joe1267]

Brian, you mentioned that carb to me in another thread and I have been looking for one, but have not been lucky enough to find one yet. I am hoping to eventually find one so I can get rid of that rich midrange that I can't tune out.


Harley Sportster, 86 is a cool year since it is the first evo. That year is still a four speed right? Funny that this is the first year where I am not anxious for riding season. Having way too much fun on the sleds.