de tour 2006 ** day four**

[Jeff Saline]

Listers, OK Heads, I was cleaning up the stuff from my trip and took a look at the fuel and mileage log. Here is a bit of data that some of you may find interesting. All mileage and fuel numbers are from the odometer on the bike or the fuel pump. Mileage Odometer End 19,079 Odometer Start 15,541 Total 3,538 Fuel used 66.7 gals (lowest octane rating available) Average fuel economy 53.0 mpg Gearing related fuel economy Sprockets frt/rear 14/46 2,458 miles 46.2 gals of fuel 53.2 mpg average 16/46 1,080 miles 20.5 gals of fuel 52.7 mpg average Best, Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT

[Jeff Saline]

TOP POSTED REPLY Brian, Thanks for asking. I thought about making a comment about the different conditions and then thought it might confuse the issue. Since you asked for clarification I'll try. First let me tell you two years ago when getting ready for the GDR Steve and Mike Frederick were up here for a week of wrenching and riding. I had the 14/46 combo, Mike was using a 14/43 combo and Steve was running the stock 15/43. That just about equals a change of 14%, 7% and stock or 0%. We rode for three days together and that means we were pretty close to the same speeds and conditions. When we filled up the differences in amount of fuel received was just about a perfect match for the percentage of gearing change between the bikes. Now on this trip I used the 14/46 combo until the last two days which were going to be paved only in the mountains of NM, CO, WY and the Black Hills. I'd suggest most of our riding together on this trip using the lower gearing was done at speeds averaging 40 mph or so. Now one section we got into took maybe 4 or 4 1/2 hours to do about 40 miles. I'll get into that in another 8 days or so. And some of the gravel roads were good enough we could ride at 50 mph or faster. On the paved sections I don't think we ever exceeded 65 mph unless it was a long downhill section. We didn't do any riding where my engine was over 5,000 rpm for steady extended intervals. There were lots of sections where we never saw 4th or 5th gear. When I changed to the 16/46 combo for my ride home I was on paved two lane roads for almost the entire ride. I did maybe 15 miles on I-25 in WY just because that was the smart thing to do. Lots of the riding was at speeds of 50-65mph indicated. That means 45-60 mph actual. The bike ran well at elevations over 10,000 feet and I didn't take it easy just cause I was at elevation. I'd guess most of the riding on the way home was in 4th or 5th gear. I found after riding with the lower gearing for about two weeks I had absolutely no interest in going faster than 65 indicated. Even on the interstate. There was a heck of a head wind in Colorado on the way home and I probably did 2-3 hours of 45 mph max as I was getting blown around quite a bit. But not much of that was a head or tail wind. So, your guess about mpg having to do more with speed than gearing may well be correct. But the Steve, Mike, Jeff test done two years ago may be understood to indicate under identical conditions the gearing will make a difference in fuel economy. Best, Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT On Thu, 22 Jun 2006 14:02:32 -0700 (PDT) Brian Ray writes:

> Jeff - > > This is *very* interesting. How similar was the > riding under the different gearing? I assume that the > 14/46 combo was mostly used at slower speeds, and the > 16/46 combo was used for the highway portions at > highter speeds, but would love more detail on that. > > If so, it suggests that the difference in mpg has more > to do with speed than gearing, but that's speculation. > > Regards, > > Brian > > --- Jeff Saline wrote: > > > > > Gearing related fuel economy > > Sprockets > > frt/rear > > 14/46 2,458 miles 46.2 gals of fuel 53.2 mpg > > average > > > > 16/46 1,080 miles 20.5 gals of fuel 52.7 mpg > > average > > >

[Brian Ray]

Jeff - This is *very* interesting. How similar was the riding under the different gearing? I assume that the 14/46 combo was mostly used at slower speeds, and the 16/46 combo was used for the highway portions at highter speeds, but would love more detail on that. If so, it suggests that the difference in mpg has more to do with speed than gearing, but that's speculation. Regards, Brian --- Jeff Saline wrote:

> Gearing related fuel economy > Sprockets > frt/rear > 14/46 2,458 miles 46.2 gals of fuel 53.2 mpg > average > > 16/46 1,080 miles 20.5 gals of fuel 52.7 mpg > average

[E.L. Green]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Brian Ray wrote:

> If so, it suggests that the difference in mpg has more > to do with speed than gearing, but that's speculation.

I am running 14/43 right now after over a year of running 15/43. Absolutely no (zero) difference in mpg thus far -- with either sprocket, I get about 43-45mpg depending on speed etc. Of course, I'm either in stop-and-go traffic in the city, or at 80mph on the freeway. There is no inbetween here where I live. 15mph, or 80mph. That's my choices :}. _E

[Jeff Saline]

Listers, I was cleaning up the stuff from my trip and took a look at the fuel and mileage log. Here is a bit of data that some of you may find interesting. All mileage and fuel numbers are from the odometer on the bike or the fuel pump. Mileage Odometer End 19,079 Odometer Start 15,541 Total 3,538 Fuel used 66.7 gals (lowest octane rating available) Average fuel economy 53.0 mpg Gearing related fuel economy Sprockets frt/rear 14/46 2,458 miles 46.2 gals of fuel 53.2 mpg average 16/46 1,080 miles 20.5 gals of fuel 52.7 mpg average Best, Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT

[Jeff Saline]

----- Forwarded Message ----- Listers, Muddy Gap to Wamsutter Travel time: 2 hrs 24 mins Distance: 108 miles Minus the time and distance from Independence Rock to Muddy Gap, 20 miles @ 60 mph Another beautiful Wyoming morning greets us as we rise with the sun. The stream is tinkling along it's path, birds are making bird noises and Steve's brushing his teeth at the garden hose. We pack and head out of the backyard and north for a mile to meet Judy, the store day shift person, and have some breakfast. Denise has told us she's in by 5:30 every morning even though the store doesn't really open until 6 am. As we walk in I say hi like I've known about her all my life and mention Denise said she was going to buy us breakfast. She laughs and I know right then and there I'm buying my own breakfast. We thank her for letting us camp at the cabin and ask what she suggests for breakfast. I go with the biscuit with sausage and egg and grab a bottle of orange juice. Steve goes for coffee and selects something or other, maybe he has a burrito. Judy cooks my breakfast and says she hasn't tried my selection before so I tell her I'll give her the run down on it when I'm done. It's pretty good and I let her know she's a good cook. The biscuit has a nice shape and is moist and full. The sausage is has a bit of tang to it and the texture is great. The eggs are cooked to perfection and hold the entire assembly together. All the parts are put together nicely for a wonderful appearance and make this selection a treat to behold. She laughs and Steve shakes his head in mock grief. We have a good talk about the area and how long she's been here. Finally we get to her childhood and learn she spent many summers on her grandparents sheep ranch. She answers my question about can sheep swim? She doesn't think so if they haven't been sheared. The wool gets wet and drowns them. I make a note to never throw a drowning person a sheep. We pay for breakfast, get a picture with Judy and say goodbye. Off we head towards Jeffrey City. We're moving west on a nice paved road and enjoying the morning and the countryside. Finally, in maybe 25 miles, we get to Jeffrey City and pull into the abandoned fuel station we've seen pictures of on the Internet. This was going to be a fuel stop for us until we learned it was a ghost town. It's slowly coming back but a working fuel pump was only installed across the street in the last six months or so. We head south towards the oil fields and the Great Divide Basin. Two years ago we traveled through the basin while on the Great Divide Ride. But we were in a rush that time as a huge storm was following us and some of the roads we were on were labeled as unpassable when wet. That run took about 3 hours to do 147 miles. We're a bit more relaxed this time and the sky is clear. After a bit Steve turns around at a fork and goes back about 1/4 mile to get a picture with some mining equipment staged on a side road. We park the bikes next to one of the "small" dump trucks and each take a picture or two. I suppose this truck would fit in the dump bed of some of the larger mining trucks we've seen. And this truck may be large enough to easily carry a full size extended cab pick up truck. Or maybe two side by side. Off we head and the road is good and fast. We can easily maintain a speed of 40-55 mph. This takes us all the way through the basin and we end up in Wamsutter which is west of Rawlins and on I-80. We get fuel at Love's and talk with a guy on a Concurs who's returning from a trip. We have a nice chat and then he heads off to finish his trip. We go into Subway and order lunch to go and get a drink and relax in the air conditioning. Steve calls his wife and then I use his phone to call my sister and let her know I'm still alive. My pink lemonade tastes great. Wamsutter Wyoming to Cedar Springs Campground at Flaming Gorge Travel time: 6 hrs 12 mins Distance: 197 miles I have a bill to pay and head off for the post office to mail the well traveled envelope. The post office is where I'm told it is and I return to the nearest intersection and Steve is coming up the road. We cross the railroad tracks on a nice high bridge and the road turns to dirt and gravel. This is another oil field road and it's well maintained but gets lots of heavy truck traffic. It gets pretty rough in sections and we pass probably 25 trucks while heading south. After we turn west the truck traffic lightens and the road seems to get a bit better. Steve is leading and the countryside is similar to what we've seen for the last couple legs of the trip. The road forks and Steve takes the right fork. I stop to check the sign and also check my GPS. It sure looks right but about a mile down the road our next turn to the left doesn't show up. Well, it's really there and once again we can see it was used as recently as 20 years ago. We head back to the fork and take the road more frequently traveled. This road is kind of going in the correct direction and soon forks again. Steve stops in the middle of the fork, shuts his bike off and declares it is lunchtime. I ask him about shade as it's only about 95 degrees and I haven't seen any shade next to the road since last night in the dark. He says this is where we're stopping. So we do. I think he may be delusionary or have heat stroke or something but keep those thoughts to myself. While we're eating a ranch truck comes down the road and we find it unusual when it doesn't slow to see if we're ok. In fact the guy barely returns our waves. He goes the way we aren't going. For some reason I find that comforting. I make a comment to Steve about not knowing where were going but we sure are making good time. He indulges me and lunch is over and we get rolling again. The road continues for a few miles and then turns into a huge turn around that is still pretty rough. Rough like the bulldozer just left rough. I ride around it just to make sure the road doesn't continue on the other side where we can't see it. It doesn't. We head back a few hundred yards and see a two track going kind of in the correct direction. It's on the GPS so we decide to take it. We ride through a wash or two and some sand and come to Dug Springs Stage Station. This is a fine opportunity to take a picture or two and learn a bit about what happened here from 1862-1869. We head off with Steve leading and soon see we are in some tougher riding conditions. I see a concrete marker for the Overland Stage Route. It's pretty cool using the same path they did almost 150 years ago. If only the route could tell me some stories... Someone has been through this in the last month or so on an ATV and there is also lots of wire on the trail. Not like a downed fence but just old wire laying around. I see a deer standing on a rock outcropping and while I'm thinking it would make a nice picture it disappears. This is staying tougher than we'd like when all of the sudden we see a pretty good oil field road ahead. We join it and resume our westward journey. We are now back on our route and can maintain at least 30 mph on this road and soon come on another Overland Stage Route stop. It's Fort LeClede. Another stop with some walking around and picture taking gives us just a bit more idea of what the buildings were like back when the west was wild. Off we go again with Steve leading. His GPS is working well on this route and we seem to be making some pretty good time. We come to another two track and I agree with Steve that this is our route. It looks like it's going into some tough country but we get going on it and enjoy the adventure. Steve soon stops and points out an antelope kid that is laying in the grass. The adult speed goats have taken off running and the kid is laying motionless with its head low to the ground. I take my camera and see how close I can get for a picture. Not very close is the answer and I have a nice picture of its rear end to prove it. The kid runs off about 60 yards and lays down just as we leave. This is getting to be high country now at over 8,100 feet and has some nice views. This is our first really high country of the trip. We soon see some dozer tracks in the two track and finally come to where some earth work has been done. As we descend it gets rougher and finally we get to a steep sand descent. We stop to scout it out as this could be one of those if we go down we can't get back up events. The slope is steep and probably 100 yards long. There are two tracks to choose from and we decide the left track about 50 yards from the right track is the one to take. Steve allows me to go first and then I'll take a picture or two of him coming down from the bottom. One thing I've learned about taking pictures of bikes on hills is the only way to show the angle is to get a side shot. I'm not gonna get that shot this time as it's too much walking in loose sands and hot temperatures. I fire up my bike and say see ya at the bottom. The descent goes ok with a bit of the loose sand wobbles and squirming. I get out of the loose sand and stop about 250 yards from the top and turn so I can try to get a picture of Steve. He comes down and it looks easy. I get five pictures. The road soon turns a bit better and the views of where we've just been really move me. I keep looking back and stop a few times to take pictures. And I realize I can't do the view justice with a camera, but also can't stop from trying. Steve is a bit ahead of me by now and I take my time as I enjoy the area so much. I see a few wild horses off to my right and stop to take a picture of them. Soon I've caught up with Steve where he's waiting for me. Eventually we come to a paved road and I'm surprised when the number is 191. That's the same as the Devil's Highway in AZ. It's a nice road and we follow it for a while and then turn west towards Flaming Gorge on a wonderful paved road that has a nice descent and lots of fun twisties. We follow the pavement instead of the dirt route as it's soooo much fun and as we get to Flaming Gorge the road again turns to dirt. I look for where we'd come out if we had tried the dirt route we planned and never see the road join. Maybe it's not there. I stop and suggest we find a place to camp as I'm pretty tired. We've had a very full afternoon of wonderful riding. Steve thinks the camping will be much better at the south end of the gorge so we continue. The road is in fine shape and full of twists and turns. The scenery is excellent and a change from some of what we've been seeing today. After a few miles Steve stops for a break and says he saw a beaver dam in the creek in the arroyo. We walk out about 75 yards and a couple of deer are jumping away from us on the other side of a beaver pond. Then we see the BEAVER. It's huge. I'm not talking as big as a St. Bernard but it's got to be as large as a big Labrador Retriever. And it's working on the dam too. Busy as a beaver is a good expression. It's probably close to 100 yards away and it's just work, work, work. Steve waits for a chance to get a picture when it's near the dam and you can maybe tell it's a beaver. He gets a picture and we return to the bikes. The road is pretty nice and we ride and ride and ride. It seems like it will never end. We join 191 again and ride a few miles and come to a filling station. We both get fuel and Steve talks with some folks and they suggest a nice campground on the other side of the dam. We get to the Flaming Gorge Dam and ride across. Up the road maybe 1 1/2 miles we see the sign for Cedar Springs Campground. In we go and ride around. I was hoping for something closer to the water so I could maybe take a swim. We ride down to the next campground closer to the water but it's not really close enough to be useful and doesn't have showers. And since we haven't had a shower in three days the showers count for quite a bit. We go up hill to Cedar Springs and pick a site. It's near the bathrooms, has room enough for two tents and looks like we'll be comfortable there. We walk to the camp host and pay $17 for the site for the night and have a nice talk with the couple. They have a son in Afghanistan and talk about how neat it is to get to talk with him once a month for a few minutes. The conversation goes something like: M&D: Where are you? Son: I can't tell you. M&D: What are you doing? Son: I can't tell you. M&D: Are you ok? Son: Yes. I thank them for raising a son who's willing to serve in the armed forces and ask them to thank him for me when he's back next month. They talk about being camp hosts and the opportunities it gives them to live in this nice area for a few months. They're having fun and getting to explore a bit. The man has taken up wood carving as a hobby and has displayed a few items he's carved. I suppose by the end of the summer he'll be pretty good. We say good night and Steve and I get our tents set up and then sit down to dinner. I pull the two extra beers from last night out of my saddlebag and even though they're not cold they taste pretty good. I think we also split some Hickory Farms sausage. Steve heads to the showers and is looking forward to a shave. I decide to take care of the water situation as my Camelback and water bottles are pretty low. Then as it gets dark I hit the shower too. The bathrooms have a funky light situation that requires movement to stay lit. I end up shaving with my right elbow in the air and have to wave it up and down about every 5 seconds to keep the light on. When I get to the shower it's similar but now I have to push a button to keep the water coming. I count to 20 and the water goes off. So I start counting and every time I get to 18 I push the button. I get continuos hot water and don't worry about the light. I have a good shower and feel better with a fresh shower and shave as I return to my tent. Steve is already in his tent and I lay down and fall asleep. End of Day Four. Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT . . ____________________________________________________________ 53 Year Old Mom Looks 33 The Stunning Results of Her Wrinkle Trick Has Botox Doctors Worried http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4f18310c857de11531ast04vuc [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Jeff Saline]

Listers, Thought you might find this fuel economy info of interest. Best, Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650 --------- Forwarded message ---------- Listers, OK Heads, I was cleaning up the stuff from my trip and took a look at the fuel and mileage log. Here is a bit of data that some of you may find interesting. All mileage and fuel numbers are from the odometer on the bike or the fuel pump. Mileage Odometer End 19,079 Odometer Start 15,541 Total 3,538 Fuel used 66.7 gals (lowest octane rating available) Average fuel economy 53.0 mpg Gearing related fuel economy Sprockets frt/rear 14/46 2,458 miles 46.2 gals of fuel 53.2 mpg average 16/46 1,080 miles 20.5 gals of fuel 52.7 mpg average Best, Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT . . ____________________________________________________________ 53 Year Old Mom Looks 33 The Stunning Results of Her Wrinkle Trick Has Botox Doctors Worried http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4f18310c85c071146d4st05vuc

[Jeff Khoury]

What would you say was your average speed over that distance?

----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeff Saline" To: "DSN klr650" DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2012 8:43:37 PM Subject: [DSN_KLR650] De Tour 2006 **Fuel Economy** Listers, Thought you might find this fuel economy info of interest. Best, Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650 --------- Forwarded message ---------- Listers, OK Heads, I was cleaning up the stuff from my trip and took a look at the fuel and mileage log. Here is a bit of data that some of you may find interesting. All mileage and fuel numbers are from the odometer on the bike or the fuel pump. Mileage Odometer End 19,079 Odometer Start 15,541 Total 3,538 Fuel used 66.7 gals (lowest octane rating available) Average fuel economy 53.0 mpg Gearing related fuel economy Sprockets frt/rear 14/46 2,458 miles 46.2 gals of fuel 53.2 mpg average 16/46 1,080 miles 20.5 gals of fuel 52.7 mpg average Best, Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT . . __________________________________________________________ 53 Year Old Mom Looks 33 The Stunning Results of Her Wrinkle Trick Has Botox Doctors Worried http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4f18310c85c071146d4st05vuc

[Patrick Zegers]

Speed is surely a factor. If I ride my DR200 to work at 60-70 miles an hour I get 50-52MPG. I rode the bike in the sand around Johannesburg, CA for a couple of days and got just under 64MPG. I didn't get above third gear for most of the ride. ________________________________ From: Jeff Khoury To: Jeff Saline Cc: DSN klr650 DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Thu, January 19, 2012 8:50:40 AM Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] De Tour 2006 **Fuel Economy** What would you say was your average speed over that distance?

----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeff Saline" To: "DSN klr650" DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2012 8:43:37 PM Subject: [DSN_KLR650] De Tour 2006 **Fuel Economy** Listers, Thought you might find this fuel economy info of interest. Best, Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650 --------- Forwarded message ---------- Listers, OK Heads, I was cleaning up the stuff from my trip and took a look at the fuel and mileage log. Here is a bit of data that some of you may find interesting. All mileage and fuel numbers are from the odometer on the bike or the fuel pump. Mileage Odometer End 19,079 Odometer Start 15,541 Total 3,538 Fuel used 66.7 gals (lowest octane rating available) Average fuel economy 53.0 mpg Gearing related fuel economy Sprockets frt/rear 14/46 2,458 miles 46.2 gals of fuel 53.2 mpg average 16/46 1,080 miles 20.5 gals of fuel 52.7 mpg average Best, Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT . . __________________________________________________________ 53 Year Old Mom Looks 33 The Stunning Results of Her Wrinkle Trick Has Botox Doctors Worried http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4f18310c85c071146d4st05vuc [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]