KR 150 fuel/oil economy

[ldnz]

Hey,
I've been getting an average of 160km's per tank (9litre) and a best ever nana town driver result of 210km's, and im currently burning 2 stroke at the rate of a litre per 1000km, maybe slightly less. Is this average for a KR, or a 2 stroke in general? What are others getting? Its a 2003 model, i've put 23000 of its 24000kms on it in the past year and it still seems to be running pretty much as well as ever. It doesn't smoke except when ice cold, as expected. I used to burn about half as much oil.

How is the oil feed adjusted? What is the reference for it? Is there a service manual for these bikes available?

Cheers,
Ben

[Str8 Jacket]

I get around 140-160 k's per tank, though I think i'd get another 200+ k's out of my oil. This may be cause I mainly commute on mine.... When I was out riding every weekend and during the week and thrashing the bike a bit more it did burn through the oil alot faster.

[sefer]

Are you guys using your gauge? Sounds like it cause I get more like 220 to a tank, usually before hitting the reserve (though not always), I think 260 with 99% of my reserve was the best number so far.

Oil at about 1000k to the litre sounds about right thou, maybe slinghtly less.

On the topic of the Krr and gas I suggest all krr owners check out their fuel gauge senders next time you do a service, as they seem to have a tendancy to leak. Mine has been, and while there is a catcher/overflow hose provided for the issue (obviously a know problem from the factory) mine had obviously leaked enough to bypass this onto the top of my air cleaner box. Nothing major, we're talking drops here, not torrents, but any leak is a pain in my book

[ldnz]

I consider the gauge to be a waste of weight. I always run onto reserve. I was talking to RG100 today about it and he said he was consistantly getting 220+ as well, and about half as much oil. I'll pop the tank off tomorrow and have a look for leaks.

Im not too worried about the oil consumption, but if there is anyway I could improve the fuel economy that would be a major plus. Its not just about driving quieter, as with 150cc's we don't have much room for that.

Does everybodies temp gauge consistently read zero? I know that some of the KR's (mine included I think) didn't have thermostats, and if the engine was always running cold surely that would hinder efficiency? Im thinking of taping half of the radiater over and seeing if I can run a tank or two through with the temp reading half way, and see if that makes any difference.

[Jamezo]

that's bugger all oil consumption. KRs must be set up differently, I use at least twice that.

I also get the temp gauge hardly ever poking it's head above the white line during commuting etc. Don't worry about what it's reading, it doesn't have any kind of active cooling, and it won't be cold enough to hinder efficiency.

To get it to see higher up on the gauge, ring it out through some low speed twisties. You'll see some higher readings soon enough. If you don't, it might be bung....

[ldnz]

Na I can't get it to move at all. The only time its ever come up was when I got completely boxed in in auckland once. Sat idling for about 10 mins and it came up half way.

The radiator is pretty bloody large on the KR's, it catches lots of air at any speed.

[Sketchy_Racer]

I've got 1/3 of my radiator blanked off.

It keeps fouling the plugs because it is running too cold otherwise.

Oh and the temp guage still don't move a bit!

[ldnz]

Ahh! go figure. I just blanked off about that on mine and fed it more herbs than the typical italian meal. It seemed to run quite differently - It idled higher, had a lot less vibration in the higher revs, and the 6500/7000 rpm transition that used to be quite hesitant in low revs was pretty much gone.

The temp gauge visibly moved, coming up to the edge of the white when at max rpm and dropping only a mm or two when it wasn't revving. It was good to see that it does actually work.

[sefer]

I consider the gauge to be a waste of weight. I always run onto reserve.

Yeah if I was to rely on my gauge I'd be filling up every 100k or so...

Does everybodies temp gauge consistently read zero? I know that some of the KR's (mine included I think) didn't have thermostats, and if the engine was always running cold surely that would hinder efficiency? Im thinking of taping half of the radiater over and seeing if I can run a tank or two through with the temp reading half way, and see if that makes any difference.

I've only seen my gauge move more than the very bottom of the scale once, and that was going pretty hard out in some twisties.

I've tried blocking off over half my radiator for around town use and it made very little diference. Let me know how you get on with blocking yours

[Str8 Jacket]

I had some duc tape over one side of my radiator for awhile over summer and the temp gauge worked ok I suppose.... Funny thing is it now seems to work without the ductape on it as well. In the mornings when I warm up the bike it shoots up a little and by the time im at work its moved up a little bit more. When I end up stuck in traffic the temp guage can shoot right up almost to the top and go right back down once I start moving. Dont know if what its reading is particuarly accurate though?

[ldnz]

Na im more worried about how it moves rather than what its pointing at. I've noticed it shoots down really quickly, and to my thinking thats a sign that the cooling system is way too efficient. Certainly today things felt a lot different, but thats pretty subjective and who knows I could have imagined it. I'll let you know once i've run a few tanks through it.

[Rosie]

I hit reserve after about 180k's. I've run out of reserve at 220. 1 litre of oil every 1000k's sounds about right, but I don't take much notice of how much it's using, I just top it up every now and then.

The fuel gauge is pretty crappy, mine reads empty after I've only used 4l of fuel, so I've given up on it and only go off the tripmeter.

I've had a reading off the temperature gauge once - it was a nice hot day in March, and I was riding along about a kilometer of gravel in first, slipping the clutch a lot and generally being nervous, and the gauge only just got out of the blue zone.

[Sketchy_Racer]

`lol,


It sounds like i got the good one.

Heres a trick,

the fuel guage only is accurate when it is on the side stand.

but i also use the Kms to rely on too.

[Rosie]

the fuel guage only is accurate when it is on the side stand.

When the bike is on the side stand, it's just as easy to open the cap and peer inside to see how much fuel it has. I'm of a nervous disposition, so I fill it up fairly frequently anyway.

I think my bike was assembled on a Friday afternoon, it seems to have no end of funny little problems. At least I'm learning about bike maintenance while I'm learning to ride.

[Str8 Jacket]

I think my bike was assembled on a Friday afternoon, it seems to have no end of funny little problems.

No no, its a 2 stroke. Those "problems" are really your bikes personality, cause dont you know all 2 strokes have personalities... When they're in a good mood there fine, but when there shitty they wont start! Hmmm, just like us females really!