DT125 fuel consumption

[treble]

Calling all guys with DTs and 2 stokes in general! I´m slightly worried about my fuel consumption... currently I have to fill up every 110ish kilometres, which is only about 60 or 70 miles. Is this normal or slightly rediculous?

I'm ragging it, but not abusing it. I don't tear around at 70mph, always let it warm up, don't leave the choke in, and it's not leaking out. So what can I do to improve my fuel economy? thanks!

[cagiva gezzer]

Work out the MPG first.

So you're getting 70 miles from brim to reserve? How much fuel you putting in to fill it up again?

My cagiva 125 gets 180-220KM / 10L.

-> 50 to 62MPG.

Anything less than 45MPG and i'd be worried.
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"because one stroke isnt enough and four strokes waste two"

[treble]

Damn your crazy english counting systems, lol. I have no idea how many litres are in a gallon, so I've done it in european and google helped me out with the conversion.

I am currently doing about 7 litres per 100 km/60 miles.
(100 km) / (7 l) = 33.6020835 miles per gallon I hope that conversion was wrong.

[cagiva gezzer]

Or ~40MPG if you work it out right.

Might be a bit low.
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"because one stroke isnt enough and four strokes waste two"

[treble]

Heh, thanks. I've heard DT owners on here talking about they do 100 miles on one tank, etc, so it it probably is quite low. Should I get a mechanic to check it out or is there anything I can do?

[cagiva gezzer]

Double check your figures. keep a few reciepts from filling up. Do a whole tank of trying to make it last i.e. not using the power band.

Should hit 60MPG when taking it easy.

First step of looking into the mechanical side would be to check teh spark plug against THIS and see if the jetting is too rich.

Then pull the air filter out and make sure it's clean. If someone has put in a larger carb jet to "make it faster" then that will use more fuel. Same with the power valve, sometimes DT's are jammed open to make them "faster".
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"because one stroke isnt enough and four strokes waste two"

[treble]

Now that you mention the carb jet thing, when I bought it the dude said that when the exhaust derestriction was removed, they enlarged the jet for some reason which was beyond my grasp. I'll look into it.

I'll also try to make this tank last and see what comes of it. thanks.

[element]

I always get around 110ish miles from a tank with reserve left. Tank is 10.5L total capacity? and reserve is about 2.5L. So i get 110 miles out of 8L which is roughly 2 gallons. so 55mpg I do tend to keep my DT in the powerband though and I ride swiftly
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04' DT125RE (run-a-bout) // 89' DT125R (rebuilt + supermoto conversion)
SPARES FOR SALE. 2RK TZR // 82 DR125 // DT125R/E .... PM ME...

[treble]

OK, I filled up the other day. Results: I filled up at 110 km without reserve, consuming a total of 7.5 litres.

40 MPG and this was taking it easy!

The plugs are fine, maybe SLIGHTLY more black than the brown it should be, but not much. The mechanic said I shouldn't touch the oil valve, because it was fine. The carbs and oil tubes have been recently cleaned. Have I just got a lemon of a bike?

Ah well, petrol prices just went down in spain. under a euro a litre now, so I can't complain, lol.

[----]

[lee125]

[element]

All I have done is the earth the wire for the powervalve. Exhaust is still restricted (expansion pipe definately, but cant remember if the tail can is.. not that it makes much difference).

update. done 140 miles the other day. went into the reserve obviously but still made it to the petrol station when I started to worry about getting stranded..

I have an 04 DT mind. A few things have changed since the older ones.. The older ones were faster and had less restrictions. Mine even has a cat. A mate of mine told me I was talking shit till I showed him.
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04' DT125RE (run-a-bout) // 89' DT125R (rebuilt + supermoto conversion)
SPARES FOR SALE. 2RK TZR // 82 DR125 // DT125R/E .... PM ME...

[treble]

hmm, I'm interested in your results lee, because you have an older one like me. My exhaust is derestricted, but not sure about the rest. I was unable to find the white tab inside the speedo, and have not touched the intake manifold yet.

I think I'm just gonna take it to a better mechanic than I have now... to check the jet thing, get a general check up, check the oil leaking from my gearbox (is this normal? not leaking much but it's oily) and get the handlebars tightened. still...

[Keir]

thats crazy. i get 50mpg from my fazer 600 if i had a "runaround" 125 id want more than that!
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Current : '08 Yamaha FZ1s
Previous: '99 Honda CBR 600FX, 03 ZX636 B1H, 99 Fazer 600 (red), 02 GSX-R 600 K2, 00 SV650s (red), 2008 ZX10R, 97 Bandit 1200N, 04 ZX6RR K1H, 04 GSX-R 1000, 98 Fazer 600 (gold), 05 Madness 110 Pit bike, 04 CR125R, 00 SV650s (black), 06 KTM 625 SMC, 99 SRAD 600 track bike, 03 SV650, 98 Bandit 1200N, Bandit 600SY, 03 GSX-R 600 K3, 01 GSX-R 600, 01 Fazer 600 (black), VFR 400 NC30 x3, 78 Honda Dream, 00 Speedfight 50

[treble]

yeah, I know. Another thing that's been on my mind: As I roll down the hill to my garage with the engine off, you can hear a faint metallic scraping sound, as if the brake callipers or something was gripping the wheel. I suppose I should get this checked out..?

[veeeffarr]

[treble]

In neutral, does it matter whether it's in or not? When in gear I can barely push it, lol.

[lee125]

treble that noise could just be your chain scraping the swingarm have you checked if its too slack also what years your dt as i didnt know about a white tab thing in the speedo mine stops revving at 9000rpm wont go any higher that might be what it is where bouts in the speedo is it cheers
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cbt passed 01/07/2006 bike:92 dt 125 and 96 honda cr 250
theory:PASSED! A2 test:PASSED 08/11/2006 restricted to 33bhp for 2 years

[treble]

https://www.dtr125.co.uk/

That's where I got the info about derestricting it. My bike is 2003 but you might have the older version, not sure now. Each restriction is different for the 4 kinds of dtr that have existed...

Mechanic time tomorrow. Hope they don't rip me off

[lilredmachine]

You don't really buy a dt125 as a run around. For a start it's a 2 stroke, so will consume nearly twice as much fuel as a similar size 4 stroke. However 40mpg does seem a tad low, it is currently on par with my dr350 (though my tank is about 9 litres including reserve ) at 45 ish.

You may just have a particularly thirsty DT, there are many different types and the differences between years are large. They are also run in differently depending on the owner. Sometimes you'll get a bike that tops 80 and then another which won't crack 65.
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Bikes: too many, too much for one man to maintain anyway.

[treble]

Bitch of a bike then!

Even so, the spanish DTs seem to guzzle more fuel than the english ones. Maybe you guys have highter quality petrol? lol. At least it isn't slow... I got the bike for pure fun, not fuel consumption, reliability, and all the other sensible reasons people with 4 stroke 125s can name... It was a choice from the heart, not the brain!

Besides, 2 stroke is a dying breed. I had to own one before they all turn into dinosaurs

[lilredmachine]