Exhaust Carbon Bad?

[JasonH_]

Hi guys had the sv650s (sheila) for a week now. i dont usually thrash her but when i first put a tenner in her i only got 59 miles before the light came on. ive I've cleaned her but I've noticed the outlet on the exhaust is covered with black stuff and smells like unburnt petrol on startup and a little when i turn the engine off after a run if you get me? i dont know if this is bad or..? but i think my fuel consumption is pretty bad too.

[joshwalker094]

Tbh your fuel consumption seems fine, when I put £20( full tank) I only get about 100 miles till reserve lights flashing.

[JasonH_]

Tbh your fuel consumption seems fine, when I put £20( full tank) I only get about 100 miles till reserve lights flashing.

ive been reading around and everyone seems to have a better mpg than us, do you ride aggresive?

[Scythe92]

Tbh your fuel consumption seems fine, when I put £20( full tank) I only get about 100 miles till reserve lights flashing.

Do you ride around in 2nd gear everywhere?

Taking steady at a moderate pace will see me ~160 miles before my reserve light.

[JasonH_]

Do you ride around in 2nd gear everywhere?

Taking steady at a moderate pace will see me ~160 miles before my reserve light.

i change gears usually at 5-6k revs and dont reli throttle it a lot unless im in a rush :/

[SoulKiss]

I did Southampton to London via Portsmouth and Brighton, then 2 days commuting - 170 miles on 14 litres of petrol.

So 55mpg

You're riding it wrong.

[Bordtea]

Could be running rich I suppose but I average just under 55mpg even with spirited riding (and my bike does run slightly rich)

Talking of which you can get an indication from the condition of the spark plugs. Remove them and put a photo up here, and you might aswell replace them while you're on if they haven't been done in a while.

[joshwalker094]

I do ride aggressive yes :) I've got a heavy right arm
Tbh the bike seems to be running fine, plugs changed maybe 1/2k miles ago, isn't running rich as far as I know
But I ride her to have fun, not to be all economic with fuel and boring

[appollo1]

when i first put a tenner in her i only got 59 miles before the light came on.

how many litres did you get for your tenner?

obviously depending on where and how much you paid per litre is going to differ in the amount of fuel a tenner worth is put into the tank.

if you can fill the tank up and see how many miles you get before the light comes on.

[JasonH_]

ive changed the plugs, air filter oil filter and oil in the bike, ive also filled her up to the brim at a cost of £14.73 from tesco which is 11.47litres, will let you guys know how i get on :D thanks for the advice an knowledge shared

[quik_d]

I consistently get about 135 miles to 12.7 - 13litres, so roughly £16, never dared go over 140 as I thought they only stored 13 litres?

Don't ride super aggressively but dont dawdle, have aftermarket can and most riding is commuting in traffic.

So something like 49-50mpg

[JasonH_]

okay so the light came on today and has stayed constant. out of 11.47litres of petrol i got 90 miles on the trip meter, is that bad? any idea on what i can do to improve it? i have changed the air filter oil filter and spark plugs, i can also smell burnt petrol quite strongly ( i think ) from the exhaust and it did backfire a few times today and i have a standard can on and im not sure what to do bout this. my local dealers said it would cost me £50 just for them to look at it and if there is any work that needs doing it could be more so im trying to assess my options before that... thanks

[MJC-DEV]

36mpg! Very bad! It loos like you have a Pointy, fuel injected bike. You may well need expert opinion rather than www, as don't know what type of failure would cause excess fuel use without a FI fault code. (apart from leaking pipe/tank, blockage in intake or race track use)

[quik_d]

That's not normal for an sv650 I don't think.

I don't know if this is possible on an sv, but if it is it might be worth doing some research / asking a dealer if the stock ecu map could be reloaded. Sounds like it might be running very rich.

[JasonH_]

yeah i dont think i wana start messing with it myself so i guess ill have to book her in :(

[Bibio]

strong smell of petrol can sometimes be the engine/PAIR breathers are off the airbox this does indeed reduce fuel consumption but not to the extent that you are getting. you could also have a perished fuel pipe another thing is the TPS/STPS sensors and another is binding brakes.

add even a few of the above problems and you will indeed get bad fuel consumption.

[Barty_b0y]

lol that is bad 250 miles on my sv cost me about £20 its a curvy pushin good rear wheel bhp and as for spirited riding the last time it did 250 miles on the proverbial racetrack took me 3 minutes under 3 hours

[joshwalker094]

filled up today at 119.7 miles- filled to brim about 13.3 litres, that was half alot of short journeys an half going for a ride to cat and fiddle, id say most aggresive riding?