Question:
I e-mailed your staff last year concerning the claimed 20 mpg of the “06” Yamaha 4 cylinder sleds. Nobody I ride with has ever gotten that kind of mileage and the dealers even say 15 mpg is what to expect.
I know there is a process to reprogram the electronics on the sled through the instrument cluster and have been told by a Yamaha technician how to do it. Unfortunately I did not write down all the info but have gotten some info over the Totally Yamaha web site. This changes the co calibration point of the sled and effects the low and mid range of the fuel delivery system.
I was wondering if you have any info regarding this and if you could pass it along to me. I know you are supposed to use exhaust gas analyzers to be the most accurate but was told you can try various settings as long as you keep the base data to enable you to go back to original if need be.
Any help to get the mileage up would be appreciated,
Thanks.
Gary Schoppenhorst
Response:
I find it interesting that with the number of Apex and Attak 1000’s sold last year you are actually the only person I’ve received a comment on regarding poor mileage. I’ve had many questions about suspension and front end stuff but not mileage.
I’m not questioning your numbers – I’m sure you’re getting what you say you are. However, we did not experience this with our PR unit Apex last year. In fact, we put huge miles on the sled and found it to be consistent – providing the snow was packed – in its mileage numbers.
I know there are chat rooms with people claiming poor mileage but I have to wonder just how wide spread this problem was. For sure fiddling with your ECU is not a good idea; particularly if you’re chasing a leaner burn in the interest of mileage.
If you can achieve 15 mpg then I wonder how hard it would be to get 20 – depending on your riding conditions – by altering your throttle habits?
Let me make this point. Did we ever get low mileage out of our Apex 1000? Yes. However it was always when we were on the loud handle – running big lakes at or near the C-note for long pulls. Under those circumstances we would never expect good mileage.
The same goes for the other sleds which we have seen 20 plus mpg from. The 600 SDI and 1000 SDI Ski-Doo’s go way down in MPG on full throttle pulls. So does the Vector. MPG is a difficult thing to quantify.
You don’t have to ride like an old lady to get good mileage #’s but you do have to tame it down a bit.
Motorhead Mark
