New XLC Owner

[Delmarksman]

Hey all, just found the forum and gotta say, nice place ya got here.

Well, recently purchased an '08 1200 Custom and while I may grow out of the bike down the road, right now I like it!

I do have a couple things that irk me though, first, my low fuel indicator comes on at ~ half tank and there is no way to secure my helmet on the bike.
How do you secure yours when you walk away from the bike?


Also, I don't think that I am getting any where near the 40-57 MPG that the specs call for.
I have ~ 200 miles on the bike and am still in my break in so I hope that will get better.


Question, when I bought the bike, the dealer mentioned "do not take it above 60 mph".
This seems odd to me as I would think that it should be "don't take it above 5k RPM in any gear". But then again I don't have a Tach.
But,
Here's what I'm thinking, At 60 mph in 5th gear, I am barely purring along but can easily hit the rev limiter in 1st and 2nd taking off from an intersection or light.
I would think that this would be worse than 60 in 4th or 5th.

What do y'all think?

Any way, I like the bike and am pretty pleased, so far, with it.

Here's a pic,

[humpbackbob]

Howdy,
Welcome to the Forum. The fuel consumption will improve after the 1000 mile service. It sounds like you have a heavy right hand if you are taking the bike up to the rev limiter and that does not help with the gas. As far as breaking in the engine,there is a suggested speed max for each gear in the owners handbook for the first 500 miles. 23,33,43,52 & 60 mph for each gear. These are real important to let the motor "bed in", so I would get an oil change now and slow it down a bit untill the engine is broken in.
You can buy Helmet locks to fit to the frame at most bike stores. not for use when riding though. Hope that answers your questions.

Humpback.

[Delmarksman]

Thanks for the info.
But let me clarify, I was just using that as an example.
And I did an oil change around 100 miles so that the break in fines wouldn't be floating around till the 1K point.

Thanks again,
Del

Welcome, Delmarksman. Nice looking bike. My Sporty is an 85 Ironhead 1000cc. It gets 60-62 mpg consistently but it doesn't have the torque your 1200 has. I would imagine your gas mileage still beats most of the cars by quite a bit. My bike doesn't have a gauge or low fuel light, and I can imagine it gets a little irritating. So that you know where you stand fuel wise it is best to get used to how far you can travel on a tank full and set the trip odometer and go by that. Side safe. Sincerely: Shovelmike.

I own a 07 Nightster and at first was disappointed in my gas mileage. However, after a few fill-ups the gas mileage is now 52-55 mpg. This is with fairly aggressive riding.
As for the low fuel light mine comes on with 1.1 gallons left in the tank.

[soulman13]

Nice Ride! Your fuel milage will settle in after 1000 miles so do not be alarmed. Also I would go easy on that throttle till you get over 1000 miles as well. Ride safe.

[BlueBob]

That break-in period just breaks your heart, doesn't it? Brand new scoot and all you wanna do is open her up and see what she can do. I've had to do it three times now, and it doesn't get any easier.

[dj1200r]

het I know what you mean, I got my 08 roadster on sept. 1st and the gas milage sucked too. I put 1036 miles on the bike the first month changed the oil to synthetic and it gets alot better gas milage now