Paging past and present Blackbird Owners (preferably anall..

External Since: May 07, 2004 Posts: 443

Hi,

I've commented in the past that my Blackbird seems a bloody thirsty beast,
and just put this down to it being my first "big" bike (ZZR600s before).
However, it seems to be getting a bit worse.

I'm getting somewhere in the region of 6-7 miles per litre (27-31 mpg). I'm
not a complete ham fisted c**t, and on the ZZR600 I used to get pretty much
double that.

When I had it put through it's 8k service (about 1,200 miles back), the
garage told me that the carbs were absolutely filthy, and that it was
running a bit rough. I'm not particularly surprised that they would be in a
bit of a poor state, as the previous owner had put only 4,200 miles on it in
five years. I'm happy to say I've now doubled this Smile

Anyway, they
(allegedly) stripped and cleaned them. They certainly tried to charge me
extra for it in any case[1].

In the last week, I've bumped into two other Blackbird owners, and talked to
them about it, and they both said that they get much better mileage than
that. So, assuming that evil pixies aren't sneaking into my garage and
siphoning off petrol, anyone got any ideas on why the poor fuel economy?
Anyone with a Blackbird keep records of how much it drinks?

More specifically, what do I ask *another* garage[2] to look at if I take it
in to them?

Cheers for any advice.

[1] The reason I had the service done early was because it was in for a
misfire. When they (Fowlers) told me that the carbs needed thoroughly
cleaning, I asked if this would have been sorted during an 8k service. They
said yes, so I had it done and 7.2k miles. They then tried to charge me an
extra two hours labour on top. They didn't get it.

[2] Or UKRMer with sufficient knowledge and desire for beer tokens Smile

--
Dan White
(dan@finex666.org.uk)
Perform an exorcism when replying.

External Since: May 07, 2004 Posts: 17

"Dan White" <me DeleteThis @privacy.net> wrote in news:2gadc2FhoiiU1@uni-berlin.de:

> Hi,
>
> I've commented in the past that my Blackbird seems a bloody thirsty
> beast, and just put this down to it being my first "big" bike (ZZR600s
> before). However, it seems to be getting a bit worse.

Well, to compare. TOG's 1200 Trophy and my FI Blackbird consumed exactly
the same amount of fuel over a fast'ish 70 mile run through France. We
know cos we'd filled up together at the start and after 70 miles [1].

[1] Saw an open fuel station in France and thought it'd be rude not to.

>
> I'm getting somewhere in the region of 6-7 miles per litre (27-31
> mpg). >

Nah, spirited riding in France and I was getting 40+ mpg.

> More specifically, what do I ask *another* garage[2] to look at if I
> take it in to them?

Ok, real advice here. Take it to Pete at <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.blackbirdspares.co.uk." target="_blank">www.blackbirdspares.co.uk.</a> He
knows most things Blackbird, does servicing, and charges only £25 per
hour. He's based near Bournemouth so not a million miles away. He's a
genuine guy and will tell you exactly how it is.

--
Kiran D.Bot (Celeritas)
CBR1100XX
BOTAFOT#19; IBW#14; BOTAFOF#20; MRO#18;