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XR250 and XR400 MPG? XR250 and XR400 MPG?
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  #1  
Old 11 Oct 2011
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XR250 and XR400 MPG?
Does anyone know what the MPG of these two bikes are? I've read conflicting information on this. Some sites say they're quite poor and others say you can get 90mpg out of them! I suspect the truth is somewhere in between, but if anyone has any more information, I'd like to read that.

Thanks, guys.
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  #2  
Old 11 Oct 2011
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Hi Smokin,

I have an XR250L. Mine is stock with stock exhaust, stock gearing, stock intake and gets 60 to 70 mpg in US gallons that are 3.79 liters. Can't speak for XR400.

The reason for varied reports of fuel mileage are many. Some people live in the UK where an imperial gallon is closer to 4.5 liters. So in the UK my bike would get 71 to 83 MPG in imperial gallons.

Some people change sprockets to lower the gearing for more dirt oriented riding which lowers fuel economy. Many folks add after market exhaust, open up the airbox, and goof around with carb jetting in the search for more power which also lowers fuel economy. Other people ride it like they stole it, whacking the throttle and slamming on the brakes, which kills fuel economy. Some people report the best MPG their bike has ever gotten instead of average MPG. Add to that other things that can affect fuel economy like underinflated tires, old wheel bearings, obese riders, poorly maintained dirty air filters, etc. and it easy to see why the reports are all over the map.

Kindest regards,
John Downs
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  #3  
Old 11 Oct 2011
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I don't have either a 250 or a 400 but I do have a 600 and I've had it long enough to know how the fuel consumption varies with how it's ridden / loaded etc.

Normally ridden (cruising at 60-65mph) I get about 55mpg (UK gallon). Fit the panniers and that drops to 50mpg. Ride it hard (on the road) and it'll drop another few mpg, down to around 45-47 (depends on head winds etc). That goes down again to 43-45mpg in the mountains.

Ride it gently (and I mean really gently - cruising at 40 -45mph on flat open roads) and I've got 80-85 (once 90) mpg.

I do have the bike quite low geared though so it's revving quite high on very little throttle. Probably not the optimum approach for mileage.
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Old 11 Oct 2011
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Xr250r1
I have an '01 XR250R which I use for trail riding in the UK. The standard sprockets have been changed to gear the bike for off road use, the airbox has been opened up and the carb upjetted for the removal of the Baffle/restricter from the exhaust and a Hot Tip fitted.

I get about 100 to the (imp.) gallon, give or take a bit depending on the terrain/speed etc.

Bear in mind that these are approximate figures and I ride off road at lower speeds and at a reduced speed (below 50mph) on road as I have MX tyres fitted.

I hope this helps,

Dan
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  #5  
Old 11 Oct 2011
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I have a uk XR400; although I don't know how far a gallon or litre of fuel will last I can confirm the bike is very economical.
I ride mainly off road and a tank goes a long way.
6 years ago in morocco I was riding a combination af xr400's and crf450's; the smaller xr tank easilly outlasted the large acerbis tank fitted to the crf's.
Many of the uk Xr400's are set up to run rich as standard; It may be worth having the bike set up on a dyno as I did
good luck
K
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  #6  
Old 12 Oct 2011
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Thanks, guys.

I am condsidering getting one of these and the things I consider most important are MPG, reliability and things like that, so I wanted to check on here. They seem to be really sturdy, reliable bikes, though if you have any additional comments on them, I'd appreciate that. The only thing I want is a reliable, easy to mend bike that will take me across the world! Hopefully an XR can do that.
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Old 12 Oct 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Smokin View Post
Thanks, guys.

I am condsidering getting one of these and the things I consider most important are MPG, reliability and things like that, so I wanted to check on here. They seem to be really sturdy, reliable bikes, though if you have any additional comments on them, I'd appreciate that. The only thing I want is a reliable, easy to mend bike that will take me across the world! Hopefully an XR can do that.
Since you are interested in the XR250, in case you haven't already read the following trip report, see the link below. They were riding ahead of us down the east coast route, never caught up with them but did stop at a few of the same spots. Seem to recall that they had a bit of mechanical trouble, not sure what the issue was.

The Africa Overland Network - Independent Overland Travel across Africa, Asia, the Americas and the World.
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Old 13 Oct 2011
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Thanks a lot, mate. I hadn't seen that before but there's plenty to read.
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  #9  
Old 13 Oct 2011
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The XR250R is a great bike but important things to consider are that the XR250R is kick start only, the XR250L has electric start but is harder to come by. Also they are not the most comfortable of bikes to spend all day sat on.

Have you considered the DR400Z? A very handy little bike and thought by many to be the best small bike to go travelling on.

Dan
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  #10  
Old 14 Oct 2011
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Originally Posted by dan66 View Post
The XR250R is a great bike but important things to consider are that the XR250R is kick start only, the XR250L has electric start but is harder to come by. Also they are not the most comfortable of bikes to spend all day sat on.

Have you considered the DR400Z? A very handy little bike and thought by many to be the best small bike to go travelling on.

Dan


That should be DRZ400E
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  #11  
Old 14 Oct 2011
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Yeah, I've thought about that one too. The four bikes i'm interested in are an XT600, an XR250 or 400 or the DRZ400E. I'm thinking that the XT might be too big though, so I'd prefer one of the others at this moment.

I tend to favour the Honda though, for no real reason! I'll have a look into the Suzuki with more consideration, for sure.
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  #12  
Old 15 Nov 2011
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My XR 400 always managed 48 mpg never better if its of any use. But just to help you out with food for thought I had a DRZ that would easily manage 60mpg and also now have a DR350 that can get close to 70mpg
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  #13  
Old 29 Apr 2012
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my xr400 goes with 1 liter 20 to 21,5 km depending on various condition. this is while driving with panniers with camping gear.

my xr250 did go with 1 liter 22 or more km.
than i changed the exhaust for a xr400 system (with shorting the bends). as it was running rich already, the exhaust gave more power and fuel consumption went up 1 liter gives 20,5 km or more
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  #14  
Old 26 May 2012
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On my recent Morocco trip I was regularly getting 200km (120 miles) to a tank (standard 9l). So that's 4.5l/100km or 63mpg. I never ran it totally dry (always had at least 0.5l of fuel left) so the fuel economy was actually a little better. The bike was great for the trip but isn't ideal for doing more that 250km per day mostly due to the seat and because it doesn't really like sustained high revs. I usually trundled along at about 80km/h (or or off road).

Off-road it was a dream and I'm not convinced I could have managed the same route on something like an Africa Twin or the XT660Z that is likely to be my next purchase. That said, my timing chain tensioner failed towards the end of the trip which resulted in the cam-chain jumping a few teeth and thus bent-valves and having to cram the bike onto a bus to get back to the port!

If you're interested, here's my blog: -
Spiro Goes Nomad in Morocco The Long Way Back Home: Day 1 – 360km Tuesday 03/04/2012 Tarifa – Chefchaouen – Mokrisset – Zoumi – Fes
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  #15  
Old 2 Sep 2013
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More Honda MPG info
It's an old post, but more info can't hurt eh.

Using a digi speedo that I adjusted to read bang on accurate, I'm getting a fairly reliable 54 MPG (19 km on 1 litre).
This is on my 2003 XR400, with luggage.

On my XR650L I get almost exactly the same, maybe a touch less. Again, ridden with luggage (steel pannier rack & aluminium boxes).

My Honda NX250 gets 100 MPG :-)
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