Slow jet increase?

[supervision]

 I had my screws set at 2 1/2, front, and 4 1/2 on the rear. After my first maden voyage ride the other day, which both fill-ups netted only about 41 mpg. I had in my mind that the low speeds were tad rich, it would start and idle perfect, even cooled no choke. At home before my next ride, I turned in each screw 1/2 turn and short ride over to Dwight's house, when I arrived the temp gauge was almost up to normal, and choke off. Would not idle. Opened screws 1/4 turn, idled perfect, rode that day, got 50 mpg. I think most of the difference was my riding style, but it sure makes me think it has some influnce? 

[Lucky]

Super, when i get the screws 'in range', even though there is a  plateau, where you can turn them & not much seems to matter, i go by 1/16 - 1/8 turns to finetune it.  Also, if you have Macs, or other seperate ft/rear exhaust, you can do it by ear & cupping a hand over the exhaust.

the pilots really should only make a difference at idle or low speed, so maybe your second trip had fewer idle moments...

This bike SUCKS FUEL at idle.  when i had my heel surgerys several years ago, i couldn't ride for a long time so i ran the bike and fiddled with it a lot.  i could go thru a tank of gas, just idling, pretty quick...

[Re-Vision]

My neighbor has a 650 Virago with carb problems, can anyone suggest the best site for help?     BDC

[Lucky]

Super, when i get the screws 'in range', even though there is a  plateau, where you can turn them & not much seems to matter, i go by 1/16 - 1/8 turns to finetune it.  Also, if you have Macs, or other seperate ft/rear exhaust, you can do it by ear & cupping a hand over the exhaust.

the pilots really should only make a difference at idle or low speed, so maybe your second trip had fewer idle moments...

This bike SUCKS FUEL at idle.  when i had my heel surgerys several years ago, i couldn't ride for a long time so i ran the bike and fiddled with it a lot.  i could go thru a tank of gas, just idling, pretty quick...

[QBS]

I've also noticed that my '83 is thirsty at idle.  It'll drain my 20 oz. pony tank in about 10 minutes.   I estimate it gets a lot better gas milage at 60 mph than at idle.  What's the deal?  Any ideas?

[supervision]

  Over square engine with large carbs, the last thing they were building it for, was to idle. The yikes is there to help it, idle on as lean as possible. My  friend chris has a Yama SRX 250 single, on it they use a small carb for low engine speed, as speed increases, a second power carb comes in.

[Rikugun]

Gasoline engines aren't terribly efficient to start with. In addition, idle requires a richer mixture than cruise speed. Volumetric efficiency is not achieved at idle and unburnt exhaust dilutes the incoming charge. High turbulence due to a nearly closed throttle is also to blame.