This subject comes up from time to time, so I conducted an experiement.... With 5l of fuel in my top box I rode the naked ZR7 with a 17t sprocket, on the reserve setting on the fuel tap, until it stopped. It took 275 miles of commuting on mainly dual roads with the odd country lane blast until she ran out and then it took 22l to refuel to the top whilst on the centre stand. So that makes 56.7 miles to the imperial (4.54l) gallon and a 22 litre tank. Hope this helps!

Before carby clean out and with Standard gearing:
6.79 L/100kms
41.60 MPG (Imp)
34.64 MPG (US)
324.06 kms per tank

After carby clean out and 17T front sprocket:
5.19 L/100kms
54.43 MPG (Imp)
45.32 MPG (US)

423.94 Kms per tank.

Not bad for an old tech, carbied, air cooled motor. You can't even get that out of a new Z750.

My stock 2000 ZR7 went 235 miles before hitting reserve. The gas station was 3 miles down the road and it took 4.67 gallons to fill up the tank.

Quick update:
On my stock zr-7s (it has a paper filter instead of the OEM, but other than that, it is stock), I get around 37 - 39 mpg in regular commuting mileage. A mix of city roads and city highways.

On a recent trip consisting mainly of highway miles, the zr-7s averaged approximately 50 mpg (from a sample size of 7 tanks of gas, I had a high tank of 53 mpg and a low tank of 46.7 mpg with an average of 49.8 mpg).

Based on these numbers, the zr-7s should be able to go about 240 miles before hitting reserve, but it's rare for me to push it to that point before filling up for fear of the engine cutting out on the highway...
I usually fill up at around 220-230 miles and utilize the centerstand so that it can be filled to the very top of the tank.

ive managed to push mine to the 190 mile mark before chickening out for fuel lol....they definatly get alot better milage on the open hwy regardless of speed

I get 55 mpg on my completely stock 2002 ZR-7S. Mainly back roads and a little highway. Regular gas.

Yesterday I pushed my bike harder than I ever have before and I pulled almost 56 miles per gallon, though nearly all of that one tank was burned at once. Arkansas mountain roads Cruising 70 everywhere with a mix of city gets me 47-49 mpg. Is it just me or does it run better and get better gas mileage the harder it's pushed? Yesterday about the slowest I went was 75-85 and I got the best fuel economy I've ever seen on my ZR7S.

Originally Posted by zr7_interloper

Quick update:
On my stock zr-7s (it has a paper filter instead of the OEM, but other than that, it is stock), I get around 37 - 39 mpg in regular commuting mileage. A mix of city roads and city highways.

On a recent trip consisting mainly of highway miles, the zr-7s averaged approximately 50 mpg (from a sample size of 7 tanks of gas, I had a high tank of 53 mpg and a low tank of 46.7 mpg with an average of 49.8 mpg).

Based on these numbers, the zr-7s should be able to go about 240 miles before hitting reserve, but it's rare for me to push it to that point before filling up for fear of the engine cutting out on the highway...
I usually fill up at around 220-230 miles and utilize the centerstand so that it can be filled to the very top of the tank.

I installed a new air filter (K&N filter) on the bike a couple of months ago.
Happy to report that my regular commuting mileage is slightly better.
It is now 39 - 41 mpg (previously, it was 37 - 39 mpg).
Haven't taken any out-of-town trips yet so I can't report on that yet

with the new clutch and springs i pretty well get a steady 40-45 regardles of how i ride....once i hit the HWY and blast for BC(250 mile 1 way) i get 50-55...im not even going to try for better lol

Originally Posted by sh0rtlife

with the new clutch and springs i pretty well get a steady 40-45 regardles of how i ride....once i hit the HWY and blast for BC(250 mile 1 way) i get 50-55...im not even going to try for better lol

So, you've found that your fuel economy has improved with the new clutch and springs? Very interesting.
At this rate, you'll get over 250 miles before hitting reserve!
And 300 miles per tank.

When I purchased my ZR7 in October of '10 I was averaging 52mpg on the highway and back roads playing around. My commute then was mostly highway with some stop-n-go, I averaged 45-50mpg. Two years later I'm commuting in similar conditions with more stop-n-go still averaging 40-45 mpg. My highway mileage has dropped off some though. I rode from Fayetteville, NC to Charleston SC (228 miles one-way) on one tank without hitting reserve. Mileage worked out to 43mpg going to Charleston and 42mpg on the way back. Going there I averaged 85-90mph annd coming back I bounced from 95-110mph. Not too bad considering my injected FZ1 got 35mpg going there and 37 coming back at the same speeds.

My mileage also improved when I installed new clutch springs and came up a little more when I went to the 17t front sprocket. I attribute this to the fact my clutch was slipping slightly after 4500rpms. Hopefully when I finally get around to doing the valves, cleaning the carbs and changing the filter it will come up some more.

Has anyone tried swapping to a 520 chain/sprocket combo? Several people on the FZ1 forum I belong to have done this and reported 1-2mpg gains. The difference in weight between the 520 and 530 is supposed to be somewhere around the 2 lbs mark.

The ZR-7 runs a 525 chain.

I think everyones fuel mileage is going down because of the ethanol most of us are running. I guess where you are has to do with the quality of your fuel and the amount of ethanol. I pick up 2-3 mpg when I go down to the mountains every year.

Ethanol. False economy

100% agreed..the ethanol is garbage and it drive the mpg down..not to menton it evaps faster......and rots faster its just crap..and depending on where your at and what time of year changes the quality and the quantity in your fuel

my bc runs there is a place i stop often and put ethanol free from an indian casino as it 2 cents more then the cheep stuff per gal...ive noticed nice gains into the 60mpg..but....id never ride the 20 miles 1 way id have to go to get the stuff around here and pay close to a buck more per gal for it

due to the ethanol in fuels ....i no longer run the "higher octane" but run the cheep stuff cause well with the ethanol and these bikes it seems to be unnoticeable in power and mpg

and yeah these motors seem to be most efficiant wound out or above 70mph

Also, ethanol in the US is made from crops used to feed livestock.
This means that there is an increase in the cost to feed livestock (just from the increased demand on the crops), hence, increasing the cost of livestock meats for everyone!!!

Anyway back to MPG
I don't know about you guys, but I've noticed an increase of 2 to 3 miles per gallon ever since I installed the new air filter (K&N)