VW air cool engine

Apr 22, 2010
327
15
Sterling, CO
Name
Nuyork
Hi All

Just curios as to those that own VW tirkes that have the air cool engine what is the longest trip ( miles ) you taken/ driven in a day and what was your avg MPG?
 
Longest trip was to calif, and average 600-700 miles per day and have gotten 42 MPG, with a single port motor with autostick[ stock motor] and traveling at a speed of 65-70 MPH. with a freeway flyer gear in 4th.
 
Not the longest trip, but about 250 miles. My gas mileage was terrible, about 24 miles to the gallon. However I was running 80 miles an hour and with the large VW engine the Trike Shop put in their Roadhawk and auto transmission.

2 bb
 
i was a vw air cooled tech in thier heyday 60/70s . had the first vw trike in knoxville tn. 1972 . don't get me wrong , but the air deal , well it was good at the time. my trike now would be very lucky to get 30 mpg. 1970 b case with dual port heads . cammed about 3/4. about 60 + horse . less than a 1000 lbs . but still , don't look for mpg air cooled .not gonna happen . don't get me wrong . this is my 14th air cooled vw . i love them like i love a dog . you can't just keep them around like a cat . you have to pet a vw about every day . but the good thing is you can.
 
Did Sturgis this year, from central MO. Longest leg was 650 miles on the return trip. MPG dipped as low as 24 at avg speeds of 75 in a typical SD head wind of 40-50 mph. Best avg mpg was 30. 1600 DP with a mild cam behind a stock IRS tranny.
 
I have ridden mine all day in the heat. About 280 miles, didnt go anywhere, just in the wind. I have no cooling tins or fan at all and a 2110 stroker motor. No problems with overheating. More worried about the old point ignition letting me down.
 
I have ridden mine all day in the heat. About 280 miles, didn't go anywhere, just in the wind. I have no cooling tins or fan at all and a 2110 stroker motor. No problems with overheating. More worried about the old point ignition letting me down[/B].


Thanks everyone for the info.

DeathBySnuSnu- I am looking at changing over to electronic ignition.

I got 22-25 MPG while driving from St. Joseph, Mo to Sterling, Co. It ran rough from one elevation to the other:

St Joseph- Elevation: 885 feet to

Sterling, Co- Elevation, 3,935 ft



I have not tried to go on a extended trip because the first time after getting back my fuel pump went out and a week or two after that points broke leaving me on the interstate. So hopefully going to get a few things fix before going on a trip over 100 miles.
 
When i first got mine on the road a couple years ago i had wierd ignition problems. I had one of the conversion modules. But it died quick. I dont know if it was at fault or not. I went through several condensers and bosch blue coils. I was broke down again one day and bought a cheep mr gasket coil. Guess what.....not a single ignition problem in over two years now. But i do want to go electronic. Most likely crank trigger distributerless.
I dont get very good mpg.
Run an electric pump with a regulator.
 
When i first got mine on the road a couple years ago i had wierd ignition problems. I had one of the conversion modules. But it died quick. I dont know if it was at fault or not. I went through several condensers and bosch blue coils. I was broke down again one day and bought a cheep mr gasket coil. Guess what.....not a single ignition problem in over two years now. But i do want to go electronic. Most likely crank trigger distributerless.
I dont get very good mpg.
Run an electric pump with a regulator.

Thanks- The fuel pump it has is electric. We did and a fuel regulator and it ran way better then it did.
 
A mega jolt, ford crank wheel and position sensor. Ford edis coil pack.

Of course the mega jolt is a variant of the mega squirt. So if you are going to go that level of setup programming then might as well go fuel injection too.

It is not all that difficult to do. The parts for the most part are cheap. Most of the components are standard v-8 car type stuff (not race stuff). The weber look alike throttle bodies are pricey, but if you are not concerned with what they look like then there are plenty of throttle bodies in the junk yard. The programming software is free to download.
 
I could sorta like the first one, hot coils are good. But this is not a crank trigger and you are still stuck with the advance curve of the distributer.
 
Depends a lot on the WIND in Gods country.
If it is a calm day I get about 30mph.
If the wind is blowing, ie 20 mph, mpg goes DOWN.:gah:
Since I only have a five gallon tank, and most towns
are about 30 miles apart out here, I usually fuel every
60 to 90 miles.
 
Hi Guys just checking in.... I really miss having a trike....maybe in a year a two I might get one.. ( sooner if I hit the lotto)... hope everyone is doing well

Joe
 
we ran 1600 miles to Sturgis and back to Gods country.
Best fuel mpg was almost 30 mpg
The worst was 23 mpg in Neb, running 75 (allegedly LOL)
and fuel with ethenol
 
Depends a lot on the WIND in Gods country.
If it is a calm day I get about 30mph.
If the wind is blowing, ie 90 mph, mpg goes DOWN.:gah:
Since I only have a five gallon tank, and most towns
are about 30 miles apart out here, I usually fuel every
60 to 90 miles.

I typically get 28 or so with my 1915. Heading west on I90 through south dakota I got 17 mpg with a 25 mph headwind.
 
Hi all

Still have trike fever but I had purchased a camper and enjoy camping .... Not sure if I can do both but we will see.

Goal is to retire in 10 years so maybe I need to buy a new camper closer to retirement date and just buy a trike now...

Anyway going to check in more often.
 
Glad to see ya back Joey!!!!

Getting a trike now would probably be the wise idea:laugh:

Seriously though, I don't think you would regret it. :clapping:
 
1963 40hp engine in triker titled in march '78.

went through the engine add big bore, pulling cam, hot ignition, match port manifolds/heads and drilled main jet/hi-flow breather.. on a run from walhalla to myrtle beach and back (around 800ms) avg 36mpg running Sunoco 93. around 75mph tops in places.:AGGHH:
 
A few weekends ago I did a 350 mile trip on 1 day and a 300 mile tip on the next day.
Average about 25 mpg

The first day the oil temp only got to a little over 190 the 2nd day it got up to about 220

Ran great the entire time
 

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