Save the World, Save Fuel, and Save Money
I am slowly getting used to paying 510 Baht or more when I fill my motorcycle's fuel tank. No, that's not true. I am not getting used to it. I am getting to hate it more and more every time it happens. And heaven help the pump jockey who comes the uncooked crustacean with me about taking my helmet off when he's extracting – more then 32 Baht for each liter of fuel from me.Not amused. Not happy. Time to get sensible and look at ways of saving fuel – even on a motorcycle. Here are some ways of doing just that, arranged in no particular order. And yes, I know that many of them are obvious – but I'm prepared to bet that you (like me) have been ignoring them anyway, because after all, motorcycles use little fuel, don't they?
Well, these days even that “little fuel” costs a lot of money, so it's time to give the fuel use a bit more attention. I give you hereby my top 10 ways; if you have any others you can always post them by using the comments option under this article.
- Tune the beast, and by that I don't just mean getting the carburetion right (although that helps). IF you have fuel injection, make sure the jets are clear. It's amazing how much crap fuel there is out there and even partially blocked jets lead to excessive usage. So does a badly set carburettor.
- Check your choke. It can easily happen that wear, accumulated grease or simply stretched cables are affecting the way the choke opens and shuts. Even a slight “leak” here can cost fuel and affect spark plugs.
- Clean or replace the air filter. If the engine doesn't have equal access to fuel and air it will start drinking more heavily (I'm the same, actually). This is pretty easy to sort and should be something you do regularly, anyway. Dirtbike owners tend to be better at this than roadbike people, for obvious reasons.
- Get your tyre pressure right. Properly inflated tyres give you safe handling without wasting fuel. How many of us run around on under-inflated tyres just because we can't be bothered checking them? Or we do not have the right equipment to check the tyre pressure? Lots, including me. Till now! Motorcycle and tyre manufacturers often recommend a range. If you're going to do a lot of freeway kilometers you might think about taking the pressure to the upper limit of what's recommended. If you're going to hit the back roads and need good handling, it's better to not go too high with the pressure.
- Go forth smoothly. Remember the big scare about the way luggage racks increase fuel usage in cars? Well, if you have (unnecessary) pannier sticking out the side of the motorcycle, especially soft ones, or if you wear flubbed jackets or subject your motorcycle to any number of other non-smooth looks, you're slave to the same effect. Trucks save enormous amounts of fuel by just fitting a fuel scoop and tidying up the covers over their loads.
- Change up early. Stay in the motorcycle's effective rev rang, but resist the temptation to rev out before each gear change. If you make a habit out of changing early, you will reap the benefit of improved kilometers per liters; I know, I've worked on this one and it's quite noticeable. Don't rev the engine out unless it's really necessary. Don't lug it, either.
- Look after lubrication. If things are turning smoothly inside the engine and gearbox, it takes less fuel to spur them on. Make sure you're using the correct lubricants and change them regularly – at least as often as your manual requires, ideally even more frequently.
- Check the chain. A staggering amount of power is robbed by a poorly adjusted chain and that power needs to be made up by burning extra fuel. So adjust the chain properly and while you're doing that make sure that nothing else, such as brake pads is dragging either.
- Think “economy, not all the time, obviously. You don't want to lose the fun of riding because of some humorless concentration on squeezing the last bit of power out of every drop of fuel – but keep it in mind. A friend of mine wins economy runs on his – Harley Davidson Sportster and one of his tricks is to ride on the white line at the edge of the road. Less rolling resistance, you see. No, I don't recommend you to do this in normal riding, but it's just one of the things to keep in mind.
- A warm engine is happy engine. If you are going to work the motorcycle hard, make sure it's fully warmed up before you do. All the various bits and pieces will be slipping past each other in a nice , warm film of oil and resistance will be minimized.
Anonymous