Economy run

[Bianco2564]

With the ridiculous price of petrol and all that, thought I'd try riding the scoot very economically to see what I could get out of it.

It's always done low 50s mpg, only used on the work commute same route 4 days a week, A roads mostly between Rugby & Banbury , minimal urban riding.

So tried accelerating really steadily up to cruising speed of 50-60 mph max. The way the auto clutch thingy works is if accelerating hard from standing start, it will go right round to 5000rpm and stay there until about 60mph then the revs start to rise as you go faster. Accelerating gently would have the engine up to 4000 rpm but felt like a snail's pace to get moving.

Only tried this on one tankfull so would need to do it again a few times to be convinced on the success of the test allowing for varying traffic conditions, calculated the consumption at 56 mpg which is better than normal but only saved about half a litre on the usual riding style. Still, half a litre is about 90 pence ,spread that over the year on my commuting mileage of 11k p/a would be nearly £90.

Another reason for the test was to see if I could live with a smaller bike for commuting, maybe a 250 to 400cc, average speed along the A361 is pretty slow as a lot of trucks use it and traffic builds up behind them. Safe overtaking places are few and far between and its not unusual to get stuck in a train of traffic behind one truck all the way from Daventry to Banbury. 

 

 

[MikeHorton]

All adds up over the year like you say. I can get over 60mpg on my Africa twin on a good run. Managed 370 miles out of a tank last month which was really good. 

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

My old CBF500 gets ridden like it was stolen all the time and gives a pretty consistent 60+mpg which is pretty decent. I've never tried to ride it economically. 

[Gerontious]

56 minutes ago, MikeHorton said:

All adds up over the year like you say. I can get over 60mpg on my Africa twin on a good run. Managed 370 miles out of a tank last month which was really good. 

 

Same.  which isn't bad at all for a 1000/1100

 

[manxie49]

S1000RR I'm getting pretty pants milage, about 37 mpg, a lot less if I tan it, but it's sort of what I expect from a bike like that.  I can get about 50mpg out of the Tracer, maybe a bit more if I really try.  

[fastbob]

An 883 Sportster ridden gently wouldn't be a bad option . 

[Bender]

What you all riding like I can get 41 out of my van driven moderately, that weighs close to 2 1/2 tonne.

 

Bike I've no interest in riding with fuel in mind, if I had to use for work I think I would need 2, 250 v strom or electric for commute and as they say something for the weekend  

[Essem]

650 vstrom, over 70mpg if ridden very carefully, 60+ ridden day to day speeds

[Bender]

2 minutes ago, Essem said:

650 vstrom, over 70mpg if ridden very carefully, 60+ ridden day to day speeds

250 is reported as 80 average. 

[billy sugger]

I did 220.6 miles on a full tank, (brimmed) that included the run to Rugby (twice) and a trip to KGH for a oncology check up, plus a run to Daventry for job interview so mostly dual carriageway so 60mph and above. I was actually showing as empty on the way back from Kettering, so shut bike off when waiting for green lights. When I ran the bike after doing the brakes last week it idled for 2 minutes then died, so that's how close I was to empty. Its a 20 litre tank with 2.5 litres as reserve, so 11miles per litre? Too lazy to work out mileage per gallon though

[S-Westerly]

I get about 200 miles from a 20 litre tank. I don't ride with fuel economy in mind, I ride for fun. My work ride does about 55 tons per 24 hours.

[rennie]

The VFR12 is the most uneconomic bike I've ever had!

less than 40mpg no matter how I ride it.

I don't really care though! 

[John Metcalfe]

I've a 1994 K1100LT and when just nipping around locally I'm getting about 40mpg. However we just done 12 days in Italy and Sicily and when fully loaded 2up on local rural/urban roads averaged about 48mpg.

I've had nearly 300 miles from a tank full, but that was on the French motorways and that's sitting at a constant 70mph using the cruise control.

[Stu]

I don't ride a bike for economy but the bike computer says 56 average  

 

on average I am getting 240 miles to fill ups which never puts the reserve light on and I usually squeeze in around 20 litres 

 

I have seen the rang showing 310 miles to empty but never tested that and never ridden steady enough either  

 

Not bad for a 1200! 

 

I say get a bigger bike not smaller  

[Pie man]

I get hours upon hours of enjoyment and good  mental health therapy for £39. Far cheaper than counselling

Don't count the miles 

[Stu]

35 minutes ago, Pie man said:

I get hours upon hours of enjoyment and good  mental health therapy for £39. Far cheaper than counselling

Don't count the miles 

 

But the more miles you get the more counselling you get for your money  

[Mickly]

I’m not sure how many mpg I get from the mighty Speedtriple…. I only care when I’m getting short of fuel, on a recent trip I noticed that the low fuel light was on & the dash said 15 miles left ( Shows that my concentration was on other things )

By sticking to a steady progress I was able to get to a fuel stop with a predicted 25 miles left

[fastbob]

If you've got to fill up , you've got to fill up . What can you do about it ? Well I suppose you could follow Mr Clarkson's advice and hijack a tanker . After all , according to Gezza , the driver has nothing to defend himself besides a rolled up Porn Mag . Once you have disabled the tracker , the next challenge would be hiding it . Well I've given it some thought and decided that driving it into a pre dug rectangular pit and covering it over with turf would work . It would be a bit of a faff using a bucket on a rope whenever you need some petrol so some affordable hand cranked pump could be installed and disguised as a shrub . 

[S-Westerly]

Ah but if its E10 it'll go off before you can use it all!

[Bender]

43 minutes ago, fastbob said:

If you've got to fill up , you've got to fill up . What can you do about it ? Well I suppose you could follow Mr Clarkson's advice and hijack a tanker . After all , according to Gezza , the driver has nothing to defend himself besides a rolled up Porn Mag . Once you have disabled the tracker , the next challenge would be hiding it . Well I've given it some thought and decided that driving it into a pre dug rectangular pit and covering it over with turf would work . It would be a bit of a faff using a bucket on a rope whenever you need some petrol so some affordable hand cranked pump could be installed and disguised as a shrub . 

You would think that would work, however it has been tried in the past, Thompsons oop North stole there own new wagon and buried it in one of their  own old quarries, the distinct waggon shape however turned out to be fairly easy to spot with the police helicopter  

[Bianco2564]

Did the same mpg test on the R1, just riding normally on the same routes to work and home.

Did 175 miles on 14 litres = just under 57mpg, not bad for a 150hp bike I thought.

 

So @Stu was right, for better economy use a bigger bike.

 

[Stu]

More power less throttle

[MikeHorton]

With the price of fuel and lurpak getting silly I dunno whether to spread diesel on my sandwiches or put lurpak in the cars tank? Confusing times 

Edited July 6, 2022 by MikeHorton

[Bender]

1 hour ago, MikeHorton said:

With the price of fuel an lurpak getting silly I dunno whether to spread diesel on my sandwiches or put lurpak in the cars tank? Confusing times 

You can still afford sandwiches wow  

[Bianco2564]

Just to prove it was no fluke., did another tankful of fuel on the R1, 177 miles on 13.75 litres, just over 58mpg.

I'm just riding normally, with a bit of effort I reckon I could break 60mpg...

Good news is I can get three days commuting on vs only two days on the scooter.