Which speed is the most fuel economic for cruising?

[racefactory]

Hi guys, about to do a long one from Wellington to Auckland. Looking to save a few bucks and in no rush at all.

Couple of questions!

Which speed is the most economical for constant speed open road cruising?

Is it ok to use NZ 91 fuel on high compression sports bikes (cbr600rr zx6r) ? As long as I can't hear pinging or knocking is that ok?

In a toyota prius hybrid the most economical speed (without using electric motor) according to the computer is about 80kmh. 100 and over and it definitely does less km per L. However this is of course car aerodynamics which are better than bikes. It will be on a full fairing sports bike. Has anyone done tests and found the best speed?

[ajturbo]

150.......

[Muppet]

150.......

You're being a bit silly aren't you? I think 250 km/h is the way to go, trip will only take you a couple of hours IMHO.

[ajturbo]

You're being a bit silly aren't you? I think 250 km/h is the way to go, trip will only take you a couple of hours IMHO.

you silly man.....


he's wants to ride a cbr.. and we ALL know they have lower limits than OUR bikes....

[Mully]

Is it ok to use NZ 91 fuel on high compression sports bikes (cbr600rr zx6r) ? As long as I can't hear pinging or knocking is that ok?

YMMV, but I get better economy and moar power from running premium in the RF - the 14 doesn't matter.

[superman]

Get to your top gear and find the smallest amount of throttle to get a consistent speed. You'll find this will change quite a lot depending on your load weight due to air penetration. The same reason light planes carry water ballast to improve the way they slice through the air.

However on a bike slightly open throttle on top gear won't be great, and it'll be slow and you'll be taking out the fun in riding. If you just keep your throttle in the same place constantly you will save a lot. Main thing seems to be consistency so just go whatever speed is safe for the area. I'd probably stay at traffic speed, and then sit behind the biggest vehicle you can find (at a safe distance) to get some saving through drafting also.

No braking, tuck down and reduce your surface area.

Riding at night so the air is denser so you get better detonation of your fuel.

So many ways to help reduce fuel consumption.

But if you just want to ride normally you'd have to test out the best speed by just emptying your tank and putting in 10L and see how far you get on a specific speed. And premium fuel! It's much more efficient and I worked out cheaper with the extra kilometres it gives you.

[ellipsis]

.....ride so slowly that the fuel is nearly being sucked ... BACK...into the tank from the carbs by capillary attraction.....

[davebullet]

On the Speed Triple, 5th gear approx 85kph (as long as the engine isn't labouring) and not loaded up with a pack, the ECU reports approx 3.9L/100km (running 95)

[bsasuper]

Sell the cbr and get a ct90, its not gonna be a very good road trip if you are skint.

[p.dath]

Is it ok to use NZ 91 fuel on high compression sports bikes (cbr600rr zx6r) ? As long as I can't hear pinging or knocking is that ok?

Check your manual, but I think it would be ok. If you've got a 600RR then it will be fuel injected. It will almost certainly have anti-knock sensors. I'd be very surprised if a modern bike like that could be made to knock on standard fuel that you can get from a service station.

Get to your top gear and find the smallest amount of throttle to get a consistent speed.

+1. Consistency is the key. Avoid accelerating and braking.

Why don't you do some dry runs on the motorway? You could drain the fuel from the tank, put a known quantity back in, and do a run. Then drain and measure how much fuel is left.
But if it was me - I couldn't be bothered - so I would just try and ride as smoothly sand consistently as possible.

[bsasuper]

Honda states to use minimum 95ron in its sports bikes.I get more range using 96 than 91.

[marty]

holy fuck. if you're worried about a few litres between auckland and wellington are you sure you can afford to ride a bike?

have a think about it. your cbr should run about 15km/l, (60usmpg) on a trip. if you caned it ALL the way on a 600km trip, it might drop to 13km/l (52usmpg). on a 600km trip, the difference is - cruising = 40l fuel used. caning it = 46l. at todays price, about $11 difference. even dropping it to 10km/l (40usmpg - real thirsty) there is only a $19 difference over the trip.

grow some, or sell the bike and buy a prius.

here's a question - my 1300cc bike at 3100rpm runs 15km/l at 100km/h. Will a 600cc bike doing 6200rpm at the same speed use about the same amount of fuel? half the capacity @ twice the rpm?

[bsasuper]

You could always slipstream a road train, or pretend you have broken down and get a tow.

[superman]

here's a question - my 1300cc bike at 3100rpm runs 15km/l at 100km/h. Will a 600cc bike doing 6200rpm at the same speed use about the same amount of fuel? half the capacity @ twice the rpm?

If both bikes weighed the same, and they didn't have obvious efficiency differences (ie 1 made in 1980 and one in 2005) then it should be about the same.

However, in reality you're bike will weigh more so even though you have a bigger engine at cruising speed your fuel usage could well be lower than the 600cc bike. Much like even though a car has a humoungus surface area, and say a 2L engine (like my car) I still get 11km/l at 100km/h just because the weight behind the car is huge. If I shove it into neutral in my car I'll go for quite a while, on a bike though (especially my little 150kg of joy) being in neutral at 100km/h is like hitting the brakes which just shows how much you have to push against that air.

However, acceleration fuel usage you want the least weight possible. Therefore if you're accelerating and stopping quite often the smaller bike will get the best consumption.

[Swoop]

In a toyota prius hybrid the most economical speed (without using electric motor) according to the computer is about 80kmh.

Why would a prius even be considered in an open road comparison? They are bloody uneconical outside of stop-start city traffic. That is why they do not meet the standards required, by China, to be a "green" vehicle.

Get on the bike and ride it.
Keep off of SH1.