Drop in Ninja 250 fuel economy

[dgre057]

Hi there,

So I've had a 2009 250 Ninja for about 9 months, and since getting it have recorded every tank of petrol. For the first 6 months I consistently got 27-28 km/L on my bike, sometimes getting over 30. Then one tank my economy dropped from 28 to 24.5. Since then the best I've got is 26, but mostly I'm down at 24-25.

It could be that the change from driving at ~80km/hr (on my Learners) to ~110km/hr has caused this drop...except that I got my license a tank before the drop in economy (in other words, I filled up the tank the day I got my upgraded license and started driving faster, but still got a little over 28km/L on that tank. It was only a tank later that the economy dropped).

Does any body have experience with Ninjas, and know what kind of economy I should be seeing? Aside from the cost of petrol, I'm worried maybe there's something wrong.

Thanks heaps for your help!

[Grasshopperus]

Slow down Rossi.

Yeah it's probably due to the 80->110 speed change. The gearing on 250's is such that fuel economy is worse at that speed. I'd just ignore that outlier result but you could try cleaning the air filter and spark plugs as well as an oil change if you're not doing that regularly too.

[george formby]

Hi there,

So I've had a 2009 250 Ninja for about 9 months, and since getting it have recorded every tank of petrol. For the first 6 months I consistently got 27-28 km/L on my bike, sometimes getting over 30. Then one tank my economy dropped from 28 to 24.5. Since then the best I've got is 26, but mostly I'm down at 24-25.

It could be that the change from driving at ~80km/hr (on my Learners) to ~110km/hr has caused this drop...except that I got my license a tank before the drop in economy (in other words, I filled up the tank the day I got my upgraded license and started driving faster, but still got a little over 28km/L on that tank. It was only a tank later that the economy dropped).

Does any body have experience with Ninjas, and know what kind of economy I should be seeing? Aside from the cost of petrol, I'm worried maybe there's something wrong.

Thanks heaps for your help!

It's not a huge drop & bigger throttle openings use more gas. I would be tempted to get your average over a longer period of time. A few tanks of gas which will reflect the different riding you do, in town, in the country, strong winds etc.
Otherwise check your air filter, tire pressures, chain tension etc, all the basic maintenance things which will erode your economy.
You need more petrol to do 100kmh than you do to do 80kmh. Do an identical trip at each average speed starting with a full tank & top up at the end to see the difference.

I use a lot more fuel fanging around my local roads in a lower gear on & off the throttle than I do on a long trip in top gear at a steady throttle.

[tigertim20]

Hi there,

So I've had a 2009 250 Ninja for about 9 months, and since getting it have recorded every tank of petrol. For the first 6 months I consistently got 27-28 km/L on my bike, sometimes getting over 30. Then one tank my economy dropped from 28 to 24.5. Since then the best I've got is 26, but mostly I'm down at 24-25.

It could be that the change from driving at ~80km/hr (on my Learners) to ~110km/hr has caused this drop...except that I got my license a tank before the drop in economy (in other words, I filled up the tank the day I got my upgraded license and started driving faster, but still got a little over 28km/L on that tank. It was only a tank later that the economy dropped).

Does any body have experience with Ninjas, and know what kind of economy I should be seeing? Aside from the cost of petrol, I'm worried maybe there's something wrong.

Thanks heaps for your help!

the most likely explanation is that your confidence has increased, and you ride it a tad harder now,accounting for an increase in fuel usage.
However, how many KMs have you done on it now? It may also be due for oil and filter, plugs, and air filter change/clean etc etc which may yield a slight increase in economy again.

[bsasuper]

Have you weighed yourself lately?.When I first started riding I was only 62kg, the ZZR1100 was a rocket ship, now at 100kg the ZZR does a bit more work.

[ducatilover]

the most likely explanation is that your confidence has increased, and you ride it a tad harder now,accounting for an increase in fuel usage.

+1

10 characters.

[Kornholio]

Too many pies bro

[slofox]

I use a lot more fuel fanging around my local roads in a lower gear on & off the throttle than I do on a long trip in top gear at a steady throttle.

Wot 'e said.

[racefactory]

Combination of increasing confidence and driving at 110kph.

The lower the speed the lower the air resistance, therefore better fuel economy. The manufacturers get their fuel economy figures from test runs at around 50- 60kph as this is usually at a low rpm point in top gear without much air resistance.

Then again if you're that much of a miser to be worried about the cost of petrol at 30km/l then you should probably just roll over and die.

[Dodgy_Matt]

Have you weighed yourself lately?.When I first started riding I was only 62kg, the ZZR1100 was a rocket ship, now at 100kg the ZZR does a bit more work.

You Gained 38kg's? what changed?

[Ollie.T]

So I've had a 2009 250 Ninja for about 9 months...

Sounds like you need a new gold powerband

[dgre057]

Thanks guys! That helps! I sort of figured that was probably it...but it was just such a sudden drop, from consistently 460km on a tank, to just 400 literally from one tank to the next. But I think it must just be the change in riding. Thanks!

[wanpo]

Pump up your tyres.

[Old Steve]

I used to get 33 - 35 km/L on my Hysung GV250 when on my 6L cruising at 80 to 90 km/hr. Now I've had my 6L for 6 months, just clocked 21,000 km, I power out of corners more (or at least open the throttle more, GLORIA isn't overendowed with power), and cruise at 120 km/hr, my fuel economy has dropped to 25+ km/L. I ran my tank to run out the other day and actually had to pull over onto the side of the road to switch to the reserve, and got 356 km out of 13.1 L ( 27.2 km/L ). But 350 km isn't a bad range at the speed I'm riding now.

[mikemike104]

I have an old ex250f that has a 2008 ex250j motor, I have been getting 22 km/l since the engine swap, so ur doing ok.