Fuel economy on new and current Bike

[brianemone]

I'm looking at taking a job in auckland and i would be riding to and from every day, which would work out to be about 250km a day.

my current bike would use about 10 litres of gas for that distance. first of all how does 22km per litre rate?? is that good bad average??

is there anyway to reduce gas consumption?? what sort of revs should i be doing on the open rd etc

and what bike would be ideal to use a minimal amount of gas for that sort of distance riding??

[Devil]

22km/l is good.
The best way to use less gas is travel slower. If you're a regular at 110, try doing the same trip at 100 or 95. Should notice a difference.

Also cut down on baggy clothing. My fuel mileage over a long distance cruising was better when I was wearing leathers, instead of my cordura gear. (Comfort is another story though!)

[CBRAero]

True that. If you are really serious about saving gas a smaller bike would also make sense? A VTR 250 for instance will consume significantly less gas and should handle the trip with ease.

http://www.bikepics.com/pictures/049093/

[Ixion]

Much as I like small bikes, I must say that commuting 250km a day on a 250 would become tiresome.

22k/l is about 60mpg which is quite good. Any saving from a multicylinder 250 (which would have to be caned to maintain open road speeds) would be small, and probably offset by extra mechanical wear and tear. The high revving 4 cylinders do not have a reputation for longevity.

In terms of minimal cost, about the only option that would not become tedious would be an older 400 or 500 single, a GB400 maybe? Or perhaps one of the older BMWs which although of larger capacityy have very good fuel consumption and should be reliable, as well as an easy commute.

I have heard that the Hyosang GT650 has very good fuel consumption if you are looking at new bikes.

[XP@]

In terms of minimal cost, about the only option that would not become tedious would be an older 400 or 500 single, a GB400 maybe?

Try an F650... pre 1990 they would eat the km's but not the gas, I could manage 20 - 22.5 cruising speed of 100 - 110 and soft accelleration.

[Motu]

I do the same trip,170km per day,so you must be travelling further into the city than me.22km per litre sounds pretty bloody impressive,does your GSX400 get that mileage? I don't use a bike...a 225cc 2 stroke dirt bike on knobs is not an ideal commuting weapon.I mainly use my Pajero at 9 km/litre,or lately my diesel van at 14.5 km/litre....obviously the van is a damn site more economical,but it's not a nice drive.I have reasons for using the Pajero,mainly the heater and sound system - but if I got a bike for the trip it would be a big old sports/tourer,FJ1200 would be nice,but perhaps a bit thirsty,so maybe a XJ750,what ever model had a good fairing,I see no point in spending big bucks on a flash rocket for that haul.But personaly there is no way I want to join that mess on a bike,my 4x4 is the weapon of choice.Call me a sook,but I've done my 25yrs day in day out commuting on a bike in all weathers,now I value my comfort....and my life.

[VasalineWarrior]

You could try a slightly smaler sprocket on the rear, take a couple of teeth off it means it will rev lower in top. Trade off is that you lose acceleration. 22km/lt is pretty good anyway though, and I cant see that much else will better that by a significant amount. I get about 14-15km/lt!

[steved]

Mileage from the 3 bikes I have riden for extended periods:

1994 Suzuki TU250 - 26 km/L
1989 Honda CBR250R - 21 km/L
1989 Kawasaki ZXR400 - 18.5 km/L

As others have mentioned, 22km/L is pretty good.

[WRT]

Also, as you are putting 1-1,500k's on the bike each week, you want something that is going to be RELIABLE and that isnt going to devalue too much. Sorry, I have no suggestions here, but if you are sticking that sort of k's on then even after a year pretty much any bike is going to be very hard to sell. So maybe you should go for something cheap, but then you might run into reliablity problems.

Is this job worth it? Imagine how much time each day you are going to be wasting on the commute . . . 2-3 hours every day! Maybe more if the traffic is heavy on any part of your route. That'd put me off just about any job. Is moving closer an option?

[brianemone]

I do the same trip,170km per day,so you must be travelling further into the city than me.22km per litre sounds pretty bloody impressive,does your GSX400 get that mileage?

yip its the GSXR that does that milege. it takes 9.3 litres to fill from reserve and goes exactly 211 kms on that gas.

the job is in the city centre so the 250km was a rough guess. it might be a little less as you menitoned.

after riding the 400 (i used to have a 250) i couldnt go back without feeling very restricted.

i'm jsut waiting on them to get back to me about the salary etc as i had a few conditions and wanted a bit more than most might have.

[Warren]

There will also a number of other things you will want to look at such as how comfortable the bike is, how much petrol fits into the tank and how reliable it is.

A bike built for touring will probably be a lot better for you than a sports bike.

[Motu]

It's 95km to Huntly from the city centre,and takes exactly an hour at 100kph and 80kph in the road works,but commuting traffic will put at least 15 minutes or more on that.That's pretty impressive figures for a 400cc 4 cyl mutly,but I'd want al least a 750 in that traffic.Don't worry about clocking up the kms,it's long hot constant speed,there will be hardly any wear.I've put 70,000km on my Pajero in less than 2 years,and although it's an old 1989,it handles it no problems with hardly any wear.I'm doing the cambelt today just to keep ahead of breakages,I've seen the balance belt break at 80,oookm...I fully reconed the engine before I started this commute.

[craigs288]

My reasonably new GS1200SS averaged 20km/l from Christchurch to Auckland, mostly sitting between 95 and 135.

And my little GZ250 ma-ruder gets 35km/l even when I thrash it. Closer to 40km/l if I nana around on it.

[brianemone]

well they just got back to me and they can't meet my requirements so i had to tell them i wasnt prepared to work there for what they were offering.

it's good to know that the gsxr gets good value for money at the gas pump though, as i still commute 70km a day to hamilton and back.

[Shadows]

I would have thought you'd be able to get a little more than 22k to the litre out of a 400. I'm getting that kind of mileage from my bike regardless of whether it is ridden hard or not. Mind you I guess the working rev range would be a hellova lot lower.