100mpg on a Ninja 250

[thomasj223]

Backstory:
I've had a 2007 Kawasaki Ninja 250 since May of 2009. I use it to commute to work on nice days. During the summer of 2009, my work commute was ~10 miles one way, on city streets. I typically logged about 65 mpg. I took a 700 mile road trip through some mountains, but stayed off of the interstates, and logged about 65 mpg. Another trip involved 1600 miles and was almost entirely on the interstate - averaged 55 mpg.

Recent efficiency mods/thoughts:
I've change the stock front and rear sprockets from 14/45 to 15/39.
I run 35psi in the front and 39psi in the back.
I lubricate the chain with 90 weight gear oil every 200 miles or so.
I run 40 weight oil.

Goal:
Fuel economy in excess of 100 mpg.

Recently, after the mods I have been logging around 80 mpg. My driving style is normally fairly sedate - I shift around 5k and hold 6th as low as possible. I have seen as high as 94 mpg on a tank that was mostly cruising backroads at ~50 mph.

My current commute is 21-25 miles depending on route one-way. I want to go an entire week on 2 gal gas. As the weather warms up, I am going to test different styles of riding, different speeds, different techniques (pule/glide, eoc, etc.) and see what seems to work best. I will try and keep this updated to log my progress. I will go for the gold 100mpg mark soon, after my next oil change.

[theycallmeebryan]

Hey thomas, this sounds great!!! Welcome to ecomodder! Glad to see a fellow Ninjette owner around here....

You aught to read my thread about my 101.5mpg Ninja 250. You can try what i have done and hopefully you, too, will achieve that economy!

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...50-a-8686.html

You are running the same sprockets as I have, but i do have taller than stock tires (and i run them with 55-60psi in them). I shift around 3000 rpms if i am driving really slow, and 4000 if i am trying to accelerate up to speed. I usually try to get to 6th gear as quick as safely possible and stay in 6th gear all the way down to about 25-30mph.

PS: Post pictures of your bike if you have any!

[thomasj223]

Nice thread!

I do have a 130/90-16 rear tire, but it is a heavy one. Anyway, I just changed my oil so over the next few weeks I am going to start seeing how eco I can go. I refill my tank every 250-300 miles and always fill to the same amount. I predict I can make 100+ mpg just by changing some driving habits. It seems my bike is set up pretty much the same as yours (except my front faring is cracked through below the headlight and flaps a little bit).

So... Maybe this is a little premature, but I think you have some new competition. Do you think you can best your old record?

And are there any other Ninja 250's around this site?

[theycallmeebryan]

Originally Posted by thomasj223

So... Maybe this is a little premature, but I think you have some new competition. Do you think you can best your old record?

And are there any other Ninja 250's around this site?

There are a few other ninja 250's lingering around the site. Its a great bike for both fun and economic reasons!

I think i could improve on my old "record" a little bit with some extremely careful driving. It could improve a lot if I improved the aerodynamics of the bike + me.

Competition is great! There is no better thing than competing for the highest fuel economy. Its a win/win situation!

I would pump your tires up to about 45psi (at least), and if you feel confortable try 50psi. Make sure you crouch as much as possible and get to 6th gear as fast as you can. Try to keep your speed below 50mph and you should be right near 100mpg. Just as a reference, my bike went about 390miles until i had to switch to reserve on my 101.5mpg tank.

Here's to seeing a 100mpg tank from you!

[MetroMPG]

Welcome to the forum, Thomas.

Way to throw down the gauntlet! A bit of competition sounds like fun.

I also had a baby Ninja for a couple of years. I never really got much better than 70-80 mpg on it, but that was before I really started trying to get great fuel economy.

[JacobAziza]

I've been trying to get myself to hypermile my Ninjette...

So far, no luck. When I drive it fun, I get nearly twice the mileage that I get in the truck when I do everything I can to maximize mileage.
All right, all right, I'll slow down, and see about getting 80mpg.

[qwertydude]

You know with just a gear change, high pressure tires and mild hypermiling technique I got my GS500f to return 85 mpg, it did 70 mpg on a day to day basis with just the gearing change alone.

[thomasj223]

My commute home from work today is going to involve heavy thunderstorms... Not sure how this tank will turn out. I might have to spend a nice weekend touring around the countryside in order to get a 100+mpg tank.

[Grant-53]

Time to work on the aerodynamics. See craigvetter.com and other sites. Image motorcycle aerodynamics.

[thomasj223]

I've failed to achieve 100mpg. I am putting this on hold for a while, I will attempt again over a weekend sometime when it's a little warmer out. Commuting, staying ahead of traffic, many cold starts - I cannot squeeze that kind of gas mileage out of the bike during the work week.

25 miles in the rain
lots of wind, cold weather
At some stoplights bike was not warm enough to kill at the light w/o having trouble starting

So after all this, I only got 88.9mpg. I've done better on a single relaxed trip on backroads. I'm beginning to think that this may have been affected by fill amount. I always try to fill my tank the same amount, but my last tank fuel economy seemed a little inflated. I am going to trust my 3-tank and 90-day averages much more than a single tank.