My first eco-modding results!
 

This weekend just passed I took my Two-Fifty on a 900-mile trip from Gillingham in Kent up to Glasgow in Scotland and back. I had made no physical modifications to the bike, I chose instead to see what sort of difference a few changes to my riding technique could make to my fuel economy.

Firstly, seeing how many of you seem to cruise at around 50mph, I dropped my usual cruising speed from 60-ish to between 50-55mph. Also, with regards to my rudimentary understanding of DWL, I resisted giving it too much beans on uphill sections. I pumped my tyres up to 36psi, not daring to give them any more since they grip like greased pigs at the best of times.

Not having access to a scanguage or similar technology I instead kept a log of distance travelled and fuel added at fill-ups, you know, the old-fashioned way :p I was expecting at least 90mpg(Imp) because that's a close approximation of what I usually get to a tank.

Anyway, my results are as follows:

Tank 1

Litres: 10
Miles: 216.4
MPG: 98.5(Imp) 82(US)

Hot-diggedy-damn! 98mpg! That's practically a 10% increase, all from keeping my speed down a bit. The next tank is pure motorway miles, let's see how that affects the FE...

Tank 2

Litres: 8.41
Miles: 197.1
MPG: 106.6(Imp) 88.8(US)

Smashed the 100mpg barrier already! I might just have to thank the fat tailwinds I got through Lancashire for that. I spent the whole day humming a tune in which the only lyric was "106 em pee geeee". Would my next tank warrant such conceited displays of self-congratulation?

Tank 3

Litres: 10
Miles: 223.3
MPG: 101.6(Imp) 84.6(US)

Considering that the majority of this tank was spent in very wet and windy conditions (a fine welcome to/farewell from Scotland) I think this is quite admirable, although my speed did drop to about 45 for most of it.

Tank 4

Litres: 6.86
Miles: 161.7
MPG: 107.25(Imp) 89.3(US)

Only a short tank, owing to the fact that I was freezing my tits off and in desperate need of a Mars bar, but my best tank yet! I think I can safely say I have a 100mpg bike :D the fact that I managed between 8-17mpg over my usual represents an increase of almost 10-20%!

Considering the lack of aero-mods, I am over the moon to get these results, especially since my heated grips were on full power for the return leg. There were still 200 miles to go after my last fill-up and given the weather conditions I didn't watch my speed too closely. I expect something closer to normal for my next fill-up :p I'll keep you lot posted with my progress.

That's the way to do it! I have no mods to my cars - just changes to my driving behavior. Those changes get me 73% and 63% above EPA combined mileage, mostly just from slowing down.

Awesome results! I have been trying different driving techniques too, and it is amazing how much that can improve your mpg. I also ride, but I am currently bikeless....hopefully one to come in summer:)

Thanks for the encouragement guys!

For the record, the next time I rode out I filled up immediately, making the next tank 207.3 miles on 9.05 litres - 104.2mpg(Imp)/86.8mpg(US)

Really impressive considering that I was riding as fast as 60-65 in places, but I was maintaining a constant throttle, which might explain it.

Sentra, I don't know the official EPA mpgs of your cars but your percentage gains are certainly very impressive. I have seen the light as far as cruising speeds are concerned.

Olds, I hope you get back on a bike soon, while I'm thinking I might trade it in for a car. English weather and all that!

Very cool :thumbup:

Okay, so why don't you try some mod to see if it actually helps? Is there some reason you don't want to mod your car at all?

I lied, sort of. I have grill blocks on both my cars, but no way to ABA test them. I fabricated a WAI for my Scion, but it didn't raise my intake air temperature even 1ºF. More work needed there.

Most ecomods offer 5% improvement at best. I can get 70% improvement over EPA with driving behavior changes. So I pick the low-hanging fruit first.

That's cool... I'm figuring out that aero mods are very much worth the time and effort in trying and experimenting. I achieved 42 MPG this last tank, and I still have my tires around 36 psi and I'm going an average of 65-70MPH. I can't wait until I get some new tires that I can pump up to 50+psi. The tires I have on the car now are about 8 years old and I'm afraid to add too much air (I don't want them to blow out on me on the highway at 70mph). I should be able to hit 45+MPG easily once I get new tires and when the weather gets more around 60+ degrees F.

Over 100 mpg ? Neah!
 

What kind of a car do you have?

Or is it a bicycle?

100 mpg ? Impossible !

Please tell me how.

OldBeaver

It's a 250 cc. motorcycle.