Fuel Efficiency, RPMs, Noobish Hurdles

[mr_pickle]

I've been trying to gauge fuel efficiency and stuff on my bike, so i've been riding to and from work whenever the weather is reasonable for the last 2 weeks. I'm sort of new to riding, not to mention the bike, so my "riding style" is still settling in i think.

I've had to overcome some of the usual noobish hurdles like "how to properly fill the gas-tank," which seems like a no brainer but isn't, and "how to start a fully stopped non-FI engine on reserve." (I definitely pushed the bike for ages thinking something was wrong before i figured that one out)

So, with regards to RPMs and driving styles and MPG.... i don't really know what RPM band i should be in.

What driving styles do you guys tend towards and what type of MPG do you guys get?

[Ronin47]

Paranoid, defensive rider, staying within 10mph of the speed limit both for safety and because there are literally cops parked all over my route to work, on an EX650R, and I'm getting about 52 mpg.

My tach doesn't go above 7k rpms if I can help it. Yes, I'm a wuss...

[serlant]

Originally Posted by mr_pickle

I've been trying to gauge fuel efficiency and stuff on my bike, so i've been riding to and from work whenever the weather is reasonable for the last 2 weeks. I'm sort of new to riding, not to mention the bike, so my "riding style" is still settling in i think.

I've had to overcome some of the usual noobish hurdles like "how to properly fill the gas-tank," which seems like a no brainer but isn't, and "how to start a fully stopped non-FI engine on reserve." (I definitely pushed the bike for ages thinking something was wrong before i figured that one out)

So, with regards to RPMs and driving styles and MPG.... i don't really know what RPM band i should be in.

What driving styles do you guys tend towards and what type of MPG do you guys get?

for best petrol mileage i would say as high a gear as possible without making the engine struggle, ei, not wringing the gears out just because you can.

[soc_monki]

i usually keep mine around 5 or 6K, which gives me plenty of power if i need it, but im not overly revving the engine. i have wound it out in 1st and 2nd a bit though, and im not too worried about mileage. i get around 40 MPG, maybe high 30's if i give it a little beating, but still rather good i think.

plus, gas is going down (87 is 3.50 now, around 3.70 for 93 now i believe). 40 some odd cents is a decent drop, which means ill be using more gas now!

however, i filled up a week and a half ago, and havent put any in since. havent filled my car in about 3 weeks! i drove yesterday because it rained pretty good...and man did i feel weird!

[Slo'Poke]

When I owned a 650R, 5K was adequate for my purposes. As it's been said, you don't want to 'lug' the engine (ie - run it in a gear where it sounds like it's struggling), and my normal cruising speeds was in and around 70 mph. High 40's was a typical mpg at the time.

Nowadays, on my VN900C (no tach), my strategy for maximizing fuel efficiency is to use 20/30/40/50 as shift points, and still use 70 mph as normal cruise speed. I average mid-40s street / low-50s hwy.

[kbroderick]

It depends on how I ride, but I'm generally getting around 60-65 MPG on my Ninjette. If I'm in in-town traffic, I try to keep the RPMs in the 6-8k range (so I can hit 8-9k quickly if need be but still not be obnoxious-sounding) and generally try to make sure I stay above 5k unless I"m on a downslope and don't plan to accelerate at all. If I'm riding in a more spirited manner, it's more likely that my RPMs will be at 8-12k (which is roughly the "power" band on the Ninjette)...and then I'll expect high fifties or around 60 MPG, depending on speed (slab speeds kill my gas mileage).