How to get the best mileage from your bike

Here are some quick suggestions on how you can get the best mileage from your bike:

Bike maintenance
First off, you need to keep your bike well tuned with timely servicing. Keep all the parts of your vehicle oiled and get your bike serviced at recommended intervals. This is because regular servicing is like a regular health check for your bike.

Speed
Maintain optimum speed. For bikes it is economical to go in the 40-60 kmph speed. If you increase speed beyond this, more fuel gets consumed for the same distance.

Riding at slower pace than the optimum at low gears is a very bad practice and it gives a poor mileage to your bike. Therefore, avoid riding bike in low gear as much as possible and always go at optimum speed at the top gear. Gear change at right time gives enhanced mileage for your bike.

Air pressure
Air pressure in tyres should always be maintained at the optimum, as mentioned by the bike manufacturing company. Less air in the tyres leads to increased friction between the road surface and tyres which demands more fuel. Keeping the air pressure of tyres at optimum helps in ensuring less resistance thereby also increasing the fuel efficiency.

Braking
Avoid applying sudden brakes to the extent possible because it tends to waste more energy. It is better to reduce the speed by easing the throttle rather than applying sudden brakes. 'Smooth' should be the keyword in accelerating or reducing the speed.

Throttle and clutch
Throttle opening also is important, never open it wide and part open is what gives the best fuel efficiency. Maintain the clutch well, because slipping of clutch wastes lot of fuel.

Starting
Another great tip for proper oil circulation in the engine is to self start the engine and leaving it for a while so the oil gets heated up and can flow easily up to the top of the engine.

Excess is bad
Excess gadgetry such as over sized horns, lights as well as bigger sized tyres too can be a drain on fuel. Avoid adding weight to the bike through heavier guards, heavier visors, crash guards etc. It does have a lot of impact on the mileage.

Fuel filling
Refill the fuel tank during early morning hours as petrol expands by volume with increase in temperature which is a likely result during noon. Additionally, never fill the tank up to the brim of the tank and allow room for expansion.



High octane petrol
Again, it is high octane petrol that boosts mileage to a good extent, but make sure you check with the manual with regards to the quality of the petrol. New generation bikes have a high compression ratio; implying a need for high octane petrol. This petrol leads to better fuel combustion resulting in greater performance of the vehicle.

Traffic
Then, when you've to wait at traffic signals, switch off the engine. Avoid choked roads and if ever possible take on the broad roads and highways where you can enjoy better mileage of your motorbike.