9 Basic Pointers Which Will Help You SAVE FUEL

How to save fuel? By following the very simple and basic pointers which we have listed in this story. This is obviously apart from buying a fuel efficient motorcycle!

There are two things that are increasing in India – our bike buying options (including those fuel guzzling super sexy ones) along with petrol prices! Unfortunately, most of the times our mind rules over our heart and we buy an economical motorcycle over the slightly bigger capacity one – which we always wanted.

Irrespective of whatever you ride, there are a few ways in which you can save fuel (and your petrol expenses). Let us discuss them quickly, one by one!

How to Save Fuel – Quick Pointers

Check out the torque of a vehicle – it would be denoted as torque @ certain rpm for example 30 Nm at 6000 rpm. Torque denotes the pulling force that the vehicle can offer at that particular engine speed. Every engine has certain rpm range where it can offer maximum torque. Try to keep your rpm levels below that range (not too low though) so that you don’t burn a lot of fuel.

how to save fuel

Clutch riding / half clutch tends to wear out the clutch quickly. This considerably reduces the power transmitted from the engine. Some adjust the play to half clutch owing to the reason that it is easier to ride in slow moving traffic, but they do not realize that they are doing it at the cost of frequent fuel refills and clutch replacement.

Selection of appropriate gear is mandatory. Under-gearing / over-gearing are not good friends for fuel economy. Riding in higher gears at very low speeds (by clutch partially engaged) and lower gears at high speeds tends to draw more fuel. So change gears appropriately.

Starting earlier to work/college will also help saving fuel indirectly. As the peak hour approaches, traffic density increases and it demands frequent stops and crawling speed. So why waste your precious time and fuel?

Always ensure that your vehicle’s transmission is sufficiently lubricated. This is because if there is more friction between the parts the engine will draw more fuel to compensate your speed demand. Also friction is not healthy to the parts.

The engine can not only be used for moving the vehicle but also to slow it down. This is called engine braking. When the throttle is released only idling amount of fuel will be supplied to engine and the power will be transmitted from wheels to the engine. Thus the vehicle slows down due to the resistance offered by the engine. There are some places to use this phenomenon like when you are about to stop for an obstacle which is say some 10-50 meters (Note: this range depends on your speed) ahead of you just release the throttle rather than breaking hard near it and let the ‘engine braking’ work its magic (can also be employed in slow moving traffic). You can also down shift if you need to. This thereby reduces unwanted fuel consumption and also saves brakes from wearing out.

Make sure that your vehicle’s idling speed is set as per the manufacturer’s specification. If set higher it takes excess fuel during idling and if set lower, engine tends to stall frequently which will need frequent restarts of the vehicle = higher fuel consumption.

At times when you have to wait in a traffic signal for more than 30 secs switch OFF your engine. Many 2-wheelers are now equipped with start-stop technology. Use it, it saves fuel.

Maintain a log book about your fuel refills, type of journey, distance covered per journey (even if it is very short), fuel consumption per liter to know about your riding performance. You can also do this on certain apps now. This will help you analyse your riding patterns.

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Let me hope that these pointers will help you save at least a rupee per day. Extrapolate it to the potential magnitude and you are indirectly helping reduce pollution for everyone, as well!

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-Shivaram Sundar