Tips to improve your bike's fuel efficiency

Wondering, how you can save lot of fuel without spending an extra buck? Then read on...

Who doesn't desire for an increase in fuel efficiency? Bikers are always on the lookout to improve their bike's fuel efficiency. Wondering, how you can save lot of fuel without spending an extra buck? Then read on...

Start following these tips to improve your bike's fuel efficiency:

Riding style

Riding style of the biker is dependent on road conditions, climate conditions, traffic flow, etc. Higher traffic flow and unmotorable roads reduce your fuel efficiency. Avoid roads that are peppered with potholes. However, in India you can avoid potholes only when your bike does not leave its garage!

But you can always plan your travel in such a way that you avoid unmotorable and heavy traffic roads wherever possible to improve fuel efficiency.

Don'ts

Simple stuff like avoiding throttling through recurring acceleration and using brakes, switching your engine off when in traffic and minimising the use of clutch can increase your fuel efficiency.

Regularly tuning your bike

Make sure you tune your bike regularly to save on fuel costs. An effective way to know when your bike needs tuning is to maintain fuel consumption record. Whenever it falls by 10 per cent or more it's time to tune your bike.

Make your bike slim and lose weight

Ensure that like your body your bike too does not carry any unwanted extra flab. Remove all unnecessary items like huge crash guards, horns and other accessories, etc.

Remember the adage: Slimmer the merrier. Make your bike lighter and enjoy increased fuel efficiency.

Ensure leakage free fuel tank

Save each drop of loss of engine oil due to leakage. This would save a lot of fuel for your bike.

Deflated tyres inflate your oil consumption bill

Maintain adequate tyre pressure as under-inflated tyres lead to reduced bike performance. Deflated tyres increase the rolling resistance which decreases the fuel efficiency of your bike. So, to deflate your fuel bill better inflate your tyres regularly.

Cleaning exhaust muffler

Regular cleaning of the defuser pipe removes the deposited carbon particles in the exhaust muffler which improves bike performance.

Adding engine lubricants

Always add engine lubricants to reduce damage to engine parts through wear and tear. This would improve engine performance and increase fuel efficiency.

Using proper battery

Ensure that your battery maintains the required specific gravity of lesser than 1.220. Whenever, it increases beyond this optimum level it is advisable to recharge your battery so that your bike starts easily.

A smooth and easy start saves a lot of fuel so maintain the specific gravity of the battery at optimum level.