10 Important Points to Read if You Want to Save Fuel

Are you a biker who wakes up every morning and talking to your mirror about compensating your fuel expenses? Well here is something to relieve you from the stress.

• If you see a bike’s specification there will be a section about the vehicle’s torque @ certain 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 below that range (not too low) so that you don’t burn a lot of fuel.
• Clutch riding / half clutch tends to wear out the clutch facing 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 drive in slow moving traffic, but they won’t 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 of 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 don’t hesitate to shift gears appropriately.
• Starting earlier to work/college will also help saving fuel indirectly. As the peak hour approaches the 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 exercise to the parts.
• The engine can not only be used for moving the vehicle but also to slow it down. This is calledengine 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.
• Don’t have your head lamps turned unnecessarily ON which in turn demands more fuel by the engine to charge the battery/run the alternator. Unwanted electrical accessories can also be avoided.
• Make sure that your vehicle’s idling speed is set as per the manufacturer’s specification. If set higher intakes excess fuel during idling and if set lower engine tends to stall frequently this in turn needs richer mixture to start the vehicle.
• At times when you have to wait in a traffic signal for more than 30 secs switch OFF your engine. If you have self starter try alternating between kick starter also to avoid heavy load acting on battery frequently.
• Above all these 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 driving performance so that you can improve further.

Let me hope that these points will at least save you a rupee per day. Also you are indirectly reducing the density of polluted air for others.