you said that riding on high gear at low speeds will not give good fuel efficiency. But i think its not correct, cruising should be done at the highest gear, irrespective of whether its done at the lowest speed or the highest speed of the bike.

lube your chain and also use good quality engine oil for the bike. Since a bike revs more than a car, using a good quality engine oil will ensure a longer life for the engine of your bike. Your bike will rev more freely and also it will result in better fuel consumption.

Also after cranking the bike, let it idle for 60 secs. (not 15/20 secs) to warm up the engine and also let the engine oil circulate inside the engine (same goes for a car). This should be done if the bike is left idle for more than 4 hours. A warmed up engine would rev more freely than a colder engine.

useful post, thanks a lot

The bikes gearing should be be appropriately used to get max fuel efficiency,
even if cruising at more than 45-50kms requires 4th gear, more than 50 kms can be driven at 5th gear to get high efficiency, however less than 40kms should not be driven on high gear as it unneccessarily strains the engine.

a very useful and informative thread

@HotAntivirus: Very Useful post !

Some more points :
1. Important thing is run-in, one has to maintain speed/rpm within permissible limit. There's no harm in extending run-in duration/kms, it helps engine 'bed' well & better fuel economy will be natural outcome. I would recommend 2000kms run-in for FE minded bikers.
2. Chain cleaning & chain lubing preferably W90 grade oil, every 2K kms.
3. Greasing of sprockets also helps
4. Correct chain play to be ensured every 800-1000kms
5. Keep an eye on free rotation of both wheels
6. Use only recommended grade oil, tyre pressure , maintain/check oil level every 500kms.
7. Change spark plug at every 10/15K/recommended, change chain set at 25/30k/recommended.
8. Change air filter depending on it's status, city driving means higher life for air filter, dusty roads means, you should change as per recommendation.
9. Honour mechanic's advice, after all he's putting new one in place of old/used one.
10. Most important don't mis-measure FE, measure it accurately, even if it means that you carry a small bottle of petrol along with you. Reserve to reserve is also OK method.

I'm just wondering what this mileage thread has to to do in the The Art Of Safe Riding section ?

Mods please move it to a better location.

Thanks guys, really glad to see you guys liked the topic, and thanks to everyone who added their pointers

very informative. Thanks a lot!

I don't understand why some people rev their engine too hard as soon as they start their engine for the first time in the morning. Its not good for the engine and it also consumes a lot fuel

revving the engine after cold start will affect the engine life adversely...

Does anyone know about mixing acetone with petrol to increase mileage?

better not to...

Is that gonna affect the engine life? But lot of people tried that in western countries and are happy about the performance and the mileage figures.

Guys, I achieved 56 kmpl on my Pulsar 180 UG3 on my college rides. It is an open smooth road.
The riding pattern was as such:

1. Keeping between 50-60 kmph. No variations in Speed, unless really needed.

2. If I leave the throttle due to some reason, I raise speed back very slowly. Very soft handling of the throttle.

3. Minimal usage of brakes. Leaving the throttle whenever I need to slow a bit.

4. Kept the bike in the 4-5 krpm zone for top gear and 3-4 for lower 4 gears. Don't know why I do it, maybe for psychological advantage... Just did it anyways.

5. Crouched down mostly/ wherever I could. It works!
Ride at a good speed, say 60 kmph or so, and then crouch... Your speeds will increase despite the same throttle input.


Now, I have double the pocket money, around 3500 but this time, I'm paying for my fuel by myself. Hence, the recent over-thinking about fuel consumption problems.

But on Sambhar lake trip, the mileage dropped back to 39 kmpl. Riding? 75 kmph most of the time and 50 kmph on bad roads. Some off roading on sand tracks too. Well, less mileage was obvious but 39?