You cannot work out a reasonably decent MPG figure this way - i.e., looking at the needle .
A better way is to fill up at the station and make sure you insert the nozzle so that the handle is facing 12'o clock to 6'o clock, i.e. down the tank.
1. Stop at the station , Fill the tank up until the pressure valve in the nozzle stops fuel. Keep trying with pauses. Keep clicking that nozzle until not a drop more fuel can go in. Now ride your bike until nearly on empty
2. Reset your odometer trip counter; repeat (1) above AT THE SAME PUMP you used before; keep the receipt showing Litres used and total cost; write the trip counter value on the receipt; then repeat 1 above; take a note of the new trip counter and write this on the receipt.
3. Repeat 2
4. Now, for the two receipts , work out the MPG FOR EACH as follows:-
a) divide the number of litres by 4.5 - the number of litres is on the receipt - this gives you Gallons of fuel.
b) subtract the lower trip counter from the higher trip counter; this gives you Miles travelled
c) calculate MPG by dividing Miles travelled (b) by Gallons (a)
do this for both receipts.
when you are ready, grab those receipts and - for each receipt - add up the MPG (c) and divide by the number of receipts you have (starting with 2); this gives you an improved average MPG figure. now you have a reasonably accurate MPG. The more you repeat step 2 above [and a-c] , the better the estimate; ideally you should repeat until the average doesnt change but this is difficult because factors such as drag (tyres, wind resistance, you!), riding style, ambient temperature and so on ... will affect your MPG ... but you get a better number than just working of where your needle is from the last fill up.
Simple math mixed with some stable test conditions, as stable as you can reasonably get, but I thought it may be of some help ??
This is basically what sites like "Fuelly" does but the above method does not require you to sign up to a site and get spammed via email as they sell your email address on
- come on, you dont think you get something for free in this world do you
FIW , my average is 48MPG used on a 22 mile round trip commute, 5 days a week, 9 months of the year, on A, B and unclassified roads, same journey every time, 11 sets of lights on the journey so some stopping/standing. Rather sceptical of the claimed 65+ MPG I've seen touted , but hey if people want to claim it, why not ! what do I care
Topic: Mileage (Read 5633 times)
