UselessPickles
New Member
Thanks for bringing up a great point about how readers should think critically about what they read and consider the sources of the information. I can show you a website that swears that the earth is flat.For every one that you can find to try to prove your point, I could find 2, and they ACTUALLY Pertain to MOTORCYCLES, but in the end it's just someone else's opinion, or what worked for them on a particular vehicle.
Let's start with this link you provided: How to get the most mpg from your bike - | Motorcycle Riding Advice | Motorbike Riding Tips
Which claims:
The first part is mostly true, but is irrelevant to the discussion. Yes, at full throttle at peak torque is where your engine is most efficient at converting fuel into TORQUE (not power, which is the ability to do work; a confusing topic). Unless your bike is geared so that it requires full throttle at peak torque to maintain cruising speed, then this info is not helpful. We care about the efficiency of converting fuel into DISTANCE at a given speed, which requires a fixed amount of power to overcome drag at that speed.Your bike's engine is working most efficiently at the point it's making peak torque, extracting the maximum possible work from its fuel/air mix.
...
The maximum mileage you can achieve on your bike will be achieved in top gear at the speed at which you know your bike makes its peak torque.
The second part should be quite obviously wrong to everyone reading this. Peak torque on the FZ6R is around 8000rpm, so according to this article, I should get best possible fuel economy when cruising at around 90mph in 6th gear. My FJR's peak torque is at 7000rpm, which is over 130mph in 5th gear. The force of aerodynamic drag increases with the square of speed, and really starts to become very significant around 60mph. Cruising at 90mph or 130mph is definitely not going to be the most efficient way of converting fuel into distance traveled.
There's also no sources cited for the info presented in this article.
Your other link (Riding Your Bike For Maximum MPG) not only doesn't cite any sources of info, but also doesn't even attempt an explanation to back up it's claims of accelerating gently to improve fuel economy. It just says to do it.
I linked to articles that have information from "Specialists at Ford, Honda and Toyota", as well as a report on results of a scientific study using software to analyze driving habits and the effects on fuel economy. Both articles also provided logical explanations to help back up their claims.
I'll let the readers choose which is more reputable of the links we have posted.
You're right. The fact that motorcycles have 2 wheels instead of 4 causes the universe to decide to change the laws of physics for the 4-cycle gasoline-powered internal combustion engines, the discrete gear ratio transmissions, and the laws of physics for the energy required to accelerate vehicle along the road through the air and also maintain cruising speed. How silly of me to think that the general principals and trends might be the same.they ACTUALLY Pertain to MOTORCYCLES
i really am done now