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This hot post has been migrated from our ThrottleZine site.

Throwing a couple of magnets into the fuel tank is rumoured to yield considerable improvements on fuel consumption. Unfortunately, the Myth Busters are likely to have a field day with this one.

Short of stealing petrol from unsuspecting victims (hell beckons, brother), or worse, giving up riding altogether, here are 10 tried and tested methods to lighten the strain on your pocket.

Here we go…!

1. Slow down off the blocks

Take a long hard look in the mirror. That’s right, wise guy, you’re no Valentino, Dani, Casey or Jorge. Now, stop acting like a MotoGP racer!

I’ve noticed more than a few fellow bikers with Parkinson’s Disease that seems to affect only the right side of their bodies. Experts are studying whether these seizures are triggered by normal frequency red light. How else do you explain the violent muscle spasms that compel their right hands to work the throttle incessantly – when they are standing still at the traffic lights?

Seriously though, acting like a bat out of hell from every stop line is more likely to win you a couple of traffic tickets than the chance to stand on the podium and shower champagne on grid girls. And don’t even think about licking it off them after, you perve!

Gradual acceleration is not only safer, it consumes less petrol and saves you a whole lot of money.

2. Ease off the throttle / Free-wheeling

Think of the throttle as a faucet: every time you turn on the tap, some of that precious petrol is pumped out. Of course, the engine needs fuel to burn before it operates. Yes, that’s why they call it a motor-cycle. But sometimes, we crack open the throttle more than we need – or even when we don’t need to.

Cruising, the engine functions at the optimum energy spent vs work done efficiency. Each time you accelerate, you force the engine to do more work, hence increasing the need for more fuel to perform the task. For best fuel efficiency, accelerate gradually to a comfotably cruising speed, for example 90km/h on the expressway, then try your best to maintain that RPM until you need to decelerate on exiting the highway. With limited acceleration-deceleration, the engine does less work, which translates into lower petrol spendings!

Remember: the motorcycle engine works like the human body. Think back on the dreaded annual school cross-country runs we were forced to do. Jogging at a constant pace throughout could be tortuous, but much less tiring than the guys who chose a walk-sprint-walk-sprint strategy. The human body – and the motorbike engine – were just not made to function that way!

And when you get to the downslopes, it was less tiring to just open your stride and let gravity do the work for you. Likewise, pulling in the clutch and shutting the throttle for long downhill sections make more sense. Why use the engine when gravity is in abundance?

While maintaining cruising speed and free-wheeling down slopes might seem insignificant and penny-pinching strategies at best, our test results yielded remarkable dividends. The same 14.5-litre tank of petrol actually covered 10% more distance with this method alone. Every little bit counts!

3. Tune down for better mileage!

What did you expect? The equation is simple: the more power your crotch rocket packs, the more gas it guzzles. And while we’ve worked relentlessly to jack up the bhp on our machines, the time has come to go the reverse direction.

Unless you’re riding a race-dedicated machine (or you’ve got money to burn), contemporary machines have more than enough torque to pull away from traffic in normal street riding. The truth is, you don’t even need that much power on city streets!

So, unless you’re planning plenty of trips to the Pasir Gudang, Sepang and Tuas circuits, hop on down to your mechanic and request he tunes down your engine for less power and better fuel economy. even dropping your idling rpm a couple of notches can go a long way in saving money.

If you’ve got money to burn, forget about the whole series altogether. And donate generously to ThrottleZine instead.

4. Stock Up for Major Savings

Forget Leo Vince, Yoshimura, Arrow and K&N. Unless your 2-wheeler rolled out of the factory with these specs, of course. Returning your bike to “stock”, or original factory conditions, is one of the most obvious fuel-saving methods, albeit one of the most painful measures for the biker.

That after-market exhaust, air-filter and carburettor can boost bhp remarkably. But in this time of belt-tightening, it’s best to hang those pipes on the wall above your bed until further notice. Sorry folks, if you want to save money, you just have to sacrifice on a bit of performance.

Damn.

5. Get correct tyre pressure

If you think your tyres have nothing to do with it, I’ve got news for you: hey dummy, this is a double whammy! Choosing the right tyres — and tyre pressure — is one of the most important things for a motorcyclist. Just ask Rossi!

Not only does riding with the right tyre pressure give you better mileage, it lessens tyre wear – which means even more money is saved because you have to change your rubbers less often. Make it a habit to check your tyre pressure each time you stop for fuel. If you’re not sure how many PSI is ideal (which depends on your weight, the size and type of tyres you’ve fitted, etc) a quick call to your mechanic should do the trick.

It’s safer, makes riding more of a joy, and saves you money. What more reasons do you need?

6. Perfect gear change

Now, this is a bit trickier and takes some practice. But ensuring you’re riding on the right gear at all times – ok, at least most times – can be a most rewarding experience. We know it’s challenging, especially with the start-stop of city riding and on a top-end sportsbike, but just try it. You won’t be disappointed with the results!

Not only does it save a bucketful of petrol, finding the right gear every time makes it a joy to be on that 2-wheeler.

7. Plan Your Routes

Here’s a no-brainer: the less distance you cover, the less petrol you use! And yet, it’s amazing how little we think of planning travel routes to save on distance.

In Singapore’s context, planning routes are a little more complicated though. On top of mapping out the shortest available routes (absolute distance), other factors to keep in mind include time and money.

Often, the shortest route isn’t the quickest. For instance, the Lornie-Adam Road route might seem deliciously short, but experience (read: regularly being stuck in 2-hour long jams there) will tell you to avoid it like the plague.

And keep an eye out for every Singaporean’s worst nightmare: the ERP! Download the latest ERP charge schedules (it changes regularly and no one really knows the latest score), and plan your journey around this. Knowing where and how much about these money-suckers can make a big difference in your bank accoint balance!

8. Lose Weight

Say what? Yes, pudgy, hit the gym and lose some of those spare tyres! You might think it doesn’t make a difference, but the TRIFS* study shows that for a 80kg driver, a 10 kilogram weight loss improves mileage in bikes by 5% and 2% in cars.

Got spare baggage on your vehicle? Clear out your boot! Keeping the books, spare parts and the kitchen sink at home give you a better driving experience, and saves you money on gas too!

Oh, by the way. *TRIFS – the ThrottleZine Research Institute of Fake Statistics

9. Ride the Wave

Quick, what’s the best bike in the world? Move aside Yamaha R1, Suzuki Hayabusa, and even Ducati’s mouth-watering 1098. According to this video, the top bike of all time is – gasp – the humble Honda Cub! And we’re not talking about just great mileage.

After a series of gruelling tests (read: bike-wrecking madness), Top Gear concluded that this little Japanese is the king of two-wheelers. We concur!

Sure, the McBeal-skinny tyres do little for on-road confidence, but riding a Honda Wave can fetch an incredible 50 km per litre of gas. There’s simply no beating that!

Others have tried – and suceeded – in replicating the Cub’s phenomenal mileage performance, including the 180cc Bajaj Pulsar from India. But with supreme reliability and availability of parts, the incumbent Cub stands tall despite its small stature.

Want to half your petrol expenditure each month? Ride the Wave!

10. Crossing borders for great savings

First they banned foreign vehicles from filling up at their pumps, then they made an amazing u-turn, reversed the ruling, and instead slapped a 40+ % price increase on their petrol. Malaysia might be better known for sex scandals involving ministers and daylight robberies, but when it comes to saving on petrol, the peninsular gets the heads up.

Smokers get a bonus, with cigarettes costing across the causeway less than half of our ridiculously high prices. (Hey, why do we have to pay taxes for wanting to kill ourselves anyway?)

A word of warning though: the traffic jams at the Woodlands-JB causeway are a pain – sometimes literally, considering you have to endure streams of carbon monoxide and hordes of Malaysian Cubs squeezing into you every half-chance they get – even in the wee hours of the morning. And it doesn’t help that immigration and customs on the Singapore side leave you wondering whether the causeway really is part of our very ‘efficient country’.

Our advice? Pay a little extra for the toll charges (which come up to less than $3 anyway), travel a little farther, and enter via the 2nd link at Tuas. For all the inconvenience, and even with the petrol hike, Malaysia is truly worth it!

That’s all for our money-saving tips. Send us your comments, or your own tips!