Why am I getting low fuel efficiency from my almost new bike & scooter?

Both, the Yamaha Ray ZR 125 and TVS Apache 160 are returning a mileage less than their ARAI figures.

BHPian Akash5653 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello guys,

Starting my first thread on Team-BHP. I am a newbie here so moderators and members please excuse any grammatical errors. Also a request to mods, I could not find any threads related to the poor efficiency of bikes hence started this thread, kindly merge if any similar threads are already available.

So guys a quick introduction about me, I am currently doing my bachelor's degree in the field of commerce.

We have a bike and a scooter in our house. The scooter is a Yamaha Ray ZR 125, while the bike is a TVS Apache 160. Both of them are less than a year old.

Both the bikes return a very bad fuel economy and it bugs me that even the scooter cannot return a higher mileage figure. I drive sedately and do not cross 60 kmph. The scooter returns a mileage of 40 kmpl, but the ARAI claimed mileage is 60 kmpl. My bike returns a mileage of 35 kmpl, while the ARAI mileage is 45 kmpl.

What could possibly be the reason for such bad mileage? your opinions and advice would be very helpful. Thanks in advance.

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

If the problem is with 1 vehicle, it could be the vehicle. If it is seen in 2 vehicles, then it's probably the rider.

It's either you or the fuel or the riding conditions.

Take a look at an old article of mine on getting the max FE. While it is focused on cars, a lot of the points apply to vehicles of all kinds - link.

Here's what BHPian Jaggu had to say on the matter:

How much has the vehicles run? When was the last time they were serviced?

If it was more than 5000 kms, you may want to go in for service and get the air filters checked.

Was the fuel economy always low or this is a new phenomenon?

Don't go by the ARAI figures published, they are under very ideal conditions. To achieve that you would need a very open road with minimal traffic even if you ride sedately.

Has the traffic on the routes increased?

I have seen a decent drop in the fuel efficiency figure with my vehicles over the last year with more and more people returning to work and associated traffic.

Here's what BHPian b16h22 had to say on the matter:

If your usage is pretty much inside the city, you are going to see a similar economy. 40kmpl is somewhat the norm for scooters inside the city. ARAI figures are highly unlikely to translate into real-world numbers and they are achieved under very unrealistic testing conditions. The top speed you achieve doesn't matter, what matters is the revs, number of gear changes, and traffic conditions. Often you get the best economy while cruising on the highway at moderate speeds.

You can try riding both in a more fluent fashion with minimal hard braking and acceleration scenarios. Always look & think ahead while riding. This will help you predict the flow of traffic and keep the bike in the right gear with less abrupt throttle changes and braking. Economy changes wildly based on the riding pattern.

Here's what BHPian Jeroen had to say on the matter:

Clogged air filters will affect fuel efficiency, but only in carburetted engines. On fuel-injected engines, the effect is negligible on fuel efficiency, but it can affect performance.

Even so, on a carbureted engine to really show significant fuel efficiency loss the filter needs to be completely clogged.

Irrespective of all of the above, it is always a good idea to keep an eye on your air filter. In many parts of India, it is likely to clog up long before the normal service is due.

It’s probably the reason so many of our members report smoother driving and better engine pick-up after a regular service. Not the new oil or the new oil filter, but a new air filter!

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