My old man seems to have the answer for most biker concerns.
If it's raining, take the bus.
Too much pollution? Take the bus.
In the face of uncertain fuel prices, the man has been singing the 'take-the-bus' tune ever so often.
Paying $18 for a full tank seems to be a scary reality these days, even for small, fuel-efficient bikes.
Are there other fuel-saving alternatives for the average rider?
Well, you could learn to ride with a light throttle hand by not accelerating or braking hard.
Or you could use fuel additives sold by several distributors.
One such distributor, Race Werks at Bukit Merah, guarantees fuel savings without sacrificing your riding style.
Their fuel additive, FP60, comes in a handy 260ml bottle which costs $12. FP60 claims to increase combustion efficiency, clean and lubricate fuel systems and extend mileage.
The emphasis, said Race Werks, is not an increase in horsepower, but to restore your bike's original engine
performance.
THE TEST
It's hard to check these claims without access to a motorcycle workshop. Stripping an engine to inspect carbon deposits is beyond most bikers abilities.
But the simple act of pouring 15ml of FP60 in for every 10 litres of fuel during each fill-up seems easy.
So we decided to find out if the FP60 really works.
Our test bike was a four-year-old Honda XL200 dirtbike.
The 200cc bike, with a slight oil leak near the top gasket, last saw an engine oil change five months ago.
Prior to using the FP60, the XL200 regularly achieved between 230km and 235km before hitting reserve. Reaching
those distances normally consumed 7.8 litres of petrol.
In simpler terms, for each litre of petrol, the Honda could travel about 30km.
We started the test by giving the XL200 a 'shock treatment'..
On our first fill-up three weeks ago, we gave the bike 45ml of FP60, instead of the 15ml dose per 10 litres of 95-octane fuel.
We didn't see any significant increase in mileage after the tank ran dry.
But we noticed the throttle felt as though it had been greased with butter.
It was now more responsive during acceleration.
On the second fill-up, we gave it the recommended 15ml dose.
When the bike hit 'reserve', we noted the XL200 covered 250km on 7.73 litres of fuel.
For the third and fourth fill-ups, we clocked 256km and 260km respectively.
A final test showed 267km on the trip meter, after using 7.5 litres of petrol.
All the tests results were obtained while riding on the street, not highway.
RESULTS
The amount of fuel consumed stayed roughly the same, ranging from 7.5 litres to 7.8 litres.
On average, we saw a total mileage increase of 30km per fill-up.
The best we achieved for one litre of petrol was 35.6km.
You end up spending an additional $0.80 when you pour the 15ml dose for every 10 litres of fuel.
To gain more savings, a bigger 946ml car pack, which sells for $38, is available.
If you're too lazy to maintain your motorbike or observe better riding habits, the wonder juice FP60 could
just be the answer to better mileage.
This article was first published in The New Paper on July 19th 2008.
