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The law and fuel economy

1K views 16 replies 12 participants last post by  plodalong 
#1 ·
On a tour at the moment and visiting Victoria, where the police have no sense of humour and fine the crap out of you for being 5klm(3mph) over the speed limit. Now being cheap I hate paying fines so have been sticking to the speed limit, mostly 100 kph(62mph).

This enforced restraint has had quite an effect on fuel economy and therefore range. Last 3 tanks got 60-45-62.5 mpg that's uk gallons.the 45 mpg was all tight windy roads with a 100 kph speed limit in an area where strangely you would have to try hard to break the limit. Even got 273 Klm from 12.3 litres, jez I could have made 300 Klm from a tank.

Still can't see this restraint lasting once I'm back home. Funny but all this enforcement is for our safety supposedly. Just doesn't show in the Victorian road toll eh.
 
#4 ·
I once got 60mpg over a 200 mile run on my 900 Sprint cruising along at 60mph (with chum on a classic). Normal was 42mpg or even 32mpg ridden like a numpty yed.

I recall running-in a BSA C15 250cc, I got 150mpg, normal was 90'ish mpg ridden too hard than was good for it.

My Tiger 800 is running-in, the first 30 miles showed 30'odd mpg on the 'puter, now showing 70mpg at 600 miles. We'll see how it goes under normal use after another few hundred miles.

My little XT225 does around 80mpg, makes me wonder where all that fuel goes to in such a tiny motor that's rarely pushed over 50mph.
 
#6 ·
In Queensland its even lower just 2 ks over and your gone, its got nothing to do with road safety, the QLD GOVT is broke so they lowered the limit you could go over so they can get more money out of us and of course they won't addmit it that its revenue raising, of course they will always say its to save lives and 40ks over the spped limit and they take your bike away for 48hrs and if you get done 3 times over 40ks they take your bike off you to never be seen again, I don't blame the police as they are only doing what they are told by the GOVT, as well here if you get more than one ticket in less than 12 months they double dip your points, its a secret law they brought in that you only know about after you pay your fine.

The fun police have taken all the fun out of every things we do these days even all our faviorte twisty roads they have dropped the speed limits from 100ks down to 80ks so they can catch more of us, as for fuel I have done a few 300ks out of my Thruxton fuel tank with 2 ltrs left in the tank.

Ashley
 
#7 ·
Reading posts from Aussie riders about how zealous the cops can be there with speed tax collection makes Canadian cops seem downright hospitable. Here on the highway you have to be doing 20 km/h over to get ticketed unless you're unlucky. It would take a lot of the fun out of riding to have to worry that much about how fast you're going.

Through a series of speedo malfunctions and warranty returns, I estimate I rode 15,000 km over periods of the past two riding seasons without a speedo and it didn't matter much. Now I would not try that on a Hayabusa but it's fine on a Bonnie. :grin2: I tend to ride at a speed that's both fun and what I consider sensible and I don't give much thought to fuel economy although I will say, it is remarkably consistent on these bikes. I usually find more of a variance in mileage between short city hops and long highway rides than I do with how heavy my throttle hand is, although the one tank where I sat on 150 km/h for an hour went dry pretty quick.
 
#8 ·
Is that 2 litres left from the quoted 16? Never had mine empty but 13 litres is the most I've managed to fit in. I don't know what the useable limit is.
 
#9 ·
Before I rode motorcycles, I took a road trip to see a friend in Virginia. At the time, I had a 1986 Lincoln Town Car, and Virginia had a reputation for being speed nazis. As a result, one leg of my trip was at a steady 55 mph on two lane roads. I got 24 mpg from that tank, the best I ever did with that car, which normally averaged 18.

That being said, I concluded a long time ago that speed limits (at least as set in the U.S) are much much more about revenue than they are about public safety. I've further concluded that most roads could stand to have their limits raised by 20 mph, or eliminated entirely with minimal safety consequences.
 
#10 ·
I was in Adelaide back in '88 on a job for a few weeks, and it was the first time I ever saw road blocks and sobriety checks. Speed enforcement seemed more strict than the States but it's hard to tell.
In the meantime it's got very lax here in California, people drive very fast and nobody gets pulled over.
 
#11 · (Edited)
I'm of the opinion that Australia, lovely blokes that they are and nice civilized place it's turned out to be (not bad for a buncha convicts, eh?), is turning into a nanny state. I've read some horror stories about guys getting their classic and muscle cars confiscated (as if it's some sort of emminent domain law) for stupid stuff like smoking their tyres at traffic lights.

I don't think it's got anything to do with state coffers. It's just fascist nannery. It worked to turn Oz into a nice place, but it only takes you so far until it becomes worse than bloody Switzerland and you become the laughing stock of the free world. And I mean real freedom and self-determination. Not this "for the greater good" (read: for the glory of institutionalized chauvinism) rubbish or what the yanks like to pretend is freedom.

Thought for the day: Kevin Bloody Wilson in Lederhosen.
 
#13 ·
In Australia its more to do with reveue raising as most of the states GOVT are broke, no money in the purse, so they see speeding one of the biggest reveue raising tax they can think of, but also our young ones are getting their licences, more so the young males, they have a car load of their mates and of course they got to show off without much experiance driving so of course a lot of them have been wiped out from silly mistakes and they usualy take their mates with them, road deaths from people from 17 years old to about 22 years old is getting worst evey years and the latest is male bike ridiers between 40 to 55 are getting killed on their big bikes, they had bikes in their younger days, got married had kids etc then after the kids have grown they have money in the bank and decide to get back into bikes, but the roads have changed since their younger days and a lot of them are getting wiped out, different story with bike riders who never stopped riding from a young age to what ever age they are now, myself have never stopped riding and have been on the road since I was 15 years old and now 58 years old, but the roads are more dangours now car drivers who don't pay attention, driving while on mobil phones, having their music up so loud they don't hear or see others around them or they are driving in their own world without a care and of course road rage is also a big thing, everyone is in a hurry, people make mistakes, no reason to get out and start bashing them just because of a little mistake, so you wonder why the GOVT is cracking down on hoons, speeders or people not paying attention, thank god people in Australia don't carry guns.

So really it the stupid ones that have caused this to happen in our great country who are stuffing it up for everyone else, remember speed kills, so much can happen on our roads and most accidents happen because people are making silly mistakes or not paying attention at all around them.

Ashley
 
#12 ·
yep here in oz you can have your vehicle confiscated for a burn out or wheelie , a repeat offender could have vehicle crushed . also club colours are not allowed and we have speed cameras at traffic lights as well as plain cars parked on the side of the road with speed cameras . still its been 14 years since ive had a speeding fine or even been pulled over .
 
#15 ·
yes, in Australia it is largely revenue raising and different states have different rules of enforcing the road rules. it is not so much that the states are broke, but the amount of money overpaid public servants receive and the rorts the politicians are involved in. here in Victoria a couple of politicians have been exposed with their snouts in the trough by claiming expenses they should not receive

and if the Greens have there way speed limits would be lowered even further like in the Melbourne central business district where it is a snail pace 40 KMH about 25 MPH

I recently arrive home home from a driving trip from south of Melbourne where I live to Bundaberg in Queensland and took mostly the minor roads. covered 5000 kilometers and only seen two coppers, so at least that eliminates your chances of beng caught, except you have to keep an eye out for speed cameras, especially in Victoria

as far as mileage goes when touring, once ran out bone dry at 299 kilometers and the bike does become very economical getting down to 5L/100Km on long country rides cruising at 100 kph
 
#16 ·
We have some strange rules in the UK eg If a road has street lights, it is a 30mph unless there are signs to say otherwise like 40. Then without warning one day they remove the 40 signs which then makes the road a 30. Plod will be on that road the very next day & catch hundreds of drivers unaware of the change. I know, been caught with that scam.

Austria has a good one also, lots of speed limit KPH signs going up 50, 70, 90 & down 70, 50, & so on, no excuse for getting a ticket you'd think, then you're in a 90 & plod jumps out with a gun & you're done! Passed a tiny village name sign on the distant outskirts that automatically makes it a 50kph limit unless a sign to say different. A big van parked before & partly obscuring the sign is no excuse. I know, took a hit on this one also, fined on the spot & if you aint got the dosh, you'll be frogmarched to the nearest bank or hole in the wall.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Ah well I'll be back to NSW tomorrow where 10klm over is not likely to get you a fine. A few years ago I got caught doing 122 in a 100 zone. Cop checked my record, no convictions for 10 years so wrote it up as less than 10 Klm over. He then told me if I wrote in they would probably let me off the fine and demerit point. I did and was indeed let off. Didn't tell the cop I had been out of the country for 7 of the 10 years clean licence .

I find cops are generally pretty good if you take it on the chin, no point in making excuses and being agro.
 
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