In these times of high fuel prices, many people that have extended commutes have turn to riding motorcycles as a way to spend less of their hard earned money on gasoline. After all, even large powerful motorcycles usually get more than 35 miles per gallon in city driving and 50 or more miles per gallon on the highway. A huge saving over the gas consumption of that SUV many of you are driving!
But have you ever thought that as fuel efficient as you're motorcycle might be that there is an easy way to improve it even more with a simple change to using synthetic engine and drive train oils?
Compared to conventional petroleum motor oil, synthetic motorcycle oils, especially those made from high grade PAO (polyalphaolifin) synthetic base oils offer measurable and significant improvements in fuel economy.
Synthetic motorcycle oils have a much higher film strength, a lower co-efficient of drag, and reduced resistance to flow, reducing internal friction and drag enough to cause a measurable increase in fuel economy.
Here is a real world example. A friend of mine who does a daily 90 mile commute on his Harley Davidson 883 Sportster was getting an average of 57 miles per gallon on the highway using a common brand of conventional motorcycle oil.
Not a bad number at all!
After changing to high grade synthetic motorcycle oil in the engine, primary and transmission though, his fuel economy jumped 5 miles per gallon; a staggering increase of 8%!
What does an 8% increase mean to your pocket book? My friend rides his bike about 1500 miles per month. At his old average of 57 MPG he was using a little over 26 gallons of gasoline. Figuring a price of $3.00 per gallon he was spending about $79.00 per month on gasoline (Gee that sounds cheap compared to my pickup!) When his average increased to 62 MPG it lowered his cost almost 7 dollars per month or $76.00 per year. More than the cost of going to the synthetic motorcycle oil!
There are of course other benefits to be enjoyed by changing to synthetic oil. Lower operating temperatures, reduced wear and if you choose a product such as Amsoil's synthetic motorcycle oil that offers a longer than standard drain interval, an element of convenience.