Dutch motorcyclist and frugal driver.
 

Hello i'm Bert from the Netherlands.

I've got a Skoda Fabia with 1.2 tdi which i love.
Honda CRF250L for offroading (greenlaning)
Yamaha Tricker 250 Same as the honda above.

Honda NC750x for longer trips.

Track T-800cdi a unique dieselmotorcycle. (Which is a tinker project that doesn't ride a lot)

Welcome!

https://www.fuelly.com/attachments/fo...07afca0310.gif

Hello and Welcome. Some interesting vehicles there :)

I just recently bought a Kawasaki Vulcan S in order to commute 48 miles away from home and save money on fuel. Do you have any tips?

Hi Sean, Well you got yourself a short stroke engine with 8 valves so don't expect too much of it.

First and most important on your commute is start easy. Let it warm up before you put load on it. You don't need to idle it for minutes but getting the catalytic converter up to a higher temperature before you add a load is good imo. My motorcycle will high idle for about 30 seconds to 1 minute depending on outside temperature. If i do start to ride immediately i keep the load low and i ride like an old fart.While keeping an eye on traffic of course. I have 2 routes to leave my region towards the south. One for cold engine where i can ride slow and not bother anyone (and also do not have to stop and go a lot) and the other is normal roads for hot engine. I like to ride slow for 20 minutes at least to heat everything up. Meaning you're not cooling the engine too much with wind, and you're not pushing it hard so the fuel consumption isn't inflated due to the cold engine.

Keep it low in revs also when accelerating. This means shifting a lot. Lugging is ok-ish. My honda with automatic shifts likes to keep it on the lug border even when going uphill and a lot of power needed in low gear. It's better to run low in rpm and almost open throttle versus higher in rpm and closed throttle fuel efficiency wise. So accelerate briskly. Not full power but full throttle in low rpm.