V-Power Nitro+ for the Price of Unleaded.

Got this flyer today as I was filling up my bike. I think its a great deal, whether for your car or motorbike. Though there are some who don't subscribe to getting higher octane fuel for their smaller, lower compression scoots. Though for me, if my machine can burn it, then its good. 

You can buy Shell V-Power Nitro+  for the price of Unleaded Fuel. Schedule your fill as the promo is valid only from Fridays to Sundays until August 26, 2012. You can avail of the promo at the Shell Station at the corner of Connecticut St. and Ortigas Ave. near Greenhills.

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Measuring Fuel Economy

One of the reasons for me getting a motorcycle was the hope of saving funds spent on fuel. Obviously, a 1.3/1.6/1.8L car would down more gas than a 125cc bike. It would also get stuck in traffic much more, which needlessly consumes more fuel.

Whatever my bike consumed, I'm sure that it's less than if I would have taken a car. I know, as I only spend about 200 pesos per fill-up on the bike and which would last me a week, making the daily commute to and from work for 5 days, and minor errands on the weekends. Two hundred bucks of gas for the car on the other hand, probably wouldn't even last me a day. To add, the car gets filled with "Xtra Unleaded" while the bike gets "XCS".

Xtra Unleaded - Premium Grade Ethanol-blended Gasoline (RON 93+)

XCS - Premium Plus Grade Ethanol-blended Gasoline (RON 95+)

(From: http://www.petron.com/what-we-offer.html)

If it was consuming less, how much less? I was intrigued and wanted to get an empirical answer. I found and downloaded an app for Android called "Mileage". It was probably designed to monitor fuel consumption for multiple cars but works as well for a single motorcycle. You can get it free, here.

The app provides an easy and straightforward input format. Units can be customized and comments added.

The full "statistics" are also provided. If you want  to see the nitty gritty.

Here are the results from a month's worth of fuel fill-up data for the Kymco Super 8. This was the KS8's second month, and I hope that it's gas consumption has stabilized after the one month break-in period.

So if the calculations are correct, the Super 8's Fuel Economy runs from 25 to 30 kilometers per liter, with an average of about 27 kilometers per liter. Not bad, not bad at all.

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Call of Duty

Earlier today we had to respond to an emergency. We were driving home when we saw the scene of a vehicular accident involving a motorcycle and an SUV.

According to bystander reports, the speeding SUV whose driver was DUI, sideswiped the motorcyle as it was merging into the lane from a junction.

When we arrived at the scene, the rider was flat on the ground. He was wearing rubber slip-on shoes, jeans, a regular jacket, and thankfully, a relatively good helmet. I say relatively, as I didn't recognize the brand, but it was well padded, and had a good fit, though it was matte black which I personally dislike.

All of his articles of clothing were actually dark, if not black. The shoes, jacket and helmet were black. Only his jeans weren't black, though they were a very dark blue.

The victim was fully conscious, though he complained of back, leg and knee pain. According to the rider, when he was sideswiped, the impact back-flipped him before he was thrown to the ground.

Due to the mechanism of injury, I feared that he may have sustained spinal injury. Nevertheless, I asked if he can wiggle his fingers and toes and if he can squeeze my fingers as I held his hand. His responses were all good. Just to be sure, I asked him to keep very still and maintain his in-line position.

Together with other concerned citizens, we directed traffic, kept the victim under an umbrella, constantly monitored his vital signs and checked for other injuries. 

Rescue services were quite fast. They arrived within about 15 minutes. I was particularly proud that in Manila, we have immediate ambulance services during these emergencies. 

There was a quick endorsement of the patient, then the rescue crew took over to apply a cervical collar, put the patient on a spine board, then on a gurney, then wheeled him off.




Analyzing the situation based on observations, I suppose that the driver, which may have been DUI, would have impaired reflexes and response time. He may have seen the rider, particularly as it was broad daylight, but it was already too late. I think the rider also would have been better off if he was more visible, particularly if he had reflective gear and body armor. Please note that this is purely my opinion and that I do not claim to be an expert on scene investigation.

I do hope that some good will come out of this, hoping that the rider would fully recover, the driver be charged if found to be at fault, and that all of us would realize that we share the road with other motorists and that we should have mutual respect for each other.

Be safe everyone!



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