Last fall, after installing the supercharger on the biofuel bike, we wanted to measure its fuel economy in real-world conditions. Upstate New York offers a lot of roads with radically-changing terrain, so we chose a route near Troy to perform the test. We filled the bike to the brim at a gas station on Route 2, east of Troy in Brunswick, and marked the fuel's height with a dipstick.
Our destination was Petersburgh Pass, a mountain pass approximately 18.7 miles away. The total route, upon return to the gas station, would be 37.5 miles with a total elevation change of 1579 feet.
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| Our Route |
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| Resting at the Top |
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| Parking Lot View |
The bike performed flawlessly, although I was unable to shift into second gear on the steeper parts due to lack of power (as expected). The last 2 miles were a slow 20mph crawl to the top, but there were zero mechanical troubles. After returning to the same pump and filling up to the dipstick a second time, we measured a fuel consumption of 0.4 gallons, which calculates to an economy of roughly 95 miles per gallon, at top speed over variable terrain.
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