Good MPG, Poor MPH (Tim)

I've been intregued by Scotts question about fuel consumption.  I have no idea how much my scooter drinks.  To tell the truth I still havent got over the novelty of it only costing a fiver to fill her up.  I couldnt squeeze any more in even if I wanted to!  To put this in some context, it currently costs me £75 to fill up our car, so running the Vespa is pocket money :-)

Making an accurate fuel consumption measurement is actually more difficult than you would imagine on a Vespa.  Unlike a car, the Vespa fuel tank does not have a long filler neck into which you can thrust purposefully the petrol pump nozzle and "fill 'er up" until the machine senses 'full' and automatically switches off the pump.  The Vespa tank instead, is not unlike a petrol can - you can look right inside, and I would imagine that if you wanted to you could probably touch the bottom of the tank with the end of the petrol pump filler nozzle.
The top of the Vespa fuel tank is flat, and the filler cap is right in the middle of it, so if you were to fill the tank right up, the petrol would be sloshing right up to and around the petrol cap seal and seeping out and over - very messy.  So I prefer to fill up to within about an inch of the top to minimise this.
Using the very scientific method of 'up to the first knuckle of my forefinger' I filled up and off I went.

According to our taxi driver last night, today was going to be the nicest day of the year so far.  And he was right.  It has been a glorious day and so I took (all in the name of fuel consumption measurement) a long and very enjoyable ride out to the countryside, along the way calling in to see an old friend and his 1920's Fowler steam roller.

The scooter ran well and consistently, even at the almighty speed of 70kph (44mph) for long stretches!  I am sensing now and then a little quiver in the bike.  is this those wheel bearings that im fretting over?  maybe my tyres need pumping  up? or is it the lousy road surfaces that my wheels keep being pulled about by?  Whatever - she ran beautifully.


So at the end of a lovely ride, what are the findings of the fuel consumption test?
Once again I filled up to the first knuckle, paid my £7.20 and sat down with my calculator.
Calculations show that I'm getting 71.6 mpg.  Not bad I guess (and certainly better than Scotts 60mpg)

So at 71mpg, our 1000 mile trip is going to require 14 gallons of fuel,  and cost me approximately £85 (and perhaps 16.5 gallons at £100 for Scotts 60mpg gas guzzler)