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obvious tip: this works for gas cars too. if you're extremely low on gas and in the middle of nowhere, draft a semi ... very carefully. luckily they don't brake very fast.

i did this more than a couple of times during college road trips when i was broke as a joke.

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Can confirm, had to do this once only and I hated it. Got in to the next town and put 65.4L into my 65L tank. Never again.

It didn't help that the service station I had hoped to reach when I started getting low was shut because they had run out of petrol.

Sometimes on long motorcycle rides you can take a few minute break behind a semi. Especially on a bike with no windscreen, your arms get really tired of pulling you against 60~ mph wind for hours. Pull up close behind a semi and the wind will disappear. Keep alert, like you said though.

It might be better to just take a break at a rest stop. A friend of mine was on a long distance ride across the U.S. and was killed doing this.

Sorry about your friend. While will get you more mpg, it's not worth it. When the truck hits their brakes you want enough time to stop. Other dangers are them kicking up rocks that can easily crack your windshield, and blown out tires (one hit my sisters car and took out a chuck of her bumper).

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