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Motorbikes don't use much fuel, but they are nowhere near as efficient as a car. On a mostly motorway trip my car does 40 mpg with four people on board, bikes on the roof, and towing a (small) caravan. Try that with a 125cc scooter. Aerodynamics are the problem for motorbikes and may be the reason why accurate figures are not available. Different sized riders, sitting in different positions, and wearing different clothes, could be dramatically different in terms of mpg.
Edited by Baskerville on 18/05/2008 at 14:48
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My Honda CB125TDC (that spends most of the time in the corner of the garage these days) used to do 80 to 100 mpg when I used to use it regularly.
On the flip side my old unrestricted Yamaha FS1E (Fizzy) only did approx 30 mpg. Mind you that could have had something to do with it being race tuned ;o)
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......................... On the flip side my old unrestricted Yamaha FS1E (Fizzy) only did approx 30 mpg. Mind you that could have had something to do with it being race tuned ;o)
I presume that means you removed the head gasket and took the baffle out of the silencer :-)))
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I presume that means you removed the head gasket and took the baffle out of the silencer :-)))
No. The previous owner fitted a 60cc barrel and piston. Changed the rotary disc valve and fitted a bigger main jet in the carb. Still had the standard exhaust (with baffles fitted) and the original 50cc head. Had to fit a hotter grade spark plug though as it kept melting the tip of the recommended one.
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Motorbikes don't use much fuel but they are nowhere near as efficient as a car.
On a motorway I'd agree with you, but around town they are usually far more efficient, they are smaller-engined thus using less fuel, they are carrying around less weight, and, unlike cars, they are usually on the move in heavy traffic, I could get home in 35mins on the biek when it would take 80 mins in the car...
We are talking commuter use here, not motorway use...
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In my experience, smallish bikes are economical but multi-cylinder blasters are heavy on fuel.
I had a BMW F650, not a big motor, not that fast and only a single. It could only manage around 50mpg inthe town whilst our Honda Jazz could usually manage 44 mpg in similar circumstances.
On a similar point, have you noticed how many motorcycle users, even on scooters, line up behind the cars at junctions rather than move to the front of the queue.What's point?
Motorcycles are really not very fuel efficient.
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....but they are easy to park in towns and can queue bust in the right hands. Just changed the bike to full business use so may well end up doing my 6 mile commute by bike.
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IME, a 125cc scooter/light motorcycle will give better mpg than a 50cc, purely because the 50 is working at or near max rpm the whole time, particularly if 2-stroke; the 125 less so.
This was illustrated perfectly by the Bandit's predecessor, a Kymco Cobra Racer scooter bought for my (then-urban) commute - for some reason the good people at Kymco had kitted it out with a rev counter. Idle was about 1,500, the centrifugal clutch would begin to bite at 4,500 and cruising rpm, depending on speed, was within 500 rpm either side of 7,000. Red line was at 8,000. Best ever mpg was about 80. My Dad's 125cc Kymco scooter will do better than 100 mpg on similar usage.
Bandit mpg (600cc) is 52+ mimsing, 46-48 ridden normally - which, given the performance compared with cars and the gloriously old-tech engine (4 carbs and manual choke) and my not-inconsiderable (and unaerodynamic) bulk on the back, seems pretty good.
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It's not often Harley riders can obtain bragging rights, but my XL1200R Sportster averages over 60 mpg, and that's with Stage 1 tuning and loud pipes. for a relatively large-engined (and pretty quick) bike that's rather good.
My old 1972 Sportster had a top-end rebuild a few years ago, and during the running -in period I was getting close on 75 to the gallon.... mind you it was the most frustrating and boring 500 miles I ever did on a Harley! One thing I don't miss at all on modern vehicles is running-in the engine.
Edited by Harleyman on 18/05/2008 at 23:21
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On a mostly motorway trip my car does 40 mpg with four people on board bikes on the roof and towing a (small) caravan. Try that with a 125cc scooter.
From what I see on the road every day, most cars have 1 person inside. If you want something that'll cope with every eventuality (6 people, towing something, bikes on the roof, over a muddy field) then you'll end up with a decent sized 4x4.
Aerodynamics are the problem for motorbikes
Agreed, most bikes are awful for aerodynamics. The OP was after some figures, and my 125cc Honda Varadero would do around 70mpg, a CG125 is 80mpg minimum and 100mpg more often. My old Honda Hornet 600 was around 45mpg if I remember right, and the ZZR1100 gives 48mpg every day.
That's 150bhp from 1100cc, but it's so fast that you just can't ride it hard for long - you'd be dead or banned within 10 miles. Even travelling quite quickly the bike is laughing its head off at less than 1/2 full revs so consequently it's just sipping its unleaded.
I agree with a post up there somewhere, in traffic (and almost everywhere has heavy traffic these days) a bike is more efficient than a car because it's almost always moving.
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One of the most aerodynamically efficient bikes around is the Suzuki Hayabusa, but even that illustrates perfectly the effect of wind resistance on a motorbike. Look at the acceleration times:
0-60 2.74s
0-100 4.92s
0-150 10.24s
0-180 18.84s
100-150 mph takes longer than 0-100.
150-180 mph takes nearly twice as long as 0-100.
Cheers
DP
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The old Honda CG125 four stroke single was good. It did about 120 mpg. One took me from Huntingdon to Munchengladbach with its little tank.
My last big bike, a 750 Kawasaki was about 45 mpg.
The 800cc BMW did barely 40 mpg, i.e. slightly more economical than a Vauxhall with an extra 1000cc.
I don't think small two strokes are very economical, but the old Honda step-thru 90 was amazing, if you could get used to it.
The thing about bikes is that they are far better in traffic, and can be great fun,but I doubt if it makes sense to buy one just for saving money.
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If you are using it in heavy commuter traffic that is stationary a lot of the time (ie in and out of most big cities these days!) then something like a CG125 will pay for itself pretty quickly as you won't be sitting there... and then there is the time saved....
As regards the aerodynamics, at commuter speeds I can't see that it would be much of an issue!
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In the late fifties I was once or twice a pillion passenger in London on a friend's Vincent V-twin, a long heavy black machine with unpainted aluminium mudguards and racing handlebars like sheep's ears down on the steering column. How he managed the thing in London I can't imagine. No helmets in those days of course. With the throttle closed, idling, in top gear it breezed along at about 45mph. I don't know what its fuel consumption was but I imagine in those conditions it was quite economical. The owner, who wasn't a close friend but whom I liked largely because of the Vincent, a clear sign of a sympathetic individual, later committed suicide.
Edited by Lud on 19/05/2008 at 15:58
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