Motorcycle MPG
 

I can find the MPG on normal vehicles but often on Motorbike production websites the MPG is missing. It this because of bad mileage from expensive machines?

A Fiat Panda 4x4 diesel will do 80 MPG so bikes should do at least the same/much more?

As an instance Suzuki GB said could not tell us the new 125cc Van Van MPG.

With small tanks and living in rural areas it's vital to know fuel usage and mileages. :helpsmilie:

So which as the best on fuel usage and which are the worse?

Google Fuelly, real world figures for most bikes.

If you are new to this you will be appalled by some bikes. You can get over 150 mpg from a 125 but the tanks are designed for the city. Buy something old, big and cruisery and 30 mpg with a 3 gallon tank will be great if you like petrol station sandwiches! Best combinations are modern 500-800 cc big traillie type bikes which can combine biggish tanks and 60-70 mpg or some older style bikes (Enfields are surprisingly good) that were about before biking was a weekend fashion.

For cheap transport the Fiat Panda will win, look at the price of bike tyres and insurance too.

Andy

The truth is, noone in the Western world has really asked for fuel-efficient bikes until quite recently, judging bikes by bhp/cc rather than miles/gallon. So there isn't much published information from manufacturers, and when you look at real world data, a lot of bikes are surprisingly bad.

The new Honda NC700 is probably the first bike designed with efficiency high up the list of priorities.

That said, there are plenty of efficient bikes out there, even if their manufacturers aren't making a song and dance about it. Most small capacity (sub-250cc) bikes will be pretty good, as will modern soft-tuned big singles - think Yamaha XT or the BMW singles, rather than KTM 690. Enfields are renowned for being efficient, despite being an ancient engine design. If you don't like singles, the Kawasaki ER-6 is a pretty efficient lump, and you can have it in a choice of naked, sporty, or 'adventure' chassis.

First of all, confusion reigns when people start comparing fuel consumption while mixing references to American and Imperial gallons, then salting liberally with kilometers and liters. I'm just trying to get ahead of the curve by pointing that out.

I get 50 miles per US gallon (4 quarts, 5% under 4 liters) with my large, carburated single (KLR 650). That's about 80 km per gallon, about 20 km per liter. I've had as low as 25-30 miles per gallon in ferocious headwinds with bad gas and full luggage (Patagonia). I've had as high as 75 miles per gallon riding steadily with no load on a level road at 40 miles per hour. Big differences.

I get 5-10 miles per gallon better under all circumstances with a fuel injected v-twin (DL 650).

I've had the experience of riding along in misery (gusty winds, driving rain and hail, temps just above freezing).....and looking over at the folks in the Smartcar in the next lane, who're warm, dry, listening to pleasant music and carrying on a genteel conversation while getting better mileage than I.

On the other hand, there are advantages to doing what we do. Sometimes it's hard to remember just what and when.

Mark

Since I had my Enfield Electra I have averaged about 95-96 MPg ( Brit Imperial gallons), But these are designed for teh Indian market where running costs are a big factor. All my old Brit bike did in excess of 65Mpg. the Bmw 800 ridden gently would do 50mpg.

for two up travelling you really can't beat a diesel Panda

For cheap motoring you can't beat the small diesel cars, that is until something goes wrong with the dualmass flywheel, diesel particulate filter or Exhaust gas recirculation system. Then you are in for a nasty shock.
Hard to filter through traffic in a 4 wheeler as well.
Big FI singles are pretty good these days for fuel economy, have a look at Chris Scotts XTZ660Z Tenere fuel data
And his F650GS Fuel data
His GSR500 project bike to date
The thing is that bike MPG can vary wildly depending on lots of factors, weight of rider(gut size) headwind/tailwind/ luggage.
Honda's Innova 125 claims up to 120mpg which is pretty good if you want economy.

MPG
 

I have seen that a woman rode around Europe on a new Suzuki Van Van 125 and laden and was getting 2.2Ltrs/100kms which is around 130MPG (UK). Staggering considering such a little engine and all the load.

This does around 2-2.5 litres to 100km...

Sommer - Motorradmanufaktur - Startseite

John

travel light have nice throttle control, if a modern bike, chnage map for some of restricted power, play with sprockets , my aprilia caponord with 3 cases on it and me with 100kg, do some average on 3.5 liters on 100kilometers (sorry eu citizen dont know mpg on that) which is ok on some rough riding faster one never under 90 or 100 it goes on 4.5l/100km, and and highway well thats the different story , but everything must be properly maintained , and work perfectly, electrics, engine transmission, carbs synced if any and stuff,

in eu all vehicles have consumption, in usa they dont, you had cheap gallons, and didnt cvare about consumption, now times have changed and it is important to everyone to calcutae costs, for that there is plenty of really good mpg calculators on google to find, where you can find data from someone, and manually enter to find all the possible solutions for mpg

have just taken the suzuki vanvan to mongolia and back. 140mpg on the open road, 100mpg daily commuting to work.

I find this encouraging, not just the mpg but the fact that you did it, I hope to soon be headed off that way on a Honda XR125, the later one with the CG engine. At home it does 105-115 mpg (imp) and the 12 litre tank should take me well over 200 miles, it also has a seat that is as comfy as the one on my R80GS.

Hi Guy's. I wonder if this would be the same for a "Skyteam V-rapter 125?:confused1:
TDMalcolm

That just goes to show how things have improved - in some areas at least. I did 2000 miles to the Elephant rally this year on a mid 70's Suzuki commuter 125 and got 60mpg out of it averaged over that distance. My father in law's Fiat Multipla gets just about the same.

If you want to know what sort of mileage people are getting out of vehicles (including motorcycles) in the real world, check out www.fuelly.com

It's a site for tracking your mileage and fuel usage. You can search for a particular model of vehicle, and see what folks with that vehicle are recording for their mileage results.