I've been going through
Craig Vetter's site again. For those who aren't familiar, this guy pretty much revolutionized motorcycle touring with his frame-mounted aerodynamic fairings which he put in commercial production and are a common sight on the roads today.
His interest in motorcycle fuel efficiency lead him to hold
annual competitions in the early 80's, the goal being results in "real", on-road driving. Each year the machines got more and more extreme.
One multiple winner, Japanese participant
Matsu Matsuzawa, achieved 470 mpg in the last year of the competition, hunched over on a small, almost fully faired 185cc Honda called "SPUD".
Years after the '85 competition, Vetter asked the champ:
"Today, if you wanted to build a usable, high mileage machine for real, solo, cross country riding (coast to coast) please describe what kind of machine you would start with and what you would do to it"
Matsuzawa answered:
"Buy Honda Insight, drive easy with air conditioner."
Ba-dum, dum!
(
source)
