Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Fry
QUOTE=darcane;261151]The Montracer gets 53 mpg at a constant 75 mph, and emits fra more criteria emissions than a Prius in the process. This is about equivalent to 53 mpg in an EPA highway fuel test cycle. So getting 150 mpg in a streamlined motorcycle is more than a no-brainer -- and some claims are not measured in accordance with the EPA test cycle.
Having built a tiny enclosed motorcycle, I can say it is not easy to get over 100 (real) mpg in anything that most people will want to ride.
BSFC remains a challenge, as the Monotracer shows. If you have produced a bike that requires only 10 hp to maintain 75, then a 100 hp bike engine is far too large, and engine operating efficiency might be 8%. Make the engine 10 hp, and then acceleration is rotten (and top speed is 75) -- but you've bumped the engine efficiency back up to 25%.
No free lunches today.
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Great point. It is a shame that the makers of the monotracer did not go that way with their design. The new breed of more fuel efficent cars seem to all have smaller engines capable of greater highend power. Sounds like a motorcycle engine to me. Of course the car engins are much more sophisticated.