Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Single Post - Buying a bike for MPG/Vetter Challenge, what would be your favorite?

sendler · 08-20-2012, 11:08 PM

I rode the PCX150 to work today. 40 miles each way. Backroads at 55 mph on the way up and superhighway at 60- 65 on the way home. Whoever said you can't go on the big road because of the wind performance needs more experience. This bike is very stable in dirty air as it is on gravel and the air coming over the front is calm. The speedo of my US version is dead on with the gps. I also set up to check the odometer and it too seemed to be pretty close but I forgot to check it again more toward the end of the ride. I only used full throttle a few times, even staying off the stop on the biggest hills. There is some sort of electronic limit at 68 mph which comes on as a slow surge. And I can hit this speed on the flat with no draft. I oscillates smothly in a sine wave at maybe 1-2 Hz. This is much slower and gentler than most rev limiters I have seen which have more of 10Hz sawtooth pattern. I got my tach in the mail today so I can check to see what rpm this is and if it is a rev limit or a speed limit. If I had another 3 mph, I would never get dropped or become an obstacle in the truck lane. I may have to see if my variator is letting the belt all the way out and make a change to something else if it isn't. It's going to be hard to get really accurate fill ups. I filled to the bar at the bottom of the filler neck last night but tonight as I was adding fuel it was low, low, low, and then splash! Fuel shot right out the top and made a mess. So I didn't get a good fuel economy calculation but it looks like at speeds over 60 mph/ 100kph, my CBR250R will beat the PCX on gas. I still enjoy riding it though and if I wasn't running late both ways, I could keep it to 50 mph on the back roads and turn a good number. The high beam is awesome! Better than many cars. The tires shake a little. Maybe I will ask my excellent Honda shop manager if warranty will balance them once since there are no weights on either wheel. There is a slight tendency for the rear top hop sideways just a little bit over some of the bigger humps in the highway that develop across the paved over expansion joints. All in all a really nice bike. Especially the way that Honda has smoothed the air over the front of the high quality bodywork.

08-20-2012, 11:08 PM	#92 (permalink)
sendler Master EcoModder Join Date: May 2011 Location: Syracuse, NY USA Posts: 2,935 Honda CBR250R FI Single - '11 Honda CBR250R 90 day: 105.14 mpg (US) 2001 Honda Insight stick - '01 Honda Insight manual 90 day: 60.68 mpg (US) 2009 Honda Fit auto - '09 Honda Fit Auto 90 day: 38.51 mpg (US) PCX153 - '13 Honda PCX150 90 day: 104.48 mpg (US) 2015 Yamaha R3 - '15 Yamaha R3 90 day: 80.94 mpg (US) Ninja650 - '19 Kawasaki Ninja 650 90 day: 72.57 mpg (US) Thanks: 326 Thanked 1,315 Times in 968 Posts	I rode the PCX150 to work today. 40 miles each way. Backroads at 55 mph on the way up and superhighway at 60- 65 on the way home. Whoever said you can't go on the big road because of the wind performance needs more experience. This bike is very stable in dirty air as it is on gravel and the air coming over the front is calm. The speedo of my US version is dead on with the gps. I also set up to check the odometer and it too seemed to be pretty close but I forgot to check it again more toward the end of the ride. I only used full throttle a few times, even staying off the stop on the biggest hills. There is some sort of electronic limit at 68 mph which comes on as a slow surge. And I can hit this speed on the flat with no draft. I oscillates smothly in a sine wave at maybe 1-2 Hz. This is much slower and gentler than most rev limiters I have seen which have more of 10Hz sawtooth pattern. I got my tach in the mail today so I can check to see what rpm this is and if it is a rev limit or a speed limit. If I had another 3 mph, I would never get dropped or become an obstacle in the truck lane. I may have to see if my variator is letting the belt all the way out and make a change to something else if it isn't. It's going to be hard to get really accurate fill ups. I filled to the bar at the bottom of the filler neck last night but tonight as I was adding fuel it was low, low, low, and then splash! Fuel shot right out the top and made a mess. So I didn't get a good fuel economy calculation but it looks like at speeds over 60 mph/ 100kph, my CBR250R will beat the PCX on gas. I still enjoy riding it though and if I wasn't running late both ways, I could keep it to 50 mph on the back roads and turn a good number. The high beam is awesome! Better than many cars. The tires shake a little. Maybe I will ask my excellent Honda shop manager if warranty will balance them once since there are no weights on either wheel. There is a slight tendency for the rear top hop sideways just a little bit over some of the bigger humps in the highway that develop across the paved over expansion joints. All in all a really nice bike. Especially the way that Honda has smoothed the air over the front of the high quality bodywork.