What's the most efficient factory scooter?
 

Hey guys,

What scooter (for U.S. market) get the best mpg without modifications or altered driving?

There are, to my knowledge, NO U.S. made scooters of any kind. Genuine Scooters I'm not sure about, I can't find any yes or no answer on their site.

That being said, the best warranties are probably going to come from Japan and Italy.

Thanks for the reply. I actually meant U.S. market, not U.S. made. I should have specified.

oh, jeeze. I just read that. haha. It does sound like I meant it in that way. No, I mean what scooter on the U.S. market gets the best mileage without any modifications.

Then I might say anything 50cc, (they're going to be pretty neck and neck across the board) or if you needed higher speeds, the Genuine Stella (with a manual) would beat out offerings of similar displacement.

While it does seem that a great deal of scooters get similar mileage, there are some front runners for sure. But what I'd really like to get is a lot of different opinions!

Go-Ped maybe? You should also be a little more specific on intended use. Of course the Go-Ped is not acceptable for other than 25 mph speed limit neighborhood roads. Most 50cc scooters are not much better than that either.

Without modifications, and still be practical for most roads except not freeways, the 125cc to 200cc class would be where to start looking. Honda PCX 150 owners get close to the magical 100 mpg mark. The Honda PCX 125 is in the realm of that 100 + mpg. But again, there are variables like road conditions and the inclines to overcome, wind, rider weight, stop & go traffic and riding style that will all have an affect on fuel economy.

Then again, there are electric scooters that might do better in a mpg equivalent way, but are limited in range. Probably speed limited as well but that would be just my guess since honestly I know little to nothing of the electric scooters.

I'm planning on riding to work, 2-5 miles, on roads 25-40mph with light to medium morning traffic.

The go-ped is really cool, but expensive for what you get. I also don't want to mess with charging.

At those speeds you could get by with a Honda Elite 110 but a PCX will get 100 mpg and be able to do more cross town and out of town travel.

Is the U.S.-spec PCX also fitted with start-stop?

Consider other factors as well. Do you need winter tires? What dealerships are in your area? A liquid cooled machine offers the option of a block heater and heater core to warm the rider.

No. :(

https://rideapart.com/articles/how-m...topstart-works

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_PCX

Can the PCX's that Honda sells in the USA be modified to have an idling stop system?

In my area 40 mph is adequate in town so a 50cc Zuma or Stella would suffice as these have good local dealers. A full fairing could get speeds higher. Altitude and inclines would require a larger engine. Compression ratio is key to efficiency. Genuine has a 220cc air cooled scooter and the PCX 150 is the machine to beat overall.

Probably it can be modified to have the idling stop, I'm just not sure if there's something to replace to incorporate this feature or if it's just a software reflashing.

Any motorcycle can do idle start stop very easily by manually using the kill switch and the start button.

Presuming you can change out the gears, the best motorcycle would be a Roketa MC-05-127.
It comes stock with 80MPG, and with a sprocket swap from 41T to 31T gets 120MPG at best; but disables it for highway use.
34T (105MPG) sprocket is about as low to go.

Also a Honda Grom 125cc is great for everything save the interstate.

Other than that, Honda's PCX150 is a good all rounder as a scooter, no interstate.
To have an interstate ready scoot, you'd have to go for a vespa or Piaggio 350cc scoot, or a Burgman (400cc).
You can also get a Linhai 250/300cc scooter; they'll make it on the interstate, but barely (75MPH).

A 50cc, if you can change the gearing is best for speeds upto 30MPH, if you keep the revs below 3,5k RPM, you could get 120MPG as well.
Revs to 7,5k rpm, and it can get you 42MPH, with 100MPG.

If it has a CVT, you're best off with a 100cc scooter.

What you NEED to get around anywhere, is a 250cc ptwin engine, like a Honda Rebel (top speed > 80MPH).
What you NEED to get around anywhere save on the interstate, is a 125cc scoot (top speed > 60 MPH).
What you NEED to get around town, is a 100cc (top speed of upto 55MPH).

What you optimally would want for:
Interstate and below speeds (80MPH): 350-400cc thumper (7.5k RPM), 300-350cc thumper high rev (10k RPM), 300-350cc ptwin low rev (<8k RPM), 300cc Ptwin high rev (10k).
Highway or below speeds (60MPH): 150cc ptwin bike low rev, or a 125cc high rev thumper.


Scooters take about 10% off the powerband, so add 10% to the cc size.

Sorry to raise this thread from the dead. :D

North American Honda PCX 150 owners are regularly getting 90 MPG from the factory, that's without idle stop. The upcoming ADV 150 will have the same powertrain. A friend of mine who had one and driving on 90 km/h highways was regularly getting over 100 MPG.

It has a governed top speed of 104 km/h or 65 mph, the motor size and horsepower is similar to the Yamaha SMax 155 which is not governed and tops out at 120 km/h or 75 mph. When you go up a 6% grade however, the PCX is still doing very close to top speeed while the SMax drops down to about what the PCX is doing, so you're getting more consistent top speed with the PCX.

I don't know about the USA but the minimum speed on certain freeways where I am is 60 km/h. So it's freeway capable, but whether you're comfortable doing 100 km/h in a 100 zone where drivers are typically doing 110, 120, that's another story. I had a Honda CBR 125R before that had about the same performance as the PCX, and off peak it was ok, I was in the right lane and everyone can pass. Rush hour however, there I was in the HOV lane passing all those single occupant cars. It wasn't as efficient as the PCX but I was still doing 80 mpg on it without thinking of hypermiling.

Considering that I have even lurked about building a tricycle with a Honda CG 160 engine (mostly because it would be more comfortable to haul my dog around than in a motorcycle or scooter), after a guy who owns one based on an old CG 125 with the pushrod engine told me he could reach 90km/h on freeway, the ADV 150 would probably be suitable for me if I didn't have patellar chondromalacia.

I get about 140 mpg on a fairly heavily modified scooter
its a dirt common 150 gy6. It tops out at about 50 mph do to poor aerodynamics

I have found my 50:1 oil 2 stroke motors run better with 40:1 to 45:1 gas. Seem to run smoother, stronger but I don't know if they suck down more fuel.

Probably it won't be sucking down more fuel, as the improved lube might be decreasing friction and the losses associated to it.

Hey,

I would suggest the unagi scooter, it is a little on the pricey side but it last really long and has really good reviews. Hope that helps.

Best,

Sur-Ron :thumbup:

Any scooter or e-bike will benefit from a fairing and tail box.

Is it a scooter or a motorcyle?, best of both in my opinion, doesn't seem to get much airtime on this site.
https://powersports.honda.com/street...super-cub-c125

It's somewhat more rugged than the majority of scooters.

The new Hunter/Trail Cub looks even more robust. No news yet as to availability in the UK, emails to Honda and independent importers have been sent.

And closer in appearance to a more conventional motorcycle instead of a scooter.

Old thread revival time yet again. My 2013 PCX150 has averaged 103.0 US MPG(43.8KM/L) over the past 5,740 miles(9,238KM). I have the Honda tall windscreen and rear top box. I ride a mix of rural roads(80-90KM/H) and in town. It rides 2 up comfortably holding 90KM/H even on hills. Love this little bike.

Difficult to believe, but take a look at this :- https://youtu.be/n4wxvyvuJ_E

Not scientific at all. Notice the different traffic and riding conditions. Mine is proven on fuelly.com. I have lighter rollers installed etc. Going to get my Fuelly ticker for the PCX on my signature. I ride down to 0C/32F. Sometimes below when dry.

Agreed, I'm surprised you went for lighter rollers but then again all this variator tuning thing is new to me.
I acquired a Helix scooter a while ago, I was told that it had a 'Malossi kit' installed, performance is more than adequate for my needs but because I'm curious I'm going to experiment with different roller weights to see what difference it makes to performance and economy.

I noticed no ill effect on MPG but quicker acceleration. I gave it a try and I am very happy. :) Still on OEM tires and the are definitely built for MPG.

I didn't know there was any Malossi product meant to be fitted to a 4-stroke scooter, I only knew its performance parts for 2-stroke engines.

HUGE aftermarket for the PCX. All the big brands, Malossi, YSS, Yuminoshi big bore kits, NCY, every brand of exhaust imaginable etc etc etc. The PCX outsells Vespa 3-1 in Italy. And there is a MASSIVE aftermarket for it in Asia. Highway legal in all 50 states, but interstate are a bit scary when people blast past in such a light bike.

In many scooter-oriented markets, or any country where motorcycles are seen as a regular all-year commuter, Honda outsells any European contender. Brazil is not as scooter-hungry as it used to be from the '50s to mid-'70s when Honda took over with the CG 125, but nowadays I spend months without seeing any Vespa from the '90s or newer, yet I see at least one modern Honda scooter a day.


Southeast Asia in general tends to be much more favorable to scooters than anywhere else.