What's your best motorcycle MPG?

[rm12577]

09 Honda cbr600rr worst mileage that I can remember 35 mpg out playing on curvy roads, best 53 mpg, consistently >45 mpg at any temperature commuting

[bikepilot]

As an update I've been commuting on the wife's '06 Ducati Monster 620 for a couple of weeks now. An 11 mile commute in and out of DC so mostly heavy stop and go traffic with a quick blast on 395 up to 75-80mph for a couple of miles. Really not a fuel-efficent type of commute as half of it is with the motor not fully warmed and hardly any is just cruising at a constant speed.

The monster has gotten between 57 and 60mpg consistently (hand calculated) so far (temps between 60-95 deg F). I'm quite impressed. On the same route my DR250SE does no better. I don't ride in a really eco-friendly way - usually scoot up to the front at traffic lights then blast away from all the cages

The monster has a K&N filter, Termis and super-low gearing (don't remember how much lower but I think its something like 1F, +2R).

[alvaro84]

Wow. I wouldn't have thought that a Monster can do this good under bad conditions! A 11 mile commute is quite short, and 75-80mph is definitely bad for FE. When I tried sustained 80+ mph with Teresa, I got the same 57mpgUS. And the fuel injected F650s are always noted for their good FE, while I've never heard mentioning the Monster 620 this way.
How does the 620 do when hypermiled...?

[bikepilot]

Yeah I was quite surprised. I was expecting more like 40mpg at best. Its also geared really low so it spins 6k rpm on the freeway. I don't how it'll do hypermiled and doubt I'll ever find out. Closest I've done is an all-back-roads ride with a couple of other sport bikes that was pretty tame, but no where near hypermilder tame. About a 120 mile ride with probably 80% of it between 45 and 60mph with just a bit in stop-and-go traffic then maybe 20 miles at about 75mph. It did 60.7mpg. Maybe I'll get the wife to keep track of her mpgs - she's a bit more tame of a rider. Now only ~2 miles of the 11 miles is at freeway speeds, the rest ranges from stopped to about 45-50. Lots of traffic as its all in Arlington VA (fairly dense city - same city as where the pentagon is located and Washington dc), but I'm usually going to work early in the morning and leaving late at night so traffic usually isn't horribly backed up, just lots of traffic lights. These numbers aren't over a huge amount of mileage so there could be a bit of error from how full the tank was etc. All total I've done the four fillups though with the worst being 57.x and the best 60.7 so that should at least be a reasonably accurate range. Tires are pilot powers @ 36psi.

I suspect that its running a bit on the lean side with the aftermarket exhaust and filter but apparently stock ECU. Normally one would run the ducati performance "race" ecu with the filter and exhaust the bike has. We got it used and this is how it was though and it seems to run quite nicely so I'm not sure I'll mess with it. It has a fairly small fuel tank so the efficiency is particularly helpful.


Just for fun I also have a montesa trials bike now. It holds very little, maybe a quart (haven't measured) and will go pretty consistently 8 miles before it runs out. Now that's 8 miles of climbing steep hills, going over logs and wheeling all over at speeds barely above a walking pace though.

[rm12577]

That is pretty good mileage indeed, I have been intending to gear my cbr up not down to try and improve the mileage... it runs just under 7k running 75 down the highway. I couldn't imagine a Ducati getting that good of mileage, glad to hear it.

[BHarvey]

I've been trying, but my bike is for fun and I can rag it all the time and still get 50+.

Very hard for me to hypermile the bike.

[alvaro84]

Originally Posted by BHarvey

Very hard for me to hypermile the bike.

Lacking at the Cold Blood department, eh?

It may be easier to me. I'm a reptilian, I don't feel any urge to speed nor fear when on the bike

[dr200]

2009 zuki dr200 since front gear change getting 80mpg at 58mph on a 16 or so minute ride (14 miles) almost all ride time is at 55 to 60 mph. mostly flat land a few little inclines and a bridge as i improve on my driving skills (hypermilling ?)hope to improve mpg. going to due some aerodynamic mods to improve soon.

[BHarvey]

Originally Posted by alvaro84

Lacking at the Cold Blood department, eh?

It may be easier to me. I'm a reptilian, I don't feel any urge to speed nor fear when on the bike

No urge to speed, just to feel the acceleration of getting up to the limit in a few seconds, and the occasional wheelie.

It's just so much quicker to the limit without going over half throttle it feels like a rocket compared to the cage.

[bikepilot]

4th tank on the 620 monster (same 11 mile commute, same riding style) 57.6mpg.