What's your best motorcycle MPG?

[autotravis]

I just got a Ninja ZX6R a couple of months ago. My best is 44.6 mpg. I know superbikes aren't built for high fuel economy, but it makes me miss my Ninja 250R. That thing got at least 58 mpg every tank with me on the throttle quite a bit. Seeing these gear swaps on the 250s makes me miss it even more!

I'm curious about this:

Originally Posted by bikepilot

FWIW a lot of motorcycles are less efficient at lower rpms. Gearing too tall will sometimes hurt mileage (and almost always hurt the fun factor). Buell says the XB12's motor is most efficient at 4200rpm as a general matter (of it'll vary with load etc).

I shift really early and I'm wondering if it's bringing my economy down at all...

[bikepilot]

Could be, but realize a 600cc supersport is one of the highest hp/cc N/A production engines around. It is built to win races at the highest level and economy and street-friendly manners are quite low on on the design criteria. 44mpg is actually quite good for that bike. The street-oriented Ninja 650 tends to be considerably more efficient. Of course few bikes are more fun on the track than a well setup 600cc supersport

[alvaro84]

Originally Posted by bikepilot

FWIW a lot of motorcycles are less efficient at lower rpms. ... Buell says the XB12's motor is most efficient at 4200rpm as a general matter (of it'll vary with load etc).

That might be true, yet it's probably a very bad idea to cruise at that rpm: an 1200cc bike engine at 4200rpm needs ridiculously light throttle which gives very bad efficiency, even if the engine could theoretically do its best there. (May not be true at 90mph anymore, but most of its energy will be absorbed by the aero drag then, so it'll be inefficient again.)

Having it spin slower can mean a higher load which, eventually, almost surely leads to much better efficiency.

[Varn]

My wife has a Honda VTR250. a water cooled twin. It gets 65mpg at 9000 rpm.

[jkv357]

Originally Posted by Varn

My wife has a Honda VTR250. a water cooled twin. It gets 65mpg at 9000 rpm.

I really like the 250 Interceptor. Almost bought one many years ago. That engine has a lot more low-end than the 250 Ninja's. Still think they should have brought that engine back to the US in an updated VTR. I would have liked that engine instead of the 250 single in the CBR.

You've seen the current Euro VTR250 FI that looks like a mini-Monster (Ducati) right? Neat little naked.

Here's a nice custom VTR I ran across -

Here's the current style VTR (non US, not completely stock) -

Post a photo of it if you can!


Jay

[autotravis]

Originally Posted by alvaro84

an 1200cc bike engine at 4200rpm needs ridiculously light throttle which gives very bad efficiency, even if the engine could theoretically do its best there. (May not be true at 90mph anymore, but most of its energy will be absorbed by the aero drag then, so it'll be inefficient again.)

Having it spin slower can mean a higher load which, eventually, almost surely leads to much better efficiency.

So keeping light on the throttle gives bad efficiency? How does this work? I know you guys probably know more about motorcycle efficiency than I do, so I'm very curious about this...

[Varn]

357: It looks like the RWB bike except that she painted it in military woodland camo. The fairing had a lot of broken parts on it some was held together with string. She has two other parts vtr's.

Despite being camo it everyone comments on it.


I have another oldie The Honda VFR750. I get in the mid 40s as far as mileage goes.

We also have matching Yamaha 500 singles that generally do well, in the mid 50s. We ride them occasionally. My 58 year old wife gets a kick out of starting them before she gets to ride. They don't have an electric start. She is catching "air" on the red one. She is 5'2" and the bike has a 31" seat height.



Most every thing we drive is vintage.

[bikepilot]

Originally Posted by alvaro84

That might be true, yet it's probably a very bad idea to cruise at that rpm: an 1200cc bike engine at 4200rpm needs ridiculously light throttle which gives very bad efficiency, even if the engine could theoretically do its best there. (May not be true at 90mph anymore, but most of its energy will be absorbed by the aero drag then, so it'll be inefficient again.)

Having it spin slower can mean a higher load which, eventually, almost surely leads to much better efficiency.

That all depends on how the engine is tuned -- high performance engines with big cams etc are often very inefficient at high loads and low rpms. To a point both my TL1000S and XB12XT get better mileage at high rpms/high speeds (80-85mph) than lower speeds. Both engines are tuned with an eye more toward performance than efficiency. Still I'm not unhappy with 50mpg @ 80mph. If the engine were designed for optimum efficiency rather than performance you'd be right without a doubt, though if it were I'd never have bought it

[alvaro84]

I can only repeat myself: I'd so much like to see a motorcycle BSFC... I've never seen any, ever

[BHarvey]

New personal best of 65.5 mpg.