Saving on fuel is really no excuse for the missus! What fuel economy do you get?

[racefactory]

Who else agrees that most bike's fuel economy is pretty appalling for how light they are.

I am still astounded at the fuel economy of my 02 GSXR750. Even without gassing it (how can you with speed limits anyway), it is worse than my Nissan wingroad wagon on fuel. about 6.8l/100km with a mix of motorway and 60k zones.

250's and 400's were not that much better too...

What fuel economy do you guys get for which bikes?

[v8s&2wheels]

I had a '90 zxr250 which worked out at about 4.5-5L per 100km.

Then a '00 zx6r which worked out at about 6.5L per 100km.

Now i have a '07 gsxr1000 which works out to be 6.5-7L per 100km.

Those are good figures in my eyes. a zxr250 would do 0-100 in about 6.5 seconds from memory. Find me a car that will do that 0-100 and give you 5L per 100km.

Same thing for the other 2 bikes.

I dont know of any car that will do 0-100 in under 3 seconds and return you 6.5L per 100km.

My v8 is about 16L per 100km around town and that will only do a 0-100 in about 5.5 seconds. Open road i get 10L per 100km.

Cost me $115 from napier-wellington-napier last week. I hazard a guess it would cost about $60-$65 on my thou.

[v8s&2wheels]

Who else agrees that most bike's fuel economy is pretty appalling for the small engines and how light they are.

Re-reading your post, I feel your missing the point of fuel economy on the bikes, yes your bike is only 750cc, but its tuned to ring its nuts out and make as much power as possible. a 750cc car engine is tuned to be driven around the city and would probably only make around 50-60% of the maximum power that your bike would.

[racefactory]

Exactly... even for cruising the figures are not very good at all if you consider the weight of these things.

If you are really going 3 seconds to 100kmh then the fuel economy is going to be light years more than 6.5l/100km I think, quite near to performance cars?

Single cylinder bikes are pretty decent on fuel though I must admit!

Not that I care about fuel economy for my bikes... it's just interesting!

[jonbuoy]

Horsepower comes from burning fuel, bikes weigh less than a car but are less aerodynamic. Sports bike will not give you fuel economy, a commuter will.

[rustic101]

is savings in time and space, i.e the time it takes to get from A to B, then parking at B ;)

[Old Steve]

Hyosung GV250, about 3.2L/100km (30 to 35 km/L) mix of city commuting and weekend rides.

I usually top up on my way to my Sunday ride and put between 9 and 12 L in, I'm doing 300 to 370 km per week depending on the length of the weekend run and the weather. On a run I try to cruise at 110 km/hr, do tend to drop back so push up to 120 km/hr to catch up.

MY wife is quite happy with the fuel economy of my bike (wonder how she'll view my desire to move to a bigger noise once I get my 6F in 3 - 4 months).

[CHR1S]

The worst I can seem to get out of a 120 odd hp K7 SV thou is about 9l-100km...

The worst I can seem to get out of a 480 odd hp cammed HSV Maloo is about 60l -100km...

I don't think the ol bike's too bad! It comes down to what the engine designer set out to do, economy vs power.

[porky]

the vtx 1800 tips the scales at a little over 300kgs and im averaging 7 lts per 100km so im happy as a pig in shit. :devil2:

[yachtie10]

I love how you guys are comparing your bikes to V8s
dont see the relevance
my 1250 is modern engine tuned for all round performance and touring and gives a fuel economy less than a 1300 cc car which has a hell of a lot more wieght and friction to overcome
its fuel injected so I dont see why if ridden moderately I shouldnt get more economy than the car ( yes if I ride hard it will be a lot worse)

high end sportsbikes are one thing but Im not sure why less extreme bikes have to be so thirsty

[ducatilover]

The worst I can seem to get out of a 120 odd hp K7 SV thou is about 9l-100km...

The worst I can seem to get out of a 480 odd hp cammed HSV Maloo is about 60l -100km...

I don't think the ol bike's too bad! It comes down to what the engine designer set out to do, economy vs power.

I imagine the Maloo can do worse than that, I have quite fond memories of the trip computer in a VS V8 Berlina reading 99L/100km whilst attempting to hit 210km/h, gutless pile of shit it was.


My cute little V8 does about a million liters per meter, but, who cares? The BROS650 did around 7-8, but, I was a know on that and my Spada ranged between 3.7 at it's best nana state and 4.8 with 5% nitro in the tank and me, yet again, being a knob.

[dogsnbikes]

Well the trumpy is about 6.5l/100k or $wise it just cost me $50 for a return trip from Wanganui to Wgtn....

I dont care about the gas I use.. and the Missus dont care either as long as I'm happy...its all good:yes:

[ducatilover]

I love how you guys are comparing your bikes to V8s
dont see the relevance


It's to wag our winkies because we have a V8 and a bike kind of thing. :innocent:

[dogsnbikes]

It's to wag our winkies because we have a V8 and a bike kind of thing. :innocent:

Nothing wrong with a good V8 my last one use to cost me $160 ea way between Opotiki and Aklds North shore and that was 18 years ago ... but it sure could chew up the chook-cookers then:innocent:

[one fast tl1ooo]

I got about 13.5l/100k on my tl1000s

[crazyhorse]

I don't care what it costs on the bike - cause riding is pure enjoyment :yes:

[mikemike104]

89 Gpx 250 is getting 19 km/l or 5.26 L/ 100 km's.

I reckon thats pretty good.

[Hans]

The RF does about 5.5l/100km in nanna mode and 8-9l in boogie mode. Pretty acceptable to me. Having just bought a new set of tyres, fuel consumption seems to be the least of my worries. I think fuel consumption will correlate nicely with power/engine volume ratio with some sort of correction for carb/throttle body size.

[DarkLord]

My SV650s used to be atrocious for fuel economy. After 170k's on a tank of 98 the fuel light would be on. The choke was permanently set on for one of the cylinders due to a fault with the choke cable (thanks to Katman for pointing that one out and fixing it for me) and the bike used to run horribly rich, so rich that it would surge majorly upon roll-on acceleration and it would absolutely reek of fuel after a ride.

However, I had a Dynajet carburetor kit installed which made the carbies run far more economically, without making it run lean. I can now get to 300k's out of a tank before the fuel light even comes on and once it does come on, I can still get 40-50 odd k's out of the tank before I have to fill up. Working it out, it's over the 20k's per litre mark as it's a 17 litre tank and usually costs about $26-$27 to fill up (from empty). Round figures I would guess it's about 5L per 100k's.

It's more economical than a lot of cars out there and you still get the power of a bigger bike. I'm stoked with it!

[Morepower]

My Car does 25 litres per 100kms on the open road , what are you worried about ????

God bless America and 440 cube mills

[ducatilover]

My Car does 25 litres per 100kms on the open road , what are you worried about ????

God bless America and 440 cube mills

:love: Mopar much? Very very gooooooood. My V8 shrivels in comparison.

[AllanB]

Stop being a homo and get out there and enjoy the bike - if you want fuel economy buy a scooter or one of those postie Hondas to ride around town.

[awayatc]

I have to admit that I hardly ever "advance" a single kilometer out of every liter of fuel I pour into my bike..

that fuel is entirely wasted on fun.........
I hardly ever take the bike because I " need" to go somewhere....
I just need an excuse to go ....
any excuse....
anywhere...

[geoffm]

The SV1000 gets around the same as the 2.2l Camry station wagon - around 35mpg, and around 20% worse than the 1600 Corolla.
The RG500 gets good economy as it is usually on a trailer coming back from being picked up where it broke down last time. It is also only 500cc, so is much safer than a 600+cc monster according to Nick Smith. When it runs, around 28mpg (10km/ltr) = oil. Caning it is even less.
The 50cc scooter is around 30km/l

[willytheekid]

"Phat Girl" can empty her 17ltr tank in under 150k! :gob: (FCR's ....dumping the fuel!!)
With a restrained wrist (not using the accellerator pumps), I average 220k per tank...but I really don't care, she's the best form of transport and just sooo much fun to ride, sod the cost!

Aint no price tag on a smile THAT big :yes:

[SMOKEU]

My CBR does around 4.5-5L/100km. Most of my riding is on the open roads.

[motor_mayhem]

Horsepower comes from burning fuel, bikes weigh less than a car but are less aerodynamic. Sports bike will not give you fuel economy, a commuter will.

I would disagree with your aerodynamic theory, particularly thinking about some of the more block like vehicles around. You have a sports bike to have better-than-supercar performance paired with small to mid size car economy.


I don't care what it costs on the bike - cause riding is pure enjoyment :yes:

Damn straight. I ride to work because I enjoy it, the bike is waiting for me when I want to go rather than me waiting for a bus or train, and it's much easier to find a park than for a car - especially in Wellington. I am fully aware that it is not cheaper.

[bent12]

Do I check fuel burn rates before buying a bike? I don't, what interests me is power, anything worth riding drinks it when given some stick

[Brian d marge]

Gasoline has stuff called Torques and Ponies beried deep with in it , the more ponies or torques u want the more u must stuff into a given size a 1200 cc @ 130 bhp
needs a lot of torques and equines

My enfield is AWESOME for fuel economy but it might not do so well at the IOM

on saying that , sports bikes as a whole are a , over statement fu,ll stop , completley uslesss as pratical transport

but my god are they fun

Stephen

[marty]

on a big-bore bike fuel is the least of your costs. every litre of fuel thru the hayabusa costs me $1.70 in tyres. fuel economy is 15km/litre (about 7l/100km) who gives a fuck though - it's worth it.

[jonbuoy]

I would disagree with your aerodynamic theory, particularly thinking about some of the more block like vehicles around. You have a sports bike to have better-than-supercar performance paired with small to mid size car economy.



Damn straight. I ride to work because I enjoy it, the bike is waiting for me when I want to go rather than me waiting for a bus or train, and it's much easier to find a park than for a car - especially in Wellington. I am fully aware that it is not cheaper.

http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/tech/0905_crup_motorcycle_fuel_economy/drag_coefficient.html

[bastardsquad]

2007 GPX250 was 4.25L/100km on average .

2007 ER6n gives 4.7L/100km 'touring' and 5.4 for regular fanging on motorway/suburban.

[Devil]

BMW 1200GSA, about 5.0L/100km open road, 6-6.5L/100km commuting.

[Banditbandit]

I told the wife that commuting on a bike was cheaper than using the 4X4. She believed me ...:laugh:

The daily run of around 110ks to and from work was costing around $18 - $20 in diesel for the 4X4 ... it was around $14-$15 in petrol on the 650 .. but I killed a $300 rear tyre in 3,000 ks .. so that's around $10 a day in rubber .. so around $24-$25 per day in travel (plus other costs ...)

But who gives a flying fug ... much more fun on the bike ..

[aprilia_RS250]

7-10L per 100km on an Aprilia RS250.... Yup less economical than a rolla

[Oakie]

Over the last year I have averaged 18.6 km/l or 5.39 L/100km on my 600 Bandit. Even touring the West Coast 2 up with luggage it averaged 18.1 km/l or 5.53 L/100km

The CB400 went between 16.1 km/l and 20.2 km/l depending on the state of tune.

[Tunahunter]

Huge difference between town running and the open road. All my open road stuff is with my girl on the back.

Gas Gal L/100km MPG Comments

3.19 6.13 46.12 Incl trip to Wairarapa
3.60 6.93 40.78 Town running
2.97 7.41 38.12 Town running
3.34 5.71 49.48 Incl trip to Levin
3.24 7.47 37.84 Town running
3.20 5.45 51.85 Trip to Masterton
3.20 7.62 37.09 Town running - slow, wet weather
3.11 6.59 42.90 Town running - one to the Hutt, slow, wet weather
2.91 6.89 41.03 Town running - slow, wet weather
3.40 5.95 47.48 Trip to Otaki and town running
3.28 7.06 40.01 Part Otaki, mostly town
3.17 7.22 39.16 Town running - slow, wet weather
3.46 7.18 39.36 Town running - slow, wet weather

[imdying]

Before it reset the fuel gauge this morning, the bike told me that over the last tank it averaged 15.9km/litre, and has averaged 11km/litre over its life. I'm pretty sure... I only glanced at it briefly. Open road is closers to 20km/l iirc

[Techno]

What should a 96 Suzuki GSF250 get?

Last time I worked it out I got 8.6L/100km which seems high.

[racefactory]

What should a 96 Suzuki GSF250 get?

Last time I worked it out I got 8.6L/100km which seems high.

that is pretty terrible....

[onearmedbandit]

Before it reset the fuel gauge this morning, the bike told me that over the last tank it averaged 15.9km/litre, and has averaged 11km/litre over its life. I'm pretty sure... I only glanced at it briefly. Open road is closers to 20km/l iirc

Be helpful if we knew what bike you are referring to lol. I know but the folks at home don't.

My bikes fuel economy? I couldn't tell you, sure I could work it out, but I don't care. I put fuel in, I get smiles back. How many smiles/km do I get? Enough that I wouldn't care if fuel was $5 a litre.

[Techno]

that is pretty terrible....

Ignore my number it's crap :angry: it's one I worte down about 2 months ago and now that I work it out it looks like it's actually the aount of gas I put in not the l/km :Oops:

It's actually about 5.5.

[GOONR]

What should a 96 Suzuki GSF250 get?

Last time I worked it out I got 8.6L/100km which seems high.

I've never bothered to work it out but when all of my riding was round town I'd only get about 130K's before I hit reserve, yup, shite. Now that my riding is open road / motorway I get a constant 200K's before reserve.

[wanpo]

My hyosung 250 got ~3.8L/100km, that's commuting. The 650r... not so much, it's been clocking in ~4.5-5L/100km

[vifferman]

Meh!

I didn't buy a bike for fuel economy - it's an expensive toy. Actually, I didn't buy the current bike for any other reason than my wife made me...
Dunno how many L/100km or whatever it gets - never measured it. But it's been very economical the last three months. Since June 16th, it's used about 100ml (if that), but it did only do 0km, so I guess that's piss-poor fuel economy. Sounded good though...

[avgas]

worse than my Nissan wingroad wagon
Correct me if I am wrong - but the wingroad (petrol) and the focus (tdi) are the most fuel efficient 1800's you can purchase in NZ's market.
So I am not surprised they have better economy that almost ANY bike.

[avgas]

Wingroad - 6.2L / 100km

http://www.nissan.co.nz/pdf/specs/specs_wingroad.pdf

[slofox]

Last Bike: SV650S K7. Around 50kw: 20 - 25 km/l. 4 - 5 l per 100km.

Current Bike: GSX-R600 K8. Around 80kw: 14 - 16 km/l. 6 - 7 l per 100km.

Current Wagon: Subaru Lancaster 3 litre flat 6. Around 115kw: 10 l per 100km if I am really careful. Otherwise about 12l per 100km...


Them neddies have to come from somewhere...

[george formby]

With new emulsion tubes I'm getting 6.5l / 100k, every trip is a bit captain sensible & a bit throttle to the stop (norfland :love:). I don't care a rats ass as long as the bike is burning it & not firing it out the exhaust like it used too.
I want a 500cc 2 stroke with a big tank, a bad attitude & running 98 please.

[MarkH]

Who else agrees that most bike's fuel economy is pretty appalling for how light they are.

I am still astounded at the fuel economy of my 02 GSXR750. Even without gassing it (how can you with speed limits anyway), it is worse than my Nissan wingroad wagon on fuel. about 6.8l/100km with a mix of motorway and 60k zones.

250's and 400's were not that much better too...

What fuel economy do you guys get for which bikes?

Nissan Wingroad? Is that really the car equivalent of a GSXR-750? A Subaru 2.0R will use over 10.5l per 100km and still isn't as fast as a GSXR-750 (but a hell of a lot closer than a wingroad).

My AN400 is good for commuting around the city, not hard to get more than 25km/litre (under 4l per 100km) if I ride gently. My best has been over 30km/litre averaged over more than 350kms (gentle open road riding).


The daily run of around 110ks to and from work was costing around $18 - $20 in diesel for the 4X4 ... it was around $14-$15 in petrol on the 650 .. but I killed a $300 rear tyre in 3,000 ks .. so that's around $10 a day in rubber .. so around $24-$25 per day in travel (plus other costs ...)

Road tax on a diesel isn't cheap, you would need to add that to the 4x4 running costs when you are comparing it to the costs of running the bike.


I only partially changed from the car to the scooter to save gas, a much bigger gain was the reduction in travel time in heavy traffic - a car just can't match a bike at getting through the Auckland city traffic. At 5pm on a weekday my scooter is way faster than a Bugatti Veyron around Auckland. After I bought the scooter I found a 5 minute drive in my car just made me pissed off and after a year of having the scooter I had run up ~20,000kms on the scooter and ~1,000kms on the car - so I sold the car.

For weekday city commuting - FUCK THE 4 WHEELED VEHICLES!

[BuzzardNZ]

The worst I can seem to get out of a 120 odd hp K7 SV thou is about 9l-100km...


.

What mods did you do to get 120+ HP ?

[DangerMice]

3l/100km on the scoot, but a tank only lasts 3 days :pinch:

[SPman]

6.8l/100km....on a 750! Holy shit....do you idle everywhere! Even our Getz only gets 7.3l/100km on a 200km round trip country/town. The 750SP got around 7.4, tootling, to 9.4l/100km tootling a bit faster. The GSXR1000 was about the same.....so is the RG250, come to that!

[MaxCannon]

2006 BMW R1200S

Daily commuting - 6.5L / 100km
Important note - it's a 20 minute trip each way in heavy traffic. In the car it takes 60minutes.

Weekend touring - best of 4.5L / 100km, usually around the 5L / 100km mark

Racetrack thrashing - 11L / 100km - 4 trackdays and economy pretty consistent.

[MarkH]

Daily commuting - 6.5L / 100km
Important note - it's a 20 minute trip each way in heavy traffic. In the car it takes 60minutes


I gotta wonder how much fuel various cars would use for that 60 minute trip compared to what a bike uses in the 20 minutes it takes. Surely the slow driving and stop-starting a car has to do would lead to really shitty economy, the bike being able to tick along at a more steady speed and not having to stop and waste gas idling should help it to use much less fuel on the trip.

Before I sold the car I had plenty of occasions when I would be on the southern motorway in 2nd gear, then 1st gear, then stopped, then moving at 5-10kph, then stopped, then . . .
I can't see how this could be very efficient on fuel - on the scooter I can tootle along at 20-40kph passed the cars that are going 0-10kph and I MUST be getting a LOT better fuel economy.

[ernie953]

Set the trip computer on my last ride, gas up at 235kms & took 12lts, 19.5 kms per ltr & averaged 95kms per hour. Gotta love those triples.

[CHR1S]

BuzzardNZ
Originally Posted by CHR1S
The worst I can seem to get out of a 120 odd hp K7 SV thou is about 9l-100km...


.
What mods did you do to get 120+ HP ?

Ahhhhhh ya get 120 ODD with a just by putting gas in mate! (flywheel)

[Dschubba]

15l/100km
tyres cost as much as the gas
insurance and rego cost twice as much as the car.

aint a money saver!

[neels]

My XJ runs about 5.5l/100k, and pretty much regardless of how I ride it or how loaded up it is I still get 300k's to reserve. Heaps cheaper than my 4wd at about 10l/100k and no RUC.

I have yet to see my scooter's stated fuel economy of 130mpg or about 2.2l/100k, although I guess it might get that if I stopped it leaking more fuel than it burns, damned 50 year old carb...:blink:

[Urano]

with my ninja 650r i had

relaxed wander: about 5 - 4.6 l/100km
enthusiastic fun: down to 6.5 l/100km

not too bad at all...
:niceone:

[skippa1]

There are many variables in fuel consumption and this applies to all types of machinery that consume fuel. Wind resistance(including rider size), tyre pressures, road surface etc. The same applies to claimed fuel consumption figures from manufacturers. The only real constant that you could measure is fuel per horsepower alongside with torque. 100hp pushing 250kg bike is not the same as 100hp pushing an 800kg car. The car requires more torque to gain momentum than the bike and vice versa. The motorcycle develops the same hp with smaller pistons, shorter stroke etc, the car has bigger pistons and a longer stroke, attached to a large flywheel therefore developing more torque.
In short, it is like trying to compare a 25hp air cooled single cylinder Lister with a 28hp Hyosung GT250........both totally different and will develop the same horspower in a different way with different amounts of fuel. One is also not my cup of tea.......:shutup:

[Urano]

The motorcycle develops the same hp with smaller pistons

of course.
higher revs.

the power formula has the "time" within, so no other way... :niceone: