Hi all... I recently sold my motorcycle to a gentleman who used to drive a Prius I and now owns a Prius II. He got me thinking about what I was going to use for fuel efficient transportation. I purchased a HCH the day after selling the motorcycle.

There are some similarities between the motorcycle I sold and the car purchased. Both have 1.3L engines, a 5-speed and get around 45 mpg. Differences are numerous but the top two on my list are power (145 hp for the bike and 93 for the Civic) and airbag count (0 for the bike and 4 for the Civic). You can guess which difference is important to my wife.

 

Congradulations Ladera!

You'll not only find your new HCH more comfortable than your x-bike but you also have potential for considerabley better mileage.
Win-win in many areas.

Funny how your bike had considerably more HP?

Anyway thanks for becoming part of our unique community and please don't be a stranger!
We'd all like to hear more from you.

-Steve

 

I'm just curious, what kind of bike did you have, and did you ever track your approximate fuel economy? My boss has a Harly punched out to 1500cc or something ridiculous like that but said he only gets maybe 30mpg or so.

 

The reason motorcycles have more power is that they don't have emissions regulations, so they can be tuned for maximum power output at the expense of spewing some 20x more pollution than even the dirtiest hybrids. That will change eventually, but there will still be a gap between cars and motorcycles, and especially hybrids.

 

My ex-bike was a Yamaha FJR1300 and 45 MPG is about the average you find on FJR1300 messages boards similar to this one. MPG on a punched out Harley will be a lot less since cruising range is not a big concern. An FJR1300 is designed for long distance touring so cruising range is something people look at. In regards to horsepower, even 600cc sport bikes easily break 100HP these days, mostly by revving to 15,000+ RPM. I believe Yamaha's R1 has 180HP.

While it's true that emissions regulations are less stringent for motorcycles, many street motorcycles these days, especially sport bikes, have catalytic converters and oxygen sensors. After my old bike warmed up, I didn't smell any exhaust fumes. I'll agree that bikes probably won't pass SULEV standards though. My guess is that most sport bikes are sold in Europe and are designed to meet more stringent European standards.

Custom choppers and a lot of Harleys seem to use carburetors. Since a carb can't control the fuel/air mixture well enough, cats probably are not an option. A lot of the choppers have nothing but a short pipe between the exhaust port and the atmosphere. I'd bet that these bikes are more that 20x more polluting than a Hummer. Times are changing and some cruisers are now fuel injected and have catalytic converters. That said, whenever I'm behind a cruiser, I set the ventilation system to recirculate.

Anyway, enough motorcycle talk for me! I'm still mourning my loss just a little bit and need to focus on my goal of 50+ MPG from my next tank of gas!

 

My ZRX 1200 is a gas swine at 37 or so mpg, but I love it. I keep track of the mileage here. I also have a HCH. I get about 45mpg on average with it, and it sure is more comfy than the bike.

 

Ladera HCH,
We all mourn in our own way. This too shall pass.
Welcome to GreenHybrid and good luck on your 50+ mpg goal!

 

Bought the HAH. Didn't sell the CBR1100XX.

The 1100cc CBR has 138 rear wheel hp on a dyno. I've been getting 32-44 mpg, depending on how the bike is ridden. I still have her for fun. I never really bought a motorcycle for fuel economy. Lots of people talk about how fuel efficient they are and how they're saving money. But when you figure in the cost of the tires, the maintenance, proper riding gear, and all the aftermarket accessories that everyone just loves to add to bikes... they're pretty expensive toys!

Sorry to hear you got rid of your FJR. Those are nice bikes. Probably one of the only two bikes I'd consider trading mine in for. The other is the ST1100.

Good luck on your mileage endeavors!