Motorcycle Gas Mileage

I had someone ask me a question the other day that I thought several of you might like to hear the answer to as well:

“How come my motorcycle doesn’t get something like 100mpg+?”
– 2 wheels instead of 4
– Hundreds of pounds instead of thousands
– No catalytic converter
– Less electrical load
– No AC
– More aerodynamic

We can’t be blowing all of the mpg on the “throaty sound”!  What gives?

Well, the answer is never that easy but you aren’t far off either.

Motorcycles are precision, performance machines.  Yes, they weigh less and they have less resistance on the road (2 wheels instead of 4) but the average bike isn’t as aerodynamic as you would think.  Most cars are much more aerodynamic than a naked bike which is why most race bikes have fairings.  So a motorcycle has to push harder to cut through the air than a car.

The majority of passenger cars are designed with performance and gas mileage in mind (some lean more toward the performance side than others).  Granted they could do much more to increase the gas mileage of American cars but we Americans do love big, powerful cars.  It seems that we love big, powerful motorcycles as well.  Let’s face it, a Suzuki GSXR isn’t built for fuel economy, it is built for one thing, performance and many motorcycles have more horsepower than full sized cars.  The trend lately with motorcycles (and cars too) has been bigger and faster (just look at the Triumph Rocket III or the Suzuki Hayabusa).  Most motorcycles are just not setup for maximum fuel economy.

Now don’t get me wrong, there are many motorcycles out there that get great gas mileage (the worst stock bike still gets better gas mileage than the worst stock car).  But if we were looking for the ultimate in fuel economy, we would all be riding 50cc scooters and getting 100+ MPG.

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