fuel consumption

You may recall i decided to buy a honda varadero 125 the other day, chose it
over the kwaka kle500 for a couple of reasons, main one being my GF being a
short arse, but also i need a bike as a fuel efficiant form of transport
over summer, (getting a diesel smart car in november which does 90mpg with
ease, so want a bike that does at least better mpg than a normal small car)

Everywhere i read said the kle500 manages about 45mpg, and that put me off,
is that sort of mpg figure normal for a 500cc bike? or is it due to the old
engine design,

Guess what i'm asking, i still have a chance to back out of the honda 125
purchace, it is said to do 70mpg with normal 17 year old riding styles,
which will be red line it everywhere i guess, but if there's an adventure
style bike available that can manage nearer 70mpg, upto say 650cc max, i'd
like to know about it as a last chance to consider a 'real' bike.

Oh, and i only have an absolute max of 3.5 grand to spend, i did like the
kle500 mainly cos it can be hand new for 3 grand, but i dont mind a bike a
couple of years old, but only if it can return decent mpg figures,

 

If you need to rationalise your purchase against low running costs then buy
a scooter.

However, if you want something that looks the part then stop dreaming about
a new bike. The KLE is a dog and any 125cc bike is an underpowered death
trap.

Buy a 650cc twin for £2000[1] and use the rest of the cash for maintenance
and fuel costs. After 2 years the 650cc twin will probably be worth more
than either the XL oir KLE

[1] SV650 comes to mind as a shortarse friendly bike

 

I had the varadero 125 a couple of years back, don't remember exact
fuel figures, but I remember it being very good. Not bad for pootling
round town, but when I took it on a long road trip round scotland, it
really struggled over 60 (if you are built less for comfort than I am
it may be better).

Also, don't go round roundabouts too fast, eh? DAMHIK etc....

 

Done the scooter thing, never again, it's just that most cars nowadays get
50mpg or so, and bikes with a smaller engine, a hell of a lot smaller
weight, less wind resistance etc seem to average about 50mpg too,

The sv 650 is a crotch rocket tho isnt it, dunt like them, needs to be an
adventure style bike or what ever the feck they are called, like the KLE,
but one that can at least get 65mpg, i wont be riding it much past 75-80 mph
anyway, so dunno if the mpg figures people quote are from the normal riding
style of open the throttle and see what it'll do,

 

Has NOBODY said 'just buy a bloody CG 125' yet?

 

No, cos i'll have told them to **** right off , bod what a shite looking
bike, but then again my taste in bikes is weird, either cruisers or these
jobbies that cant make their mind up if they are a tourer or an off roader
and do neither very well.

of course if i had the money, i'd get one of those diesel bikes the mod
use/were trialing a little while back.

 

The SV650 comes in 2 styles. A naked variety and a faired one. Neither is a
crotch rocket. There is also the DL650, using the same engine. It will be
too tall for a short arse and not old enough to fit into my £2k suggested
budget.

If you want an ADV bike then buy one. You won't find one, bar the 125cc
variants, that will do 65mpg. They are not aerodynamic and by their nature
made from robust, heavy materials. Most have a fairly high seat.

 

50 mpg is a diesel, or a very small and light petrol engined car. The
average (built for proper sized people - not midgets) car doesn't get
near 50 mpg. Also bear in mind that the drag coefficient of a car is
way better than any bike, which helps mpg.

 

I don't think you can equate bikes with cars. Totally different animals. I
have a Honda VT125 which will cruise all day at 60 and return +80mpg.
Cruisers arn't brought for their racing ability tho, but most cars can be
left behind from a standing start (traffic lights?) But a 125 has to work
quite hard and rev quite high. It is pulling quite a lot of weight for its
size (especially the VT125 - 15bhp @ 11000rpm! and dry weight of around
160kg) But reasonably used, most 125s are gonna return 70-80 mpg and some
more than that.

Alan

 

Cheers everyone, best to stick with the xl125v on order then, cheap as ****
to insure, tax, and run hopefully, so that's what i need,

See about a bigger bike in a couple of years when i've got rid of the
points, and at least with the 125 im not that likely to get more... most
fixed camera's on the samller roads round here are forwards facing,
including the 4 new bastards they put in on the way to my flat the other
week,

 

Drive a bike at normal car speeds and the economy improves immensely.

 

True again, at least over 55-50mph. Below that it's not really a factor.

 

Can that be done?


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

Harley and BMW riders seem to do it all the time.

 

My Octavia does :0)

 

Just worked out mine. It seems to average 5.5l/100km (according to the
computer thing) which I think comes out to 51mpg. When I floor it it
shoots up to double, but it spends most of its time doing 140km/h in 6th
gear.

Was that a bite?

--

Paul.
CBR1100XX SuperBlackbird (Buen mueble de patio)
And a pushbike of some sort.
BOTAFOT #4
BOTAFOF #30
MRO #24
OMF #15
UKRMMA #30

Ovejas y buitres:
http://obscuredomainname.org

 

I've recently adopted a Vauxhall Corsa 1.7 Diesel 1997 5 door.
It seems to be averaging 50 mpg for everyday use, 16 mile to work , 16
mile back, max speed limit 50 mph. Very little in town 30mph stuff.

My opinion on individual motorised transport is that if it hurts to fill
it up with fuel, you shouldn't really have one.

It's generally acknowledged that "the highest running cost of all is
depreciation, never mind tax or petrol" [1]

I don't know how much a 90 mpg diesel smart car costs to purchase but if
gazz is getting one for the rainy days then I really wouldn't bother
what mpg a bike got. It's been so damned wet over the last year he'll
hardly ride it. He must be able to pick up a fun litre bike for his budget ?


[1] Three randomly searched articles
http://tinyurl.com/66whvk
http://tinyurl.com/5b4kx8
http://tinyurl.com/63wfmz

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/features/car-choice-as-cheap-as-it-gets-455715.html
http://www.motortrader.com/20971/DAEWOO-CHEAPEST-RUNNING-COST-C.ehtml
http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/running_costs/index.html

 

I had an Audi A4 Tdi that did.

 

I don't think that's ever been the case on any vehicle I've owned.

 

Well that's it settled then. From this and all the other replies it'c
clear that only really, really shit cars return more than 50mpg. And
they don't count, obviously.


--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
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