60 mpg?!?!

[TNM50]

I filled it up again last night even though it wasn't empty, put 2.2 gallons in it. My mileage was 56 this time. This is all 2up and a small amount of steep twistys but mainly driving in the 45-55 mph range in 5th mostly. I am starting to think it is the new tire and the increased tire pressure I am running plus not pushing it hard. I'm going on a big trip in a couple of weekends with some friends riding without the wife. Going to do 600 miles in two days and I'm going to push the bike hard. I'll be on the Dragon for this trip as well as a bunch of other curvy roads. Bet my mpg will be down for most of the trip!

[mas3386]

i guess i don't drive slow enough to get the mileage. i am always on it usually no matter where i go. One day i will have to take a nice slow cruise and see what happens

[womper]

if you stay constant at 45 mph, you will get 60mpg.

hell, i stayed constant at 75mph and got about 55mpg.

the key is staying constant. it's the acceleration that kills the fuel economy. same with my car. i have a corolla and get low gas mileage because of how i drive. (stop and go hard) but i did once double my mileage because i kept a constant speed over a long distance...

the key is being constant with less weight, properly inflated tires (even overinflate) and no stop and go...

[mas3386]

Yeah, i know. but, i didn't buy my bike for the gas mileage. i bought just to have fun on

[TNM50]

I did buy my bike partly for gas mileage. I drive my company truck home but with the economy there have been talks about making me park it. My personal truck is a chevy truck with a 6.0 liter V8 = 11 mpg. I needed something that got better and was the perfect excuse to get my first bike.

[Tuck_a_da_Phil]

You guys are making me jealous. My SV only gets about 47-48 mpg.

[mas3386]

Originally Posted by TNM50

I did buy my bike partly for gas mileage. I drive my company truck home but with the economy there have been talks about making me park it. My personal truck is a chevy truck with a 6.0 liter V8 = 11 mpg. I needed something that got better and was the perfect excuse to get my first bike.

Then you factor in cost of the bike, insurance, maintence, and extras you add, if any, it would take a really long time to make it worth it. i did find a calculator on the internet that you could factor all that stuff into and it would figure out how long it would take you to make up the difference. i wish i could find it. then around here, my bike sits in the winter of course and i got that extra payment every month still that i have to pay for it.

[womper]

it doesn't take long to make up the difference. 55mpg vs 11mpg.
a savings of 44mpg.
at $3 per gallon that equates to $132.


let's say you drive about 8000 miles to work during the riding season.
that's 727gallons on the truck = $2181
that's 146 gallons with the bike = $438

a total savings of $1743

i think it's worth it.
on the plus side you look cooler on a motorcycle than in a truck. heh.

you can't factor in extras... those are only what you want. people add extras on trucks and cars too.

as for maintenance, there'll be less maintenance on the truck, so tires and such won't get worn down.

after 5 years, the bike just paid for itself.
you don't need an online calculator to figure this stuff out, you can use the good old noggin' to do it.

[cardude720]

Originally Posted by TNM50

I did buy my bike partly for gas mileage. I drive my company truck home but with the economy there have been talks about making me park it. My personal truck is a chevy truck with a 6.0 liter V8 = 11 mpg. I needed something that got better and was the perfect excuse to get my first bike.

11mpg is pretty good for a six litre. i got 11mpg when i had my 4.6L v8

[Tuck_a_da_Phil]

My best friend gets better mileage than that with a 5.4 4x4. As far as justifying buying a bike for better mileage, bikes are cheaper than cars in lots of ways and pay for themselves pretty quick. And the initial cost isn't lost forever since you could always sell it. My bike ins., tires, gas, and maint. are all cheaper than on my car.
Truck Ins. $400/yr. Bike Ins. $300/yr.
Truck mpg 20 Bike mpg 48
Truck maint. 5qts oil, 6 spark plugs Bike maint. 3qts oil, 2 spark plugs
Truck tires (set) $600 Bike tires (set) $300
In a year, I can save around $500 by riding my bike just in insurance, tires, and upkeep. Not to mention the 20mpg increase can save me as much as $1,200/yr. That's $1,700/yr cheaper than driving my truck. Since I paid $4,200 for my bike, it will pay for itself in 2 1/2 years. Plus I get to have all that fun for free!

[cardude720]

+ 10X more fun!

[Hambone]

I consistently average 50-52 mpg's on my bike. I am completely stock and partially debaffled. I am personally happy with those numbers.

[TNM50]

I didn't expect the bike to "pay for itself" by its fuel savings. I just always wanted one and I didn't want to buy a metro or something to ride to work to save gas. Like has already been said, the bike is way cooler plus I think I have found my new favorite hobby. I still have my company truck so I don't get to ride till I get home but I ride almost every evening and always ride on the weekends, rain or shine. I can't get rid of my gas hog personal truck because I come from a farming family and need that big V8 to haul hay, cows, wood, etc. With the money that I have spent on extras and future extras I actually think I have found a new money pit but I enjoy it and that is all that matters.

[mas3386]

yeah, thats if you drive it everyday instead of your vehicle. now lets go with my bike and its ususal average is 48 and i drive a car that gets around 25mpg. so now its closer together. if you got a loan on it. we will just say that is 150 a month. i can only drive about 8 months max in the year, depending on the weather. so take the other 4 months total 600 dollars and add that to the 8 months. thats 225 dollars a month now. then, lets say insurance is 500 for the year for full coverage. add that to the 8 months now is about 290 month cost of the bike not including any gas. now factor in depriciation, and the maintence so thats over 300 a month now for sure.

Now, if you bought a cheap bike, live where there is no winter, then yeah it would make a difference

[marjiea1]

I get around 65mpg. Mostly tooling around, not much over 60mph. Some get up and go from a stop, some gas to pass, but not normally an aggressive driver.

[TNM50]

My mpg has also gotten better the longer I drive the bike. When I first started driving a couple of months ago I took off fast and stopped even faster. I've since learned to ease through the gears (except when I just want to haul a**) and I'm sure that is helping.

[womper]

i'm not sure why you folks are adding the prices of the vehicle in all this.

if you are... then why not the opposite?

sell car/truck. put money into bike. when you can't ride it, use public transport or buy a beater

[Apertureguy]

I commute on mine nearly every day it's warm enough for me to ride. My route takes me through multiple towns and ends up in another state for a total of 32 miles door to door. The route is very twisty, with several hills. The average speed limit is probably 45, although there are several town areas I have to go through where the speed limit goes down to 30.

I can see how this is possible....I'm just not one of the people doing it.

[mas3386]

Originally Posted by womper

i'm not sure why you folks are adding the prices of the vehicle in all this.

if you are... then why not the opposite?

sell car/truck. put money into bike. when you can't ride it, use public transport or buy a beater

i just don't think you are getting what i am trying to say. getting rid of my car is a no, because there is no public transportation, and even then they wouldn't take me every where i needed to go, especially during winter. you said sell the car or buy a beater. you can't find much for beaters anywhere, and if you do, there is usually something on it that needs to be fixed. u just don't understand

[womper]

Originally Posted by mas3386

i just don't think you are getting what i am trying to say. getting rid of my car is a no, because there is no public transportation, and even then they wouldn't take me every where i needed to go, especially during winter. you said sell the car or buy a beater. you can't find much for beaters anywhere, and if you do, there is usually something on it that needs to be fixed. u just don't understand

you're right. i don't know anything about having a car and a motorcycle or using other modes of transportation at my disposal.

what you don't understand is that you do save money in the long run. within 3-5 years the bike pays itself off in the fuel savings alone.

do the math.