Believable Motorcycle MPG figures

[totalmotorcycle]

Believable Motorcycle MPG figures
Wednesday, December 6, 2006 - By Susan Carpenter, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer - Los Angeles Times - http://www.latimes.com/classified/autom ... s-highway1




Question: Does the Environmental Protection Agency have a list of miles per gallon ratings for motorcycles? If not, where can I find MPG ratings for different motorcycles?

— Reza Muhammad, Los Angeles


Answer: There isn't any one source for motorcycle MPG figures as there is for cars. The EPA doesn't track them, and that's because the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 only gave EPA the authority to test passenger vehicles. The law wasn't interpreted to include motorcycles.

That leaves us with two main options: MPG reported from the manufacturers and MPG from the media, both of which have their problems. Manufacturers are not required by law to release mileage figures, so many of them do not. And if they do, they may not release them for every model or they may not be entirely accurate because there isn't standardized testing.

Cycle World magazine often reports MPG as part of its spec panel when reviewing a bike, but, again, the MPG isn't for every model — just the bike that gets a major road test or side-by-side comparison.

One of the best resources I've been able to find is the consumer website www.totalmotorcycle.com ,(Total Motorcycle) which launched a fuel economy guide earlier this year. The guide isn't comprehensive, but it includes new and newish models from 17 manufacturers, with different models' MPG ratings posted at the rate of about two bikes per week.

BMW, Buell, Harley-Davidson and Victory all provide the site with their corporate-sanctioned MPG figures. The rest of the figures are reported from riders worldwide, who provide the exact model and year of the bike, along with its fuel capacity, city/highway MPG and the source of the riders' mileage information — whether it's their own riding experience or a figure cited in the media.

Corporation doubters take heart: According to site founder Michael LePard, manufacturer- and rider-reported mileage figures for the same models are roughly equal, within 2% to 3% of each other.

[totalmotorcycle]

You can see the article here:
http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/kudos.htm#LAT

Or online at the Los Angeles Times here:
http://www.latimes.com/classified/autom ... s-highway1

[totalmotorcycle]

I can't tell you how proud I am that Total Motorcycle was mentioned. Total Motorcycle is also proud to support motorcyclists and motorcycling worldwide. Thank you for helping to support Total Motorcycle by visiting and when you have time contributing to our great resource.

A big thank you to all our supporters, members, visitors and also our very important advertisers for making Total Motorcycle the leading motorcycle information website in North America today. Where all riders reguardless of what they ride (or if they even ride) are always warmly welcomed and can find helpful, useful answers to all their questions in a very friendly Total Motorcycle community.



Thank you for making Total Motorcycle your virtual motorcycle destination.

Mike.

[Gadjet]

Great stuff Mike!

Kudos to everyone here for their support.

Owen

[totalmotorcycle]

Great stuff Mike!

Kudos to everyone here for their support.

Owen

101% Agreed! We all work together to make TMW great and I always remember that and am thankful for that everyday.

If you haven't yet, please do add your MPG stats to our growing Motorcycle Fuel Guide: http://totalmotorcycle.com/BBS/viewtopic.php?t=5475

Thank you all and Happy Holidays!

Mike.

[Koss]

What a fantastic article! And finally others out there will be able to be as impressed as I was when I first found TMW!

Congratulations to Mike, and the rest of the community that makes this wonderful site happen!

Thanks Mike, for providing a great resource and place to call home.

[Ninja Geoff]

Congrats Mike! Awsome (albeit short) article.

If i ever make my way cross country, i'll detour north and buy a round to say thanks for the awsome forum and site!