Hey, let's have a forum where we can post the fuel mileage we've experienced with all the bikes we own. Since the EPA and the OEMs do not provide official estimates, it's hard to know what kind of gas mileage bikes get, unless we tell each other. I'll start, with bikes I've owned recently.

2004-2006 Harley Sportster 1200
I got amazing gas mileage on mine, between 48 and 50 mpg always. Mine was a 2005, but they are the same for these years. Unbelievable, considering the size of that bike, weight, etc. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't own the bike.

Aprilia Tuono 2003-2006
About 40 mpg in normal riding; hard charging through the canyons would drop it into the low 30s.

Ducati Sport Classic 1000
This air-cooled motor delivered right around 40 mpg, too

Harley V-Rod 2002-2006
Between 39-42 mpg, which was good for maybe 100 miles on that puny gas tank.

Kawasaki Z1000 (2003-2005)
Mid- to high-30s, not too great actually.

I'm interested to hear from Ninja 250 owners, as I keep hearing those bikes are good for 60 mpg.

Tom

2006 Triumph Daytona 675 = approx 45 mpg when commuting, and 35 mpg when whacking the throttle at track days or in canyons.

1999 Suzuki Bandit 1200 somewhat modified (headers, straight exhaust pipe, pod airfilters, much larger carb jets) gets about 33 mpg. Not useful info, I know.

Whats a pod airfilter?

I guess "pod" type airfilters are not as common as they used to be back in the age of carburetors. My age is showing! A "pod" type of filter is an individual filter for each carburetor, or sometimes 1 filter for 2 carbs. These are used to replace the airbox on bikes with carbs. I don't think there are many....if any...streetbikes with carburetors anymore. Certainly none 600cc or larger. If you look at the K&N Filters website, under motorcycles, you can find pictures of pod type filters. Pods greatly increase the amount of air that can be sucked into the carb, which will lean out the mixture unless you richen it up with bigger jets in your carbs. Bigger jets, more fuel, more air, equals more power.

Recently I read an article in some Powersports industry magazine, saying to the effect that the manufacturer's are kinda missing the marketing boat by not advertising the fuel efficiency of their bikes.

I just saw a Suzuki ad listing a bunch of their bikes that get 50 MPG. But I'm not aware of any other manufacturer who makes reference to good fuel economy as a way to sell bikes. Seems a shame they don't all do this.

Ducati Hypermotard: 33-35 mpg when ridden normally. Maybe it'll get more after broken in.

My 2003 Suzuki SV650 (not the S model) gets 45 mpg consistently. It doesn't seem to matter if I'm just commuting or if I'm going fast thru the twisties, it's always about 45 mpg.

I few years ago I had a Suzuki TL1000S that got something like 35 miles per gallon on a good day. Not much range on that thing.

My garage was lucky enough to house a bright red Ducati 1098 (base model) for the past week. No, I didn't buy it, but I was "watching" it while the owner was away. Yes there's a story there. No I won't go into it.

Anyway, in 2 days of fun, fun riding, that sucker got around 30 miles to the gallon. I guess such dismal fuel economy wasn't unexpected, especially considering my liberal use of throttle. But I guess I was hoping for more. Maybe it I were to turn the lovely Duc into a commuter the mileage would improve. But hey, if I wanted to commute on a bike, I sure wouldn't pick a 1098.

I spent a few days with a stock DRZ-400SM, and geez that thing gets something like 75 miles per gallon. It was pretty amazing really. Of course the thing is pretty gutless in a straight line, and you pretty much have to keep the throttle WFO the entire time your on the bike. But for a commuter its a lot of fun. You hardly have to slow down for turns, the thing is so light just throw it into the turn, it'll stick just fine. I can't wait to try it with a Yosh pipe.

Someone mentioned an article in an industry publication about how the motorcycle manufacturers have missed the boat by not using excellent fuel economy as a marketing tool in their advertising.

I recently spoke with a rather high muckety-muck at a Japanese motorcycle manufacturer (who shall remain nameless) and I asked him about this. Guess what? They've done market research on this very topic, and they've found that Americans have very little interest in fuel economy, and very few people buy motorcycles because they're good on gas. Gas will have to get over 5.00 per gallon before most Americans seriously consider getting out of their cars, according to this research.

Of course, at the rate the price of oil is going up, maybe 5 bucks per gallon isn't very far away.