fuel consumption comparo of six 250cc bikes

KZ25 · Mar 7, 2013

Here's a short article on fuel consumption of three 250cc street bikes and three dual sports.

We get only two of the six here in Thailand but it's still a good read: http://www.cycleworld.com/2013/02/27/small-displacement-motorcycle-mileage-challenge/

I've never ridden the CBR250R or the KLX250S but wonder what some of the owners have to say about the accuracy of the test.

mbox999 · Mar 7, 2013

KZ25;288218 wrote: Here's a short article on fuel consumption of three 250cc street bikes and three dual sports.

We get only two of the six here in Thailand but it's still a good read: http://www.cycleworld.com/2013/02/27/small-displacement-motorcycle-mileage-challenge/

I've never ridden the CBR250R or the KLX250S but wonder what some of the owners have to say about the accuracy of the test.

I am wondering why they did not compare with the ninja 250 ? The crf250 may have good fuel economy ....doesnt help much if it has parts breaking quite easily
mbox

TonyBKK · Mar 8, 2013

It will be a sad day if ever I have to choose a motorcycle based upon its fuel efficiency... :roll:

feejer · Mar 8, 2013

TonyBKK;288230 wrote: It will be a sad day if ever I have to choose a motorcycle based upon its fuel efficiency... :roll:

Agreed. Light and nimble in a dual sport is a definite advantage, but would have great difficulty with sub-650cc on the street as my daily mount no matter the mileage. Almost every 650 and even modern 800's commonly get 55+ mpg anyway. Heck even my giant K1200LTC got 55 mpg on the Interstate. To drop way down to a little 250cc to eke out another 10-15 mpg is sacrificing a lot IMO. But to each his own I guess.

KZ25 · Mar 8, 2013

TonyBKK;288230 wrote: It will be a sad day if ever I have to choose a motorcycle based upon its fuel efficiency... :roll:

You have it the wrong way around, Tony. The article is not about choosing a bike, it's about the fuel economy of 250cc bikes.

If you are into big bikes which of course use more fuel that's fine, they sure have their advantages.

But I wonder why you'd comment on a thread that is obviously for riders who are interested in 250cc bikes.

KZ25 · Mar 8, 2013

feejer;288231 wrote: Heck even my giant K1200LTC got 55 mpg on the Interstate. To drop way down to a little 250cc to eke out another 10-15 mpg is sacrificing a lot IMO. But to each his own I guess.

That's impressive mileage for a 1200cc bike, I assume you went 100km/h to get that result. But the average of the CBR is not 10-15mpg better, it's 30mpg better.

To drop the speed of a BMW way down to eek out a mileage that's not even close to a CBR is sacrificing a lot IMHO.

Interesting that you mention a BMW, it reminds me of an interesting experiment I saw on Top Gear. Clarkson sent a Honda Prius and a 4.4L BMW M3 with more than 400hp ten times around the track; the Prius was doing top speed and the BMW was following at the same speed. Result: the big Beemer with a V8 used less gas than the Prius!

So it depends a lot on how you ride/drive.

Back to motorcycles, I don't think the CBR250 would use more than the K1200RS at top speed. Anybody owns both? Let's find out!

TonyBKK · Mar 8, 2013

KZ25;288233 wrote: You have it the wrong way around, Tony. The article is not about choosing a bike, it's about the fuel economy of 250cc bikes.

If you are into big bikes which of course use more fuel that's fine, they sure have their advantages.

But I wonder why you'd comment on a thread that is obviously for riders who are interested in 250cc bikes.

I have owned 250cc bikes, and presently own a KLX250 bored out to 351. Sure it drinks more fuel with the extra 101cc, but it's well worth it to have a KLX that puts out nearly double the Hp of a standard 250.
I guess I'm fortunate to not have to worry about how much gas my bikes drink. Is fuel economy the reason you still ride a 150?
:happy1:

KZ25 · Mar 8, 2013

I don't worry about fuel prices, we're lucky here, compared to Europe or the US! How much is a gallon in the US now? Cigarettes are $8 a pack, not that I smoke, though.

Frankly, if I'd win the lottery I wouldn't buy me a 100+ hp bike for half a million, or what they cost. I've had big bikes in the States and may have some again if I ever get back there, but here in Thailand I don't really see the point. I was very happy with my 25hp VTR250 and will get me another 250 when Honda offers the CRF250M.
I don't want a big four-cylinder, even a CB400 would be too much for my taste. I want a small, light, nimble bike that I can park at the market without looking for a space big enough. Something I can use every day.
That the CBRs or the CRFs get a real good mileage is just a bonus!

KZ25 · Mar 8, 2013

mbox999;288221 wrote: I am wondering why they did not compare with the ninja 250 ? The crf250 may have good fuel economy ....doesnt help much if it has parts breaking quite easily
mbox

Probably because they sell the 300 in the US.

It's looking quite good if you consider the hp difference between the CBR and the Ninja.

What the hell is GPS · Mar 14, 2013

I hate this Gallon / Miles Shit. Litres and km, Boys, litre is the right name. It´s a 250cc and not a cubicinch whatever.

feejer · Mar 15, 2013

KZ25;288234 wrote: That's impressive mileage for a 1200cc bike, I assume you went 100km/h to get that result. But the average of the CBR is not 10-15mpg better, it's 30mpg better.

To drop the speed of a BMW way down to eek out a mileage that's not even close to a CBR is sacrificing a lot IMHO.

Interesting that you mention a BMW, it reminds me of an interesting experiment I saw on Top Gear. Clarkson sent a Honda Prius and a 4.4L BMW M3 with more than 400hp ten times around the track; the Prius was doing top speed and the BMW was following at the same speed. Result: the big Beemer with a V8 used less gas than the Prius!

Nope, that is a flat 120km/hr Interstate slog with the cruise control on. Those LT are very aerodynamic and the Motronic ECU very miserly with fuel when in closed loop O2 sensor mode. Prius are a joke on the highway, no torque and the fuel efficiency shows it big time.

KZ25 · Mar 15, 2013

What the hell is GPS;288396 wrote: ...litre is the right name.

Litre? That's French, why would it be the right name? We're speaking English, right? I'd say liter is right! - Just kidding.

The conversion of gallons to liters and miles to km is a pain in the butt but fortunately there are conversion sites where you just fill in a number and get your answer.

It's amazing how long it takes for the government to agree and then enforce an international standard, and for the public to adjust. The conversion of PS to kW has been going on for decades, I still couldn't say how much 123 kW are. Even people who use liters and km have their different ways: km/L or L/km? Depends on what you want to know, how many km can you go on one liter or how much gas do you need for one km? Km/L make the most sense to me, if I know my bike needs 4L/100km and I want to go a distance of 250km it's easy to figure out how much gas I need and how much I pay for it.

When I started this thread I wanted to hear from other 250cc bike owners of their experience, how much their bikes use and if the Cycle World test is realistic. It wasn't supposed to be about choosing a bike, comparing big bikes with small bikes or sacrificing anything.

Satonic · Mar 15, 2013

I get on average 130 km from my KLX from a full tank, last time I raced it I got under 100 km from a tank full.

TonyBKK · Mar 15, 2013

Used to get just over 300km a tank on my Ninjette 250 no mater how it was ridden, don't remember how much gas it carried. The KLX351 gets around ~160km/tank if ridden conservatively, maybe ~100km/tank if whacking it. Can't quite remember how much gas the aftermarket tank holds, and really don't care.

KZ25 · Mar 15, 2013

Satonic;288426 wrote: I get on average 130 km from my KLX from a full tank, last time I raced it I got under 100 km from a tank full.

Whoa, there must be something wrong - even my carbed Nouvo gets more than that from a 4L tank!

A full KLX tank is 8 liters which should get you, according to the test, an average of 120 miles! Even if you race it there's no way you get only 100km from one fill.

Either you fill it when it's still a third full or the tank has a hole in it.

To find out how much my bike uses I fill the tank to the brim, ride 100km, fill it up again. If you do that several times you get the average.

TonyBKK · Mar 15, 2013

KZ25;288439 wrote: Whoa, there must be something wrong - even my carbed Nouvo gets more than that from a 4L tank!

A full KLX tank is 8 liters which should get you, according to the test, an average of 120 miles! Even if you race it there's no way you get only 100km from one fill.

Either you fill it when it's still a third full or the tank has a hole in it.

To find out how much my bike uses I fill the tank to the brim, ride 100km, fill it up again. If you do that several times you get the average.

Satonic suffers from a rare genetic disorder that causes his right hand to twist backwards uncontrollably when he is on any two wheeled gas powered vehicle. I think the medical term is throttletwistitis and his prognosis is grim indeed.

feejer · Mar 16, 2013

KZ25;288439 wrote: Whoa, there must be something wrong - even my carbed Nouvo gets more than that from a 4L tank!

A full KLX tank is 8 liters which should get you, according to the test, an average of 120 miles! Even if you race it there's no way you get only 100km from one fill.

Either you fill it when it's still a third full or the tank has a hole in it.

To find out how much my bike uses I fill the tank to the brim, ride 100km, fill it up again. If you do that several times you get the average.

He must be saying 130km avg. when he hits reserve. I think the KLX has a 2 liter reserve, so only 5.7 liters in the main. 130km from 5.7 liters is about 23km/liter which is probably about right if he rides it hard.

KZ25 · Mar 16, 2013

That's a good point, in the test they rode only 60 miles and took the numbers from there. They didn't consider that a rider would get gas as soon as the reserve light comes on.

They simply did average fuel consumption multiplied by tank capacity without thinking that nobody would ride the tank dry.

Satonic wrote that he got under 100 km when he rode it hard - I don't think any Japanese 250 gets less than 100 km from a full tank (minus reserve) under any conditions. Something's wrong.