When will our hogs be called gas hogs?

I know some get better but I get about 35mpg in Houston traffic and 48-50 mpg on the highway on my stock 07 Wide Glide. Since our country is finally waking up and we are slowly moving towards more efficient cages, I think the tables will turn so to speak and bikes will be looked upon as gas hogs.

My guess is this will be about ten years from now but maybe sooner. I just think it is kind of ironic how things change. Maybe motorcycle technology will keep pace with the cages without loosing the fun factor. I guess we just wait and see.

 

Insurance (personal injury type) will probably kill off the motorcycle long before fuel mileage ever will. Motorcycle riding has already been lumped into the extreme sports group. Some are already talking about making helmets mandatory in every state by linking federal highways funds to state laws and I figure universal health care will pretty much be the death blow.

 

Regardless of your gas milage for your bike(I get around 300)a tank full(16ltrs) in my 96 wide glide,it'll allways be better than a cages milage I think.If we can get the young riders on thier rice rockets to drive properly,our insurance rates will also be better than a cage.

 

As far as gas mileage on bikes Id say HD is ahead of the game.To call them gas hogs is a stretch.In the future you need only moniter the trend of inspections currently going on with cars.As it stands bike inspections lagg far behind with there current form of paper only submission.I believe its only a matter of time before OBD11 finds its way to bikes making stage 1 and custom exhaust a thing of the past.Cats are already here, its just a matter of time before they start cracking down.

 

They can't make you fit them (cats) to the older bikes, and I still prefer CV carbs to FI, I can work on it...........

 

MY HOGS are OK on gas.....

The dyna 2000 has HOT BIKE PARTS that were NOT designed to get the best mileage. lucky to get 40/43 maybe 46 on the longer runs using 6 speed box i added.

My second HOG is a sporster 1200 roadster.... 50 mpg is quite nice... The only modifications being the python 3's and arlen-ness BIG SUCK...... 1200 R is hot from the HD co.

really doesn't really seam to matter how i ride that bike,,,,, it always gets the same: low 49/53 best....(single-up with much stuff in seat bag behind in passinger spot.)

signed....BUBBIE

 

great mileage on the scoots.... you don't have any kind of fuel mods. done on the two???

 

My Toyota Yaris has never gotten below 42mpg
My RKC with sidecar has never gotten over 37mph.

Still like the RKC way better.

 

Scrinch you hit the nail right on the head. My point in starting this thread was that a few years ago the hogs would get better mileage than most any cage but the roles are reversing. This is especially true if you look at the passenger mileage.

As the hybrid technology continues to improve, we will probably see cages getting twice the mileage but....... almost none of the thrill/fun/etc.

By the way, you really have a nice rig. I have no experience with side cars but think they really look neat.

You never know what you are going to get until you get there and then you have to make the most of whatever you get.

 

On the 2000 dyna i have scrm'n eagle air and 42 mikuni & larger flow manifold..... 10.25/1 hd teflon pistons 95". flowed heads,manley larger valves/springs,570 SS gear drive cams,fueling oil pump, delkron cam support plate.python 3 exhaust and hot coil/programble ignition stuff.. 6 speed close ratio OD trany.

42 mikuni has 160 m jet and std. low ?25 jet..... I've changed main jet from 150 155 160 180 ended up with 160 best all around.... the main jet needle was what-ever the 42 came with and heigth set ? stock from factory...... seems to run fine/clean (exhaust burns dark grey/lite blk. at tips-- plugs burn clean with a tinge of brown..... no black....idles fine and gets up n scoots.

(runs ok on 91 octane but prefers 92/94) out of wa state and under 92 oct. I'll add a small amount of diesel or stove oil on a fill...ALSO shift to a lower gear keeping rpms 2600 and NO lugging and NO heavy throttle use ... OR i can program less spark advance... depends on factors: octane rate--outdoor temps... altitude ... attitude!!!!!


SPORTSTER / 2006 carberated 1200 roadster is
not so demanding as modified dyna.

factory HOT scrm'n eagle stuff...

I added: python 3 exhaust, arlen-ness BIG air suck.
jeted both main and idle jet to run clean- with no HICK...
seems to get @50 mpg no matter how it is ridden..
NO passenger but a back pack w/xtra stuff - no saddle bags. (min 91 octane)

signed....BUBBIE