In terms of miles per gallon (MPG), motorcycles are more fuel efficient than cars. They also emit less carbon dioxide into the environment. With the current cost of gas in mind, riding a motorcycle might make more sense for your transportation needs.
Before you make a purchase, consider gas mileage across top motorcycle brands.
Motorcycle and Fuel Economy
The average motorcycle gets just over 55 miles per gallon, although this number can vary by age and design. Semi-automatic bikes get up to 87 miles per gallon and some manual touring bikes get only 35 miles per gallon.
Motorcycle design plays an important role in fuel consumption. Although built to hold a person’s body weight, this can increase drag by as much as one-third. A fully enclosed car does not experience as significant a shift.
Additionally, not all motorcycles have fairings – a feature to improve aerodynamic qualities. Specifically, cruisers and adventure bikes do not feature fairings and tend to get fewer miles per gallon, even before a rider sits on top.
Consider the following breakdown of gas mileage for popular brands and recent models.
Honda Motorcycles
Honda’s newer offerings are more fuel-efficient, like the 2021 Rebel. This single-cylinder cruiser with a 471cc engine offers up to 67 MPG.
Suzuki Motorcycles
Among touring bikes, Suzuki has average to slightly above average gas mileage. Its V-Strom 650, a V-twin-powered bike offering 260 miles on a 4.8-gallon tank, gets about 54 MPG.
Kawasaki Motorcycles
Designed for longer trips, the Versys-X 300 has a parallel twin 296cc engine that delivers 60 MPG. The heavier Vulcan 500 LTD, powered by a 649cc V-Twin engine, gets about 50 MPG.
BMW Motorcycles
The larger BMW F650GS, featuring a 652cc engine and 388 pound weight, delivers 63 MPG. The G310GS features a more adventure-ready design that gets roughly 70 miles per gallon.
Yamaha Motorcycles
The Yamaha Bolt R-Spec, a midsize cruiser with a 942cc air-cooled V-twin engine gets 51 MPG. If you’re looking for a sportbike, the Yamaha YZF-R1, featuring a 998cc liquid-cooled engine, delivers 41 MPG.
Harley-Davidson Motorcycles
Due to larger engines, size and weight, Harley-Davidson motorcycles tend to get below average fuel economy. The current average across models is 44 MPG, which is actually better than other cruisers, but varies among its diverse lineup.
For instance, the Street Glide delivers 33 MPG, the Street Bob gets 45 MPG and the Street 500 far exceeds the average at 64 MPG. The Iron 883 cruiser has a 51 MPG fuel economy.
As states strive to have more fuel-efficient vehicles on the road, Harley-Davidson pledged to lay out a fleet average fuel mileage of more than 50 miles per gallon by 2027.
Trikes
You can experience the power, speed and efficiency of a motorcycle on three wheels! If you ride a trike or are just starting out, these models also deliver better gas mileage than cars.
The Can-Am Spyder F3 can travel 252 miles on a single 7.1-gallon tank of gas, getting about 35 MPG. You can ride about 292 miles on the Harley-Davidson Tri Glide Ultra and get 34.6 MPG.
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