Why not a high MPG sport tourer?

[triangleforge]

Are there any high-mileage tourers on the European or Asian markets, where gasoline prices are significantly higher and have been for quite some time? I'm not aware of any (which doesn't mean much!).

Edit: And by "tourers" I'm not including things like the Royal Enfield diesels in India that get crazy gas mileage and top out around at, what, 40-45 mph, and take a minute or two to get there.

[Statler]

The development money in car mpg issues is not being spent because of consumer demand.  Different pressure on the manufacturers.

That pressure isn't there for bikes at all. 

Now, if motorcycles could be wrapped into the same category as 4 wheel vehicles, we'd see large auto groups buying out moto manufacturers and making veeeeery fuel efficient bikes.

[thought]

i wonder how a hybrid bike would work out?  sort of like the chevy volt... fully electric, but has a small gas engine to recharge the electric motor, giving you the extended range you need to deal with the kind of traveling you get here in the states.

without any of the losses from running a hvac system like a car etc... it can prob be a tiny gas engine

[akmnstr]

I think space on a bike will make a hybrid a problem.  If you look at the electric bikes a lot of space is taken up with batteries.  I don't see where you could stick an engine.  You could just make the bike as big as it needs to be to accommodate both gas and electric, but does it become something bigger than the sport touring bikes we are used to.   

[DucofWestwood]

In the USA, bikes are not primary transit for the vast majority of owners, they are weekend warrior stuff.

Cars are primary transit, hence the need to high mileage cars.

We're too busy tuning and retuning the bikes to get more HP and knocking DOWN the gas mileage..

my thoughts exactly.  people like myself who commute daily via bike are a very small minority.  even here in sunny LA!

[orangelion03]

Honda NT700?  45-50 mpg.

[dropstharockalot]

i wonder how a hybrid bike would work out?  sort of like the chevy volt... fully electric, but has a small gas engine to recharge the electric motor, giving you the extended range you need to deal with the kind of traveling you get here in the states.

without any of the losses from running a hvac system like a car etc... it can prob be a tiny gas engine

One of the bikeporn mags featured a concept hybrid... I think it was a Norton.  They had a rotary engine to power the electric fuel cells, but I can't recall if the gas component offered direct drive to the rear wheel.  I think the gas engine may have only run to charge the electric.  They made some whopping mileage claim like 235mpg, reported a top speed of like 135, and claimed like 345lbs wet.  The pics looked like a 600 supersport, iirc.

///gotta go find the mag...

[akmnstr]

One of the bikeporn mags featured a concept hybrid... I think it was a Norton.  They had a rotary engine to power the electric fuel cells, but I can't recall if the gas component offered direct drive to the rear wheel.  I think the gas engine may have only run to charge the electric.  They made some whopping mileage claim like 235mpg, reported a top speed of like 135, and claimed like 345lbs wet.  The pics looked like a 600 supersport, iirc.

///gotta go find the mag...

Yeah!!  Find it.  It sounds to good to be true.  Like a $3k 1098 in craigslist with no title.  But that would be the answer if it is the real deal?  I don't mind being proved wrong in my earlier post about not enough room for two power sources on a bike.

[thought]

I think space on a bike will make a hybrid a problem.  If you look at the electric bikes a lot of space is taken up with batteries.  I don't see where you could stick an engine.  You could just make the bike as big as it needs to be to accommodate both gas and electric, but does it become something bigger than the sport touring bikes we are used to.   

thing is... due to the fact that the engine will recharge the batteries, you'll be able reduce the amount of batteries needed and replace them with the engine.  and i'm picturing a really really small engine here... basically just enough to spin a alternator and that's it.  fully electric beyond that.

[thought]

Yeah!!  Find it.  It sounds to good to be true.  Like a $3k 1098 in craigslist with no title.  But that would be the answer if it is the real deal?  I don't mind being proved wrong in my earlier post about not enough room for two power sources on a bike.

that's the brammo empulse... top of the line one has a 100 mile range...

i see 4 major battery cells it looks like... so i figure you drop off 2 of the battery packs and replace them with a small engine to spin the alternator to recharge the battery packs?  should get a 50 mile pure battery range and then be able to go to the engine for recharging...

[Spidey]

I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but what's the point?  I get the difference between 20mpg and 40 mpg, but once you're getting 40 or 50 mpg isn't that good enough.  Sure, there's a niche market for super fuel efficient motorcycles, but there are so many competing concerns with a sport touring bike and they get good enough gas mileage, who really cares if they're still not as efficient as they could be?

Like others have said, the mpg on a motorcycle is a side benefit, but hardly the driving force behind what makes most people ride.

So to actually answer your "why not" question?  Because the sport touring market doesn't REALLY want one enough to justify the R&D involved and the compromises that would be make on the other aspects of the bike.  

[rideserotta]

My '05 620 gets 45-50 mpg every tank. I think it's a good balance between fun, power, MPG. I use my bike for commutting. That's why I got the 620... good balance for me.

[triangleforge]

Honda NT700?  45-50 mpg.

That's about what I get with a 1998 Ducati ST2 -- and nobody's ever going to call it perfectly fine "utilitarian motorcycle" the way the reviews I looked at do the NT700.

The weirder thing -- until you figure in motorcycle aerodynamics as Statler mentioned above -- the little 600 cc Monster doesn't do a whole lot better.

[DucofWestwood]

My '05 620 gets 45-50 mpg every tank. I think it's a good balance between fun, power, MPG. I use my bike for commutting. That's why I got the 620... good balance for me.

45-50 MPG + 139MPH ... who can beat that!   

[Speeddog]

I've gotten an average of 46.8 mpg over the last 10 tankfuls on my S4.
Commuting about 80% freeway, 20% surface street.