Most fuel efficient 80s early 90s Honda bike?

[spetom]

I'm thinking about a CBR 250/CBR 400/VFR 400. 1980s-1996 approx.

Essentially I'm looking for a city bike that can also handle the motorway for longer distances, is 80s styled, is a smaller bike, is a 4 stroke and the biggest criteria is low MPG.

Motorway cruise speed can be around 60 mph.

Personally I would love it if I could do this on a 125 as most run on air and are perfect in cities. It is on a motorway that I'm afraid they struggle, I have been enough times with a 125 to know that even a half an hour of riding on the motorway is difficult and every little gust of wind nearly pushes you off into the hard shoulder even at 55mph.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Apparently the CBR 250 burns nearly just as much as the 400s because of it high rev rate? Perhaps this comes down in the city?

I'm leaning towards the CBR 250 as it is quite a small nippy bike which also packs punch.

Either the above or a modern Indian Royal Enfield 500 which I know has good fuel consumption and despite reliability would be able to potter along the motorway.

Any knowledge/advice would be appreciated. Thanks

[Pete.]

Why limit yourself to a Honda?
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[spetom]

[tsmith]

i've been getting 91mpg out of my Kawasaki GPZ500S, maybe you might want to consider one of those.

[cb1rocket]

i once got 80mpg out of a velocette 500m very low state of tune but pulls nicely so good for overtaking - sorry its 1958 lol

[krytenboog]

Kawasaki gt550, will go forever, high mpg , shaft drive and low insurance. Cant be bettered in my opinion. Although not over fast has a nice power surge at 7000 rpm

[stinkwheel]

Another vote for a GPZ500s. They return remarkably good mpg if ridden even halfway sensibly.

I would have put it closer to 60mpg mind. It drops off a fair bit if you start hooning but stick within 10mph of the speed limit and it sips fuel.

You should get a tidy example for your price range. Avoid pre '96 ones.

A Royal Enfield is no faster than a 125. Copes better with hills, luggage and headwinds but you're probably looking at a realistic cruising speed of 55-60mph from a 500 bullet. Maybe push that to 65-70 for an EFI model. A standard but well set up 500 bullet with pod air filter and noisy pipe is making about 17bhp at the back wheel.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[c_dug]

I will 3rd the GPZ500s

Actually looking for one now as a replacement to my ZZR600 that got written off, it's the only "commuter" I will consider as a replacement.

That said my NTV was completely bullet proof through last winter, and pretty economical too, In fact to be honest it was probably better than the GPZ in almost every way. The only downside was lack of fairing. Still it is a GPZ I am after so I guess that says something.
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[hmmmnz]

[quote="spetom"]I'm thinking about a CBR 250/CBR 400/VFR 400. 1980s-1996 approx.

out of the 3 bikes listed, the cbr400 is the most economical on motorway miles, and the 250 is a bit better round town.
but it revs far too hard to be taken on longer trips,
i was never able to ride the vfr400 nicely enough to get decent mpg results, but it would still be the pic of that bunch
____________________
the humans are dead
I kick arse for the lord
Wiring Diagrams BIDNIP it bitches

[stinkwheel]

The CB1 (CB400) is another frugal yet thoroughly well put together machine.

Lack of fairing counts against it though.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Chalky.]

Daft but... cg125?

Sounds like what you're after!

[radical]

Honda bros/hawk 650/400 or the NTV shaft drive 600/650, both bikes are very durable, reliable and give good mpg.

[spetom]

[radical]

The only thing I would have against the 4 cylinder bikes is that they are a pain on the motorways due to the high revs, always preferred a lazier twin myself.

[spetom]

[evoboy]

Id say the GPZ engine is an older design than both the CBR's meantioned and the VFR...
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Suzuki GT250 x7------- Fazer 600------CB250RS------Aprilia Rally 70----- Bandit 600

APT Motorcycles

[stinkwheel]

[spetom]

Ok lets say I got a Honda CBR 250 one of the first ones they made that seem the cheapest in the 80s. This seems the most likely option at the moment as I like the way it looks + it is light and fairly small for a bike.

What kind of mpg would I be looking at in town? Would it be able to do a 200 mile journey (with a break) at around 55-60mph? I'm not going to thrash it surely it would suffice?

[Frost]

Surely the smaller the capacity the more fuel efficient in city riding, and probably motorway too provided the engine isn't revving its tits off (like a 125 would be). So CB250?

[Kickstart]

Hi

Would doubt you will realistically get ~90mpg from a GPZ500. First one we had would give 65mpg if you kept it below about 7000rpm, the 2nd wasn't quite so good.

However the are good bikes although a bit dated.

Suspect for round town use a CBR250 would be a pain. Cramped, stuff all low down power, a thief magnet and unable to really show the things it is good at (handling and thrash ability).

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[c_dug]

You realise there are now two threads telling you the same thing, that the CBR250 is not really the ideal bike for what you want to do.
____________________
I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[spetom]

[Kickstart]

[radical]

[spetom]