Just Fueling Around
Just Fueling Around
The CYCLE WORLD Staff Takes An Economy Run
QUIET DAYS around the CYCLE WORLD offices are a rarity; with us and the staff of Road & Track inhabiting the same building, there is ways some sort of news concerning the motor world floating in the wind. All of us listened the day the President made his speech about the energy crisis; all of us moaned when we heard his proposals for a nationwide 50 mile per
hour speed limit. Never mind the incidentals.
The staff chewed on that for awhile...the more we chewed, the worse our indigestion. Think of it. Fifty miles per hour. Suddenly, it's 1948 all over again. Only now, instead of black Ford Tudor Deluxes and Plymouths with the stoplight in the middle of the rear decklid, we are a nation of lane swallow-> ing LTD’s and 10 mile per gallon Fury Ills. All going 80 in the 70 zone when we can; all going 60 in the 50 zone when we can’t. In a hurry...all of us... and now they want to slow us down, make us unwind, turn down the speakers. All in the interest of saving the gasoline that so much of our existence is dependent upon. The same gasoline that has suddenly become so rare, and the same gasoline that will soon become so expensive.
So, in view of the present fuel situation, and its effect on the nation in general, we got curious. How much fuel savings can be realized by the use of a motorcycle in place of an automobile? Does a speed reduction add much mileage per gallon for both cars and motorcycles? Only one way to see. Run representative models in both categories at the maximum speed allowed in California (65), and at the newly proposed maximum in most states (50). Run them together on the same day and on the same roads. With careful computation of mileages and fuel used, we got a pretty good idea of how things stand. You probably won’t be surprised to learn that motorcycles come out looking like the transportation answer during the crisis.
Calls were placed to several different motorcycle manufacturers to arrange for the various machines; we wound up with an interesting array ranging in size from 350cc to 1200cc. Medium and large displacement machines were used in consideration of our proposed cruising speeds; nothing under 250cc would have cut it very well out on the freeway. The motorcycles were as follows:
1. 1973 BMW R60/5: This machine was equipped with a Vetter Windjammer fairing, had 1300 miles on the odometer and had been tuned and serviced just two days prior to our run.
2. 1973 Harley-Davidson Electra Glide: The largest displacement bike in the group was equipped with the “King of the Highway” accessory package and had 8000 miles to its credit. Performance was not spot on, but the machine was in a state of tune that could be considered average.
3. 1974 Honda CB360G: Here we made use of one of our road test bikes, the test results of which appear in this issue. The 360 had just over 2000 miles on the odometer and was performing perfectly.
4. 1974 Kawasaki 900 Z-l: The people at Kawasaki arranged for their mighty Multi to be in our possession on short notice. This one had 6500 miles and a razor-sharp tune-up; it ran 1^^ anyone would expect a Z-l to run; faster than a Lear on a takeoff roll.
5. 1974 Suzuki GT-750L: Suzuki’s waterpumper was the only large displacement two-stroke in the group; it was also a 1974 pre-production prototype and U.S. Suzuki did not exactly beat down our doors asking us to use it. We were glad just the same, it’s a hell of a machine for a long trip. Over 1400 miles were indicated.
6. 1974 Yamaha RD350: Zowie! A medium size two-stroke completed the motorcycle category. This one had just under 200 miles and ran just fine.
The two automobiles were as follows:
1. 1973 Buick Riviera: A nice, typical American luxury car with 19,000 miles on the odometer. It had all the goodies that such cars are equippecL with—power this and that, electi^P assists for everything but the cigarette lighter. Cars such as this are typically seen idling in heavy traffic with one person inside.
2. 1974 Datsun 710: A nice example of the small foreign car; what people drive when they are fed up with parking hassles and 10 miles per gallon. The folks at Datsun were nice enough to let us motorcycle people borrow the 710 ^rom Road & Track, who-just happened be testing it at the time. The odometer said 1700 miles.
There you have them. A large and small car up against several different sized motorcycles. Time to gas up.
Our route was chosen carefully. We needed a lightly traveled freeway where traffic would not put a bind on our steady cruising speeds. We also required this type of situation for at least 100 miles in one direction. Where we wound up heading from our Newport Beach offices was to the city of El Cajon, Calif., some 106 miles distant. Interstate 5 turned out to be the ideal route.
The trip to El Cajon originally was planned at 70 mph, but only a few weeks before the run, California changed the maximum limit in the state to 65, so' 65 it had to be. The return would be made at the proposed 50 mph.
In order to lend as much validity^ to these fuel consumption figures as possible, one machine’s speedometer was calibrated, both for speed and distance measurements, and that machine led our little parade. All vehicles were topped up with fuel near our offices, driven to the freeway (about 3 miles), and ridden to El Cajon at a steady speed of 65 mph.
Once at our first destination, all the refueling and careful measuring were done; then we headed for a restaurant to eat, and discussed the first segment (Continued on page 92) of the trip.
Continued from page 43
The return leg was a bummer, since passing and being repassed by large trucks in the right hand lane made maintaining a speed of 50 mph a hassle not to mention dangerous. After returning, fuel going back into each vehicle was again carefully measured and tabulations were made.
Although a burette was not used to measure the fuel being put into each vehicle,, the motorcycles were filled to the same point—just below the tubular neck extending down into the fuel tank, and each automobile was topped off until no more fuel would go into the tank.
There are arguments that say that an automobile can be cheaper to run than a motorcycle because it will hold more people. But take a glance at freeway or city traffic on any given morning, and you’ll see big empty cars clogging the lanes. Usually there is only a driver; if you’re lucky, there may even be a passenger!
It should be mentioned here that the trips were made at as close to the planned average speeds as possible. The
highway was basically level, and there was a wind present which varied in direction and intensity—the type of driving conditions that exist in most parts of the U.S.
In a nutshell, here are the results of our test. The fuel consumption of the six motorcycles was averaged along with that of the automobiles. Individual results are printed, as well. At 65 mph the motorcycles averaged, collectively, 43.0 mpg, while the automobiles averaged 17.0 mpg. At a steady 50 mph, the motorcycles averaged 51.0 mpg whereas the automobiles averaged 21.0 mph.
The slowdown to 50 mph does save fuel, as the results of our test indicate. But we still feel that the slowdown will cause more traffic problems in major traffic areas such as Los Angeles and various other metropolitan areas, which will negate any fuel savings in the end.
If these figures were extrapolated to take into consideration the average maximum number of people a motorcycle can carry (2), against the average maximum number of people an automobile can carry (5), without allowing for the proportionate rise in fuel consumption that would occur with the addition of each automobile passenger, some interesting conclusions may be drawn. At 65 mph, the average mpg/person would be
86.0 for the motorcycle(s), and 85.0 for the car(s). At 50 mph, the average mpg/person for the motorcycle(s) would be 102.0, and the figure for th^ automobile(s) would be 105.0 va^ß person.
Unfortunately, we have yet to see with our own eyes a full-sized auto filled to capacity in rush hour traffic. Americans are geared to freedom of mobility in their own vehicle. Car pools are as rare as goldfish swallowing contests. While a large car can be as economical as a motorcycle, actual practice and habits of drivers deem otherwise.
The widespread use of motorcycles for daily transportation to and from work could save this nation one heck of a lot of gasoline. Furthermore, think of what their widespread use could do to reduce congestion and alleviate parking problems.
FUEL COMPARISON RESULTS
