GREEN BIKES; LATEST FEEDBACK

Some valid points here from Mark Bennett regarding the manufacturers claimed fuel consumption figures;

What questions would you like insidebikes.com to ask bike makers regarding greener motorcycles, and what type of energy-savings are you willing to trade against the sheer fun factor, the bhp oomph that a modern bike offers?

Email us at; info@insidebikes.com and we will forward your comments on the green biking debate to the manufacturers.

OPTIMISTIC MPG FIGURES

There are some very optimistic fuel consumption figures being bandied about by the car industry. 5th Gear recently tested the much publicised Polo Bluemotion in a real world test to see if it could deliver the claimed 70mpg and achieved mid forties.

I'm not saying the VW can't achieve 70mpg, just that you'll be very unlikely to get close to that outside of a controlled environment.

Scooters are the closest we have in the 2 wheel world to utility models and in terms of carbon footprint and environmental impact - congestion as well as pollution - they blow the doors off any car on the market.

Small scooters are alive and well in our cities and towns but the bigger scooters are perceived as too expensive. I say perceived because I offset my annual servicing costs on an X9 500 by using it for a 3 month London commute rather than use public transport. Having owned both a TMax and an X9, I think they're great as working bikes, but I wasn't interested in riding either of them at the weekend. Is dullness the price of utility?

Adventure bikes are the 2 wheel 4x4 equivalent, tourers and cruisers the luxury limo equivalent and sports bikes equate to high performance cars. Comparing a GSXR to the above mentioned Polo isn't relevent.

There are limited utility choices in the market because utility hasn't been the reason people have been buying bikes for the past 30 years. Until car ownership becomes prohibitively expensive or the roads sufficiently gridlocked I can see no reason for the bike market to change.

Mark Bennett