Enfield Diesel
 

A diesel Enfield could be an option 150mpg+, but its slow going.

Speed wise its sorta like a very fast bicycle.

There is a lot of evidence, in the HUBB and elsewhere, about the very good fuel economy of the 650GS, so you can take that as a fact - no need for the element of doubt in the word "if" :thumbup1:

I agree, you have a decent range of responses so far and the subject matter is not likely to go away. Even if there are one or two countries with low fuel pricing, there can be others that balance out that cheapness in order to get to that Shangri La.

I have read a few more of the adverts for 125cc Varaderos and the owners claim a cruising speed of 70 MPH and fuel economy of 80 MPG (that's the UK gallon in a UK advertisement). The concept of a V twin 125cc is intriguing and the pistons must be minute, but the ride has to be smoother than any single of the same capacity.

For your dismissal of the Versys, I am not so sure. The manufacturer's data claims a seat height, as standard, of 840mm which is not extraordinary in this day and age and various people say that the economy is good. With a lowering link and/or a lower seat it could be considered a very good possibility, with high build quality from Kawa.

The Serow: from a couple of rides recently I have checked it by brimming the tank and doing the maths. It came out at 97 and 91 MPG (UK again), so an average of 94 MPG (33 Km/Litre).
Again, this is relatively gentle riding on tarmac and occasional gravel without stressing the little engine, but pulling up hill and down dale on minor roads.

bier to fuel economy!

Depending on your size, you might find a 125 a bit small. I know I would. I think a Serow would be a good compromise. Many efi bikes get 70+ mpg these days, and about time too. My Tenere 660's real world fuel data is here. Ave: 71.7mpg, as good as any bike I've had.

But even my current bike (a 500 twin they've made for over 20 years) gets over 60 mpg on carbs. Its all to do with what we believe to be low power.
I agree: priority No.1 is fuel efficiency - so much follows from that (money saved, normal tank/less weight, good autonomy, etc).

Chris S

I am nowdays prepared to 'tour' on the ybr125, it gives a genuine 116+ mpg(uk gall) other riders have claimed even more, this I don't doubt as they are probably lighter than I and may not be so heavy on the right wrist.
An excellent little bike, but being Chinese made needs cleaning or the paint 'falls off' things:thumbdown:.
I have now covered 7500miles with no problems and btw its the FI model, recently I have acquired a EFI Enfield that only does 77mpg so may even use that, I have now 'retired' both my airhead BM's due to their thirst and my 2 diesel Enfields keep them company in the workshop.

At Yamaha Indonesia they have 150cc fuel injected 'Vixion', 125kg and 12Liter fuel tank, sells for 1700Euro (and 3year warranty on yur engine).

Pretty awsome if you ask me, who will be first to drive it around the world??

Unfortuanly they do not have any allroad models, but still can be done right ;)

http://www.yamaha-motor.co.id/upload...play-White.jpg

Kawasaki KLX250 is another contender, larger bike, not FI, sells for 4700Euro (or KLX150S - but that is a really small bike - 1800Euro).

A few people have already taken ybr125s round the world so no real biggy, and remember Nathan Millward rode to the UK from OZ on a 'postie' bike

would like to have/see the comparison for big enduros on 400-800 cc line.
If somebody has it pls send me via message or add here.

Sometimes we think we make a good think by buying a 250/300/400 cc but bike can have worse mpg economy than a XT or DR !

Im impressed with the 71mpg from the XTZ660. Being a bit of a Yamaha fan (owned them for about 90% of my riding career) im very tempted to look more into one of these, although more than likely the XTR for the lower seat height since the Tenere looks mahoosively tall. The prices seem to have come down to a reasonable level too since they have been around for a good few years now.

Thanks for all the replies, seems a lot of people share my No.1 priority :)

I agre that the Tenere is tall and top heavy too, for what it is. But I believe the efi on XTR engines that came before was less sorted (as with many early efi bikes).
Could not fault the Tenere's fuelling, but dont know if XTRs made after the Tenere came out with as-good fuelling. You'd think they did. David Lambeth would know.

Ch

Some quick maths
 

Compared a new 125cc (R6000) to a new bmw650 (R81000) with info from South Africa. The fuel economy is actually really close. 40km per liter for the 125cc, 31km per liter for the bmw650 claimed figures from makers.

But lets say that you travel 50000km over a period of time, then the 125cc comes out way cheaper that the bigger bmw. Mostly due to purchase price.

Without getting too complicated, just taking the purchase price and petrol cost to cover the km's - no service or other costs. The bmw costs 5 times more per km travelled @ R1,94. The 125cc costs R0,37 per km travelled.
Reducing the purchase price of the bmw to half (R40000) and it costs 3 times more per km @ R1,12.

Conclusion, if you are on a budget you will get many more km's for the same money on the 125cc. You may even have some spare cash for a beer withs friends.bier

Just to add my 10p/c/etc..

It just goes to show what different trips people are planning because from my perspective fuel economy gives me my maximum range but having an engine that delivers close enough to the figure to be predictable across a wide variety of conditions is what makes my day. You only have to add a headwind or some sandy tracks and suddenly a lot of these figures people quote look a bit optimistic! I'm pleased to see that people collect a range of consumption figures but those need to be qualified by the type of riding for that number not just averaged out. Average fuel economy on a RTW will always be high due to the large amount of highway you tend to encounter. What you don't want to do is get yourself stuck in a sticky situation because you assumed your bike will always do Xmpg when it won't.

I also reason that petrol/benzene is cheaper just about everywhere else than the UK so raw economy is 'less' of an issue if you budget in GBP.

bike
 

I agree that fuel is important but the fun factor is alsoimportant and I want to see how much it is to ride a loaded 125 in sand or at 10000 feet or trying to pass a truck when having head wind .... , power doesn't big cc bur it does help to have a bigger engine , le longevity may also be very different from a 125 to at least a 250 or bigger. Fuel is not that expensive when you compare part to replace engine on small cc and loading capability.

I did many trip on 250 and loved the light weight but economy was not the reason of my choice for the bike

Derbi
 

Just a curve ball here - What about the Derbi Adventure?

I bought mine new in June and it will do 75mpg minimum on motorways, over 85mpg bimbling about.

Well made, cracking engine and 6 speed box. 1st gear is nice and low for off road use.

I'm selling mine at the moment after buying my africa twin, both similar size bike.- see photo for comparison!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...PIC_0006-1.jpg

I have a 2010 klx250s regularly returns 70 mpg, when i was running it in it was up to 100mpg fairly quick and not to uncomfortable.

Good looker
 

Wow, the Derbi is a really good looking bike. It looks bigger than the Twin, that is until you look at the bash plate. Pity they dont have them over here.