How fuel-efficient are bikes?

By Réhann Coetzee

Because bikes are so much lighter than cars, they are generally very fuel-efficient. But, even more than with cars, it does depend on how you ride.

I know of riders who commute with 1200cc dual-purpose bikes and get more than 20km/l (or 5l/100km). Personally I have never seen that kind of fuel consumption and felt quite happy with consumption of 18km/l (or 5,6l/100km).

Very few cars, except for small turbo-diesels or hybrids, would do better than that. Bikes such as the Honda NC750X could easily do 28km/l (3,6l/100km) and I don’t see how a car would beat that.