[mamelukesabre]

My experience has been that a motorcycle that gets 50MPG typically generates around 35 to 55 HP and has a top speed of a little over 100MPH. And a motorcycle such as this will generally weigh well under 500 pounds without the rider. Granted, even a modestly powered bike such as this will out-accelerate nearly every "normal" car on the road, but not cars in the same class as a corvette.

The only exceptions I know of are Harley Davidsons, which get excellent gas mileage compared to other bikes their size. A large harley will get around 45MPG. These bikes are very heavy, some are nearly 700 pounds, and they generate much less than 100 horsepower if the engine has not been modified.

I've been thinking about possible explanations why motorcycles seem to be gas guzzlers for their weight and power output. One is that they are usually not very streamlined. Also, they tend to run at very high RPMs. Mine cruises on the interstate in high gear at around 5 thousand RPMs, I think. I know the redline (or "do not exceed" limit) is at 10,500 and peak power seems to be around 8000 RPMs and many bikes are higher than that. The engine RPM theory would make sense with the harleys since harleys run at much lower RPMs than most other bikes.

[LloydofDSS]

>>Granted, even a modestly powered bike such as this will out-accelerate nearly every "normal" car on the road, but not cars in the same class as a corvette. <<

Who told you corvettes are fast? Corvette's can hardly keep up with old Mustangs, much less even a cheap motorcycle.