CleanMPG Reviews the 2008 Honda CRF230L

Fun and fuel efficient for warm weather. Commuting never felt so good!

Welcome to CleanMPG, bill! Glad you're loving your bike.

While you may doubt, this is Wayne Gerdes, so everything is possible.

As for Wayne's fills, he always tops off at the neck both before and after the drive/ride in order to minimize variation. The pump said he used 22.4 fl oz of gasoline. The difference in gasoline in the tank can't have been significant enough to put the mileage below 100mpg.

Bill, I've averaged 96 mpg for the last 12,000 miles with my 150cc scooter and it doesn't have the benefit of a manual clutch to allow me to coast.

It depends who you are. It took me 31 years to lay a bike down on the street. A minor crash, both me and the bike are OK. I learned on dirt first then went to the street later. I think it's very wise to do that. You learn to ride better on dirt than the road. There is also more margin for error and the stakes aren't nearly as high. When I see people who have never ridden a dirt bike take the MSF safety course then head straight to the road I cringe. Nothing wrong with MSF. They're doing God's work, but there's only so much you can learn in a parking lot or side street. Dirt skills are the skills you need on the road to help keep you in one piece, IMHO.

And yes, used bikes make all kinds of sense for most riders, especially new ones. New riders on new bikes also makes me cringe.

Hah! I just have to remark that no hills or mountains are far from ideal conditions

At least my FE always goes up when riding in hilly/mountain ranges. I've just came back from the High Tatras, and on my second tank I got 90mpg. With a 650. And I know that Wayne is specialized in small bikes, he has some black magic up his sleeves when riding them. Exceeding 100mpg doesn't seem impossible to me at all.

On laying down the bike: of course I did in a few weeks. Many times in the first two years. Then once this winter, on ice. Then shiNIN's bike this summer. When I noted that you must be extra careful when changing bikes.

It surely depends on how you ride but according to my experiences, hills are the best for FE (in my case). I simply can't do a really good tank in a not hilly area (maybe I could if I went insanely slow). Hills gives natural pulse and glide, slower speed if the road is curvy enough and greater fun. I'm not very used to higher mountains so I brake a lot there, even more than inavoidable but still, I did my best tank in High Tatra Mountains a few days ago. I don't really like braking so I don't speed up insanely whenever I see a small stretch of moderately straight road just to brake a lot afterwards. If it's steep uphill, I couldn't do it anyway due to my bike's strength.
My bike is 250ccm, Alvaro tried to P&G her, without much success. Not a big surprise.

After discouragement from three of the most important people in my life, my Mom, my best friend and my son, I decided to not buy a motorcycle no matter how juicy the MPG (or MPGe) might be. They are ALL worried about my safety. Maybe once my 15 y.o. son is through college or at least old enough to feel independent. Right now with no siblings and an emotionally abusive mom, I am sort of all he's got in this world.


I did end up with a 2005 prius, btw. I wrecked my biodiesel Jetta in April, and an older Prius seemed the best way to not throw much money away if i resell late this year or early next for an electric.

Hi OriEri:

It is funny how this works out sometime and your choice of a used Prius is one of the better ones.

Good luck and I am sure you will enjoy it as much or more than a CRF230L or new CRF250L as well.

Wayne

I was planning to buy a car next spring (Prius c ) , but it would be silly to trade in a perfectly good 58K miles Civic to do so. I could just keep the Civic , but I will be getting a free car next summer anyhow when my daughter moves to England. It's the car I originally bought used in 03 , drove it for 5.5 yrs, then gave it to her. It's a 97 Civic 5MT sedan and even with beaucoups miles on her, it runs well.
Long story short , I will have plenty of cars to play with and little driveway room, so I am buying a motorcycle . The tough part is choosing between the CBR250R and the CRF250L. I like 'em both ! The CBR will handle and brake better , but I kinda like sitting up a bit higher , the way I would on the CRF. I have a good eight months to figure it out.