“I don’t want to end up with museum queens. I want to change the world and carry four bags of groceries.”
That's a quote from Craig Vetter, in regard to his Fuel Economy Challenge, which, according to a story in the New York Times, has a focus on "developing two-wheelers that could transport people and their effects comfortably at real-world speeds." I'm not going to just rewrite that story; you can read it here.
In short, the Challenge called for entries of motorcycles that can reach 70 miles per hours against a headwind, are comfortable, and can carry four bags of groceries, which is to say, are practical as an everyday vehicle. This year's event was held in July at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in conjunction with the American Motorcyclist Association's Vintage Motorcycle Days.
The Challenge was met. It required streamlined bodywork, so the entries tended to resemble wingless airplanes, but that's no surprise. The top entry hit 153 mpg on the 110-mile course. Number two was a 144-mpg entry.
Will any of these machines ever see commercial production? Does the world care about squeezing more miles out of a gallon of gas? It would seem unlikely for such a motorcycle to catch on big in the U.S., but in less affluent countries it could be a different story. Craig Vetter, with his fairings and other innovations, has already changed the face of motorcycling. Perhaps the biggest part of his story has yet to be written.
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