autoevolution
 

Mythbusters: Cars Are Greener than Bikes

Motorcycles are much greener than cars, right? They burn significantly less fuel, producer less carbon dioxide, so there you have it. Well, according to the Mythbusters, this is wrong: motorcycles are less eco-friendly then cars.
The Mythbusters team took a fleet of bikes and cars belonging to different eras, from the 80s to the 2000s, used emission measuring equipment and requested the help of Dr Kent Johnson from UC Riverside.

The vehicles were driven in a cycle the included 75 percent freeway cruising and 25 percent city, with the results being pretty surprising.

Yes, bikes do produce much less carbon dioxide than cars, with the gas accounting for 90 percent of an engine’s emissions, but it seems that in every other areas, two wheels are better than four. According to the Mythbusters, bikes produce more carbon monoxide, the deadly gas that prevents blood from using its natural cycle in the body (they claim that bikes produce 8,000 percent more!), more nitrogen oxides, a source of acid rain, as well as more hydrocarbons, which are carcinogenic.

Even when talking about modern bikes, which use fuel injection, things didn’t go too well for the two-wheeled camp. Thus, the team decided to fit the bike with an aerodynamic shield. What happened? You can find the answer in the adjacent videos.











If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
About the author: Andrei Tutu
Andrei Tutu profile photo

In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist.
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories