The present study aims at a real-world assessment of the driving behaviour and exhaustive emission performance of motorcycle (MC) driving in a middle-sized city of a developing country, i.e. Isfahan, Iran. We developed the Isfahan Motorcycle Driving Cycle (IMDC) using comprehensive data collection and then compared it with the available overseas MCDCs and DC of local LDVs. Onboard experiments were also conducted on 20 test motorcycles to analyze emission performance, emission characteristics, and combustion quality of motorcycles under real-world conditions. IVE model was used to estimate the MC emission factors (EFs) according to the real-urban conditions, but it was first adjusted to the real-world measurements. Results show that MC EFs steadily decrease with vehicle speeds. Apparent discrepancies were observed between IMDC and the MC DCs overseas, while local DCs of motorcycles and LDVs follow a prevailing trend determined by the new factors of public culture and urban development. CO was the major criteria pollutant of the MCs exhaust, and formaldehyde and benzene were ranked as the first and second principal toxic gases, respectively. The air-fuel mixture control system and combustion quality of 150 and 200 cc MCs were impaired with the vehicle speed, but the same is not true for the 125 cc MCs.