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Which engine?
richiegallon - 26/6/09 at 11:44 PM

Hi everyone, I`m new here and I`m really excited about starting my project probably later this year, anyway, my question is, which bike engine is the best to go for, in terms of cost and power? Thanks in advance, Richie.

austin man - 26/6/09 at 11:49 PM

there appear to be 3 to choose from the zx9, 10. 12 the R1 and Hyabussa.

Pesonally a car engine the 2lite vauxhall with 200bhp takes some bearing

richiegallon - 26/6/09 at 11:52 PM

Thanks for the reply Austin man, originally I was thinking car engine but I just cant help thinking of the noise off the bike engine and also the sequential box!

ReMan - 27/6/09 at 12:01 AM

Car engines are definatly more reliable and straight forward to fit and torquey and smoother and cheaper and easier to work on and have a reverse gear as standard
So what?

Here's my (poor quality) contribution to your decision making
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBw8qcp01BQ

[Edited on 27/6/09 by ReMan]

Steve Hignett - 27/6/09 at 12:02 AM

quote:
Originally posted by austin man
there appear to be 3 to choose from the zx9, 10. 12 the R1 and Hyabussa.

Pesonally a car engine the 2lite vauxhall with 200bhp takes some bearing


You are correct austin man, a car engine does take some bearing, that is due to the stupendous weight of them compared to a Bike Engine.

Richie, you need to give people an idea of your budget before you start.

A Blade engine which is pretty reliable even when it's done a few miles can be had from £400 upwards.
An R1 from £800 upwards.
An injected R1/Blade/Gixxer from £1000 upwards.
A ZX12R/Hayabusa from £1500 upwards.
Etc, etc.

So, what's your budget and what is the car going to be used for? (how many trackdays, if any?)

ReMan - 27/6/09 at 12:15 AM

"there appear to be 3 to choose from the zx9, 10. 12 the R1 and Hyabussa. "

I see your counting goes out the window like mine when i've had a drink too then

Steve G - 27/6/09 at 12:31 AM

simple answer - R1 or ZX10R. Ignore the CEC brigade who try to convince you about big fat heavy Zetecs or VX's. They go on about torque - but torque equals wheelspin!!

D Beddows - 27/6/09 at 02:10 AM

Sadly most car engine options have issues nowadays- Crossflow: too expensive to get the power people seem to need to talk about down the pub nowadays, Pinto: you'll never escape the 'boat anchor' rubbish, Vauxhall Red Top - good ones are VERY hard to find - as are Toyota 4AGE (and the bits to get those running rwd are stupidly expensive!) Zetec: blacktops are cheap but have all the hassle of waterpumps running the wrong way, getting a shallow sump and sorting the plumbing out....... then there's the having to spend a fortune to get a gearbox with decent ratios......

I'm still a crossflow fan tbh, they're simple enough to build yourself and close ish ratio gearboxes are cheap - but bike engines are the way forward if you're building a toy in terms of simplicity, weight and £'s per - if you're building a car take the Mrs away for a romantic weekends however.......

eznfrank - 27/6/09 at 03:49 AM

In reality (at least on the road) there aint a massive difference between all the stock bike engines, maybe a few 10ths to 60. If you're a big chap it might be worth going for something with a little more torque to help things along (hence I picked the ZX12).

R1 seems a good choice and well trodden path.

Richard Quinn - 27/6/09 at 05:35 AM

quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
Car engines are definatly more reliable and straight forward to fit and torquey and smoother and cheaper and easier to work on and have a reverse gear as standard
[Edited on 27/6/09 by ReMan]
Well, from that list I'll let you have the last point about reverse gear as standard and may be concede a little on the "torquey" point but I'd challenge the rest quite strongly.

tomblyth - 27/6/09 at 07:07 AM

any you fancy ! when the cars that light there all fast!

mark chandler - 27/6/09 at 07:53 AM

Do not forget emmisions, something older has its advantages so 893 blade, no need to try sump just drops straight in and is cheap £400.

Having lax emmisions on the certificate is worth the £400 IMHO.

sorens2 - 27/6/09 at 08:18 AM

I have a ZX12R and I´m very happy with the BEC choice.
Carengine is the low tech solution.
Slower.
Heavier.
Sounds like idle all the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO_73u-WeG8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_wpzBSv_UY

Soren S2

[Edited on 27/6/09 by sorens2]

[Edited on 27/6/09 by sorens2]

Lurch88 - 27/6/09 at 08:18 AM

If this helps at ?

http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=115178

[Edited on 27/6/09 by Lurch88]

ReMan - 27/6/09 at 11:03 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Richard Quinn
quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
Car engines are definatly more reliable and straight forward to fit and torquey and smoother and cheaper and easier to work on and have a reverse gear as standard
[Edited on 27/6/09 by ReMan]
Well, from that list I'll let you have the last point about reverse gear as standard and may be concede a little on the "torquey" point but I'd challenge the rest quite strongly.

You dont need to, hence my so what? comment

[Edited on 27/6/09 by ReMan]

dave1888 - 27/6/09 at 11:04 AM

MX5 if you decide to go down the CEC route, think about it modern lightish weight rear wheel drive donor.

richiegallon - 27/6/09 at 06:28 PM

Thanks for all the replies lads, very interesting! In reply to Steve Hignett, I`m just a small bloke and about 9 - 10 stone so I dont need something massivly powerful, and my budget was around the £1000 mark but I must admit £400 for a `blade engine sounds like good value, as for trackdays, I cant see me doing many, maybe one or two a year. Am I right in thinking that I wont have to dry sump a blade motor? Thanks again for all replies!

richiegallon - 27/6/09 at 06:34 PM

Lurch, that looks like really good value mate!

Gav - 27/6/09 at 07:05 PM

I just had the first proper drive of my 893 blade engined Locost on friday, now i'm not a small bloke and it was ample to get the car shifting very quickly